| Year | 1979 |
| Lens Groups | 6 |
| Lens Element | 7 |
| Aperature Blades | 8 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/22 |
| Closest Focusing | 0.45 m |
| Max. Magnifcation | 1:6.7 (0.15x) |
| Filter Size | 52 mm |
| Diameter x Length | 63 x 41 mm |
| Weight | 235 gr (0.52 lb) |
| Hood | BS-52 |
I use it with my Fujifilm X-T1. It's easy to focus (smooth focus ring), I love that it's so small and light. Sharpness is pretty good at f1.4, very sharp stopped down at f2.8. It's a lot sharper at 1.4 than the Canon 50mm 1.4 EF mount that I used to own.
I actually like the build, I don't mind that it's not full metal. I prefer a lighter and smaller lens. Camera/Lens feels well balanced when adapted to a system camera.
There is some vignetting and a tiny bit of CA when shooting wide open, but that can be fixed when post-processing the images.
Great lens for doing portraits on an APS-C camera or for low light photography or filming. You can still easily find it for less than 100 Euro/Dollar.
This was the first of many nFD series lenses I've bought, both adapted for modern mirrorless bodies as well as it's original A series film bodies. This lens is very affordable, I bought it for around $120 USD in mint condition, but can be found for less. It's very sharp and straight forward to use, the focusing mechanism is buttery smooth and it can be adapted to modern mirrorless cameras with a cheap $15 USD adapter which makes this a lens still relevant to this day. It's great for beginners looking for a nice low-light lens, the f/1.4 aperture makes it great for night-time photography, and I think you should opt for this one as opposed to the f/1.8 version since the price difference isn't that drastic. Bokeh is silky smooth but with enough character to make it unique, and the size and weight is very small and manageable for travel and for carrying around in a small bag. If you're lucky enough to buy it with the hood, it doesn't add that much more weight or size to it although it needs to be said that the nFD series hoods were held in place by a rubber wedge that melts and degrades over time causing many of the old hoods to slide off easily (if the camera or lens is rotated quickly) and you're better off buying a screw-on collapsible hood that attaches directly to the filter thread to make sure it doesn't come off and protects the beautifully coated front element.
I should also mention that if using with some mirrorless cameras you need to enable something along the lines of 'allow shutter release without lens' since the lens is mechanical and has no electric contacts to let your camera know there is a lens attached. Also if using with Canon's old film cameras like the A-1 or AE-1 Program you can set the lens to automatic aperture by moving the aperture ring to the green 'A' symbol while pressing the little black button on said ring.
Overall a very good lens for casual photography, portraits, film, and just about anything else you can think of.
Keep in mind if used with a crop sensor mirrorless camera the focal length will round up to about 80mm making it great for portraits but perhaps too tight for group photos or some street photography. If you want something wider for crop sensor cameras I highly advise you check out the Canon FD 28mm 2.8 which is also affordable and has a much wider angle although it's a full stop slower but still a nice little lens that goes well side by side the Canon nFD 50mm f/1.4
And last but not least, there is an older FD version of the lens with a silver ring mount and yellow lettering and the title S.S.C. that stands for 'Super Spectra Coating'. This version came before and I do not personally own it but from what I've heard it's build quality is heavier but the optics are almost identical of not the same but they are more or less the same size and dimensions however if you want to compare both lenses or don't know which to buy I suggest you do some research online or check out reviews from the FD 50mm f/1.4 S.S.C on this website
For me this might be called the real photographer's 50 mm lens. I have used it extensively for film in the 1980's and 1990's. Now it's one of my best companions on a Sony A7 II (with Novoflex adapter). In some respects it can produce nicer pictures than the amazing Sony/Zeiss 55mm f1.8, which is sometimes too sharp and a bit harsh (I also do use this lens). Almost any normal good picture taken with this lens gets selected for the EyeEm-market !
Very important: in my humble opinion this lens needs service (especially cleaning inside) to get the best results. Like most older lenses: not weatherproof at all.
Very light, Good sharpness at F 1.4 , Extremely Sharp stop down to F 2.8, I use it for video, at night its excellent, nice shallow depth of field, for the price its worth it.
The prices of these old lens are going up especially with more Full Frame Mirrorless cameras now. I used this with the Zhongyi lens turbo II with a mirrorless Aps-c camera.
The lens is lightweight and sturdy mostly constructed with thinly stamped metal and plastic. Great color and contrast even wide open @ f1.4 but with a bit of chromatic aberrations. Flare performance is OK, and a good hood is probably a great idea. SSC coatings retains good microcontrast even wide open.
This is a great little lens and the sharpest affordable vintage 50 I've used on mirrorless (of about 10 lenses from different manufacturers). I prefer it over the Canon FD 50mm f1.4 SSC because it's smaller and optically slightly better in my opinion, with better contrast, clarity, and smoother bokeh.
Downsides are CA wide open (especially on APS-C), noticeable vignetting, average flare resistance, average build quality.
Check out my site for a detailed review with many image samples: http://www.theweekendlens.com/canon-nfd-50-f14.html
This is the lens every FD owner or adapter must start with.
This is a highly affordable lens, usually not costing more than 120 and as low as 50 USD, and very common on eBay or even thrift stores. It is lightweight and very fast to focus. Nice 1.4 aperture makes this a great affordable low light or min DOF lens. Very good image quality, with some CA wide open.
However, the thinly stamped metal (Yes metal, not plastic. I scratched paint off this and it is metal) makes this feel like a flimsy lens. The Only plastic is the focus and aperture ring.
If you are starting to adapt lenses for photo or video, this is a must go to lens to start with.
When I needed a 50/55 lens I always took the 50L with me. This way I had the extra speed over the 50/1.4 and not the weight and size of the 55/1.2 Aspherical. And it's an L-lens, you gotta love the red ring :)
But now I've seen my own test I think I'll pick the 50/1.4 over the 50L unless I really really really need the f/1.2. The corners of the 50/1.4 are so much better and I really like the cleaner bokeh. The other two are sharper at the center, but the 50/1.4 is good enough for me. Stop it down to f/2.8 and it's about as sharp as the other two. And it's about 1/10 of the price!
Read part 1 of my full review here: http://www.jeroenterlingen.com/blog/2015/7/19/canon-fd-50mm-lens-comparison
And part 2: http://www.jeroenterlingen.com/blog/2015/8/26/canon-fd-5055mm-lens-comparison-part-2
Very nice prime. Very sharp from 1.8 and up. Good built quality and light weight. Prices are super for a 'mint condition' version. Still using it on Sony A7
This is a superb 50mm lens. It's soft and loses a lot of contrast at f/1.4, but starts to get better at f/2 and is on its way at f/2.8. Colours are excellent. It's also fairly light. I use it on a Sony A7 and it's just terrific. rnrnI also own the Canon FDn 50mm 3.5 macro, which is a bit sharper (but slower). I compared the 50mm f/1.4 to a Canon 50mm f/1.2 "L" lens (see my review) and the f/1.4 was better from f/4 up. I returned the L lens and kept the 1.4.
I've started using this lens again on my full frame Sony A7 and I'm loving it. I end up using it more than I expected (more than my 50mm Nikkor lenses, for example, which were my primary gear).
Awesome lens for nex5n! Has a unique signature being very creamy wide open! Awesome for artistic photography! I love this lens!
It is a great lens. I have it on my New Canon F-1, and it had replaced my 1.4 SSC for just two reasons, it is more compact and lighter than the SSC and I can see the aperture value in my viewfinder.
Many people state that it is of a lesser build quality than the SSC, but that is far from true. Polycarbonates are quite durable. It will take a lot of abuse without any complaints, but hit it hard and it is mostly possible that you will damage your camera along with it.
Two secrets for using that lens:
1. Use speeds of 1/250 or faster when handheld to really show off the sharpness of it.
2. In B&W photography, use an orange filter on it. It will make your photos ultra sharp. It must have to do somewhat with the chromatic aberrations of that lens that their color is being reflected by the orange filter and thus provide a sharper result.
Currently I have my SSC on my old F-1 and this on my New F-1.
This lens is widely described as though it is the standard by which all other lenses should be judged, so I got one to test. The one I got was advertised as "clean," but has fungus on every internal element... which seems to be much more common for this lens than most -- about 1/4 of those I've seen advertised admitted to having fungus. In any case, the fungus has very little impact on image quality, so taking appropriate precautions against infecting my other equipment, I did some quick tests.
First off, this lens is reasonably small and balances exceptionally well on a NEX. The build is not really good, but nothing is loose and plastics make it lighter than most f/1.4 lenses -- which is a real benefit. I can see why people want this to be a winner optically.
Around f/5.6, this lens is a winner: perfectly sharp with high contrast across the APS-C frame. At wider apertures, bokeh are better than average (MUCH better than its f/1.8 siblings), but that seems to come from undercorrected SA, which also gives glow and low contrast wide open. Overall, it's a bit below average in IQ wide open. Of course, a bit below average is still darn good when talking about fast 50s.
Colors are typical Canon FD, a touch warm. This lens also seems to have a slight color shift upon stopping down, probably due to the SA. I've only seen such shifts in longer telephotos before, but arguably this brings color closer to neutral for this lens.
In summary, this is a very smart f/1.4 design for a film SLR. Under normal circumstances, this would give a very bright viewfinder with great IQ at the most common taking apertures. In low light, the soft rendering helps minimize the evils of typically high-contrast lighting; portraits also might benefit from the softness. For digital, the IQ around f/5.6 is competing with kit zooms that also do quite well around 50mm f/5.6 and viewfinder brightness isn't an issue for an EVF or rear live view. Wide open is where kit lenses can't compete, and this lens does fine, but many competitors do a little better despite usually selling for a much lower price: e.g., Minolta Rokkor and Pentax Takumar (after UV cleaning).
AWD8.ZENFOLIO.COM
Here are some sample pictures from this lens with SONY NEX5N. I think the bokeh is decent for the price compare to $300+ new digital lenses....
I use this lens now on a Sony Nex and with its smaller angle it is not that overall 50 mm on film or FF. Nicely build, the fringing is correcteble, the bad bokeh is my main complaint. But a joy to use.
I acquired the FDn 50mm f/1.4 with the purchase of an A-1. Out of focus rendition is very smooth. The sharpness of the lens is outstanding. It's difficult to find anything to complain about. Some folks might criticize the plastic construction, but I find the build quality to be excellent despite the plastic. Here's a sample shot which illustrates the great bokeh and sharpness of the lens: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellymjones/2584929649/
I bought this for 33€ on eBay, incredible. You can tell that it's the reference lens for the line-up, as it is really well-balanced in sharpness, distortion, color etc. I am not giving this one away ever. The only thing is that I find some bad bokeh in oof backgrounds at medium apertures (f/4 to f/8)...
Canon nFD 50mm f/1.4 is considered one of the sharpest lenses in the FD line. This was my first lens and I still use it to date. This can be purchased on eBay for around $40. As is with all the FD lenses, the 50 is durable and light.
I honestly was disappointed with it's EF cousin, because of the poor construction and wobbly manual focus ring. Prints from the lens show vibrant color and smooth bokeh.
The lens is great. To get better quality you would need to spend almost $600 for the Canon 50mm 1.2L. I'm not so sure you get that much more lens to justify the expenditure. I would rather spend the money on the Canon 85mm 1.2L and buy one of this 50mm 1.4. The money would be much better spent on the 85mm 1.2L. Now that's a lens(well worth the $600).