
Canon F1
+
a true classic, first truly professional system camera from Canon, still a delight to use in this digital age, virtually indestructible
-
pretty heavy (all brass), some accessories are hard to find nowadays, 1/2000 sec often wrong in non-CLA'd cameras

Canon F1n
+
mechanically best Canon camera ever made, small improvements over original quite useful, I love the short winding stroke (but not as good as with Canon EF)
-
same as F1, F1n seems a bit harder to find

Canon F1 with Motordrive MF and EE Servo finder
+
just plain cool when you're using it at sports photography, 3.5 fps, shutter priority
-
huge and very heavy (with 10 penlites in it 2,5 kg without lens!), quickly changing film not that practical because of sheer size and weight

Canon F1 High Speed
+
9(!) frames per second in a 1972 camera with no viewfinder blackout, amazingly well engineered
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pretty much useless at anything else than high speed photography, no light meter and awkward ergonomics, extremely rare

Canon EF
+
a very well made but understated Canon classic, excellent ergonomics, basically is a F1 with EE Servo Finder and T Booster Finder all into one, nicest winding stroke on any camera I ever owned or tried - period
-
no motor drive, early (until 1975) microprism focusing screen not as good as the later split prism one

Canon T-Booster finder
+
funky accessory, gives true lowlight ability to Canon F1
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little awkward to use, 1/60 shortest shutter speed available when mounted, eats (expensive) 6v silver batteries like there is no tomorrow

Canon Speedfinder
+
cool and useful accessory that is very useful for sports and macro
-
dificult to find in very good condition, can be quite hazy

Canon Shaft finder
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simple accessory that turns Canon F1 into shaft camera
-
image reversed, no view of light meter, focusing screen gets dirty easily
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 7,5 f5.6 S.S.C. circular fisheye
+
bizarly wide - wider than 180 degrees, cool filters built in, no focusing required
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slow, optically not that great (fringing, not very sharp), very vulnerable front element
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 15 f2.8 fisheye
+
very wide (180 degrees horizontally), very sharp, I have a very early non-S.S.C. version (nummer 77 of the line) which is very rare I think, useful filters built in
-
vulnerable front element, little bit awkward lens cap
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 17 f4 S.S.C.
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very wide for an rectalinear lens, quite compact
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not that fast (f4), optically not bad but lags behind the FD 20 mm which is a lot better, radioactive due to use of Thorium in glass
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 20 f2.8 S.S.C.
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good combination of wide and relatively fast, quite sharp, quite compact
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not that great wide-open (but very good at f4), can be a bit prone to flare (and no hood available)
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon Macro Photo Lens 20 f3.5
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tiny specialized close-up lens to use with Canon auto-bellows for FD, focusses REALLY close to a magnification of 11:1 max
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not that sharp, diffraction an issue at basically any aperture except wide-open, not that easy to use
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 24 f2.8 S.S.C.
+
quite good optically, compact, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size
-
I always choose a faster (35 mm) or wider (20 mm) option so it's rarely used
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 28 f2 S.S.C.
+
compact and fast, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size
-
not that great optically, doesn't compare well to FD 35 mm f2
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 35 f2 S.S.C. (convex and concave)
+
very sharp (my convex is a little bit sharper), contrast with concave unmatched, compact and fast, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size
-
concave quite yellow (and radioactive) - but clears up under UV light well
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 35 f2.8 S.S.C. Tilt-Shift
+
unique possibilities with tilt and shift, very well made, reasonably good optically
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a little bit awkward to use (manual diafragm), optically not excellent (should have been for the VERY high price it costed when new), not that easy to find in good shape (loads of these lenses were butchered to fit modern Canon EF mount), this very early copy is radioactive due to use of Thorium in glass
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon Macro Photo Lens 35 f2.8
+
tiny and very sharp specialized close-up lens to use with Canon auto-bellows for FD, focusses REALLY close to a magnification of 6:1 max
-
diffraction an issue at apertures smaller than f5.6, not that easy to use (but easier than it's smaller 20 mm brother)
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 50 f1.4 S.S.C.
+
very sharp and compact multicoated standard lens of Double Gauss design, easy to find, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size
-
like all Double Gausse designs not that great wide open (but very sharp starting from f2)
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 50 f3.5 S.S.C. Macro
+
very sharp and compact 'macro' lens, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size
-
slow (f3.5), more a close-up lens than a true macro (only 1:2 magnification standard), needs 25 mm extension tube for full 1:1
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 55 f1.2 S.S.C.
+
very fast and affordable f1.2 standard lens
-
optically not that great (FD 50 f1.4 is better), flares a lot, hood difficult to find, makes you long for the excellent Aspherical version of this lens
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 85 f1.8 S.S.C.
+
very sharp and compact portrait lens, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size
-
no f1.2 Aspherical..
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 100 f2.8 S.S.C.
+
optically good and compact short telelens, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size, has nice soft 'pastel'-like colours
-
colours not to everyones taste, quite slow (f2.8)
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 100 f4 S.C. Macro
+
very sharp 'macro' lens, more distance to subject than with 50 macro, useful (read cheap) 55 mm filter size
-
contrast suffers because single coated, slow (f4), needs 50 mm extension tube for full 1:1
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon Bellows Lens FL 100 f4 Macro
+
very sharp and unique 'macro' lens for use with bellows (both FL and FD bellows work), same (excellent) 5-lens optical design as later Canon FD 100 f4 Macro, maximum magnification 3:1
-
contrast suffers because single coated, slow (f4), needs FL or FD bellows to function at all
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 135 f2.5 S.C.
+
very sharp and relatively fast short telelens, quite easy to find in good condition, hood built in
-
only single coated (that's why contrast seem to suffer a bit with this lens)
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 200 f2.8 S.S.C.
+
relatively fast (f2.8) medium telelens, hood built in, quite sharp wide open
-
purple fringing and CA an issue, big filter size (72 mm), contrast wide-open could be better
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 200 f4 S.S.C.
+
sharp medium telelens, which is quite portable as well, hood built in, shares filtersize (58 mm) with FD 135 f2.5
-
slow (f4)
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 300 f4 S.S.C.
+
sharp and relatively fast (f4) telelens, ability to use internal filters, lighter than it looks
-
purple fringing and CA an issue, contrast not great wide-open
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 400 f4.5 S.S.C.
+
sharp and fast (for the focal length) true telelens, ability to use internal filters
-
again purple fringing and CA an issue, size makes it unwieldy
(click on the image for a lens diagram)
Canon FD 500 f8 S.S.C. Mirror
+
very compact for the focal length, reasonably sharp, ability to use internal filters
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only F8, ugly onion ring bokeh