The 5 Best Canon TLb Camera Lenses
The TLb is a wonderful camera.
This article will go over the top 5 lenses to use with the TLb camera.
More details are further down, however below is the list of lenses if you’re short on time:
- Kit Lens - Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 (eBay)
- Wide Angle Lens - Canon FD 28mm f/3.5 (Amazon)
- Portrait Lens - Canon FD 100mm f/2.8 (Amazon)
- Zoom Lens - Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 (eBay)
- Macro Lens - Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 (eBay)
Kit Lens and Standard Primes
Canon FD 50mm f/1.8
If you don’t already have it, your first lens should be the original “kit lens” for the TLb, the Canon FD 50mm f/1.8. The 50mm f1.8 is cheap, plentiful, and has very good picture quality.
- The “classic” setup as it can be considered the original kit lens.
- Unbeatable value.
- Light and compact.
- Widely available and easy to find in good condition.
- Uses 55mm filter threads.
Check a variety of places to find the best condition and price. Copies of the lens can be found on eBay, Amazon, KEH, and Adorama.
The 50mm focal length is a very good choice for several types of photography. The aspects of photography comprise landscapes, portraits, street, architecture, casual use, and travel. This is the most popular focal length that is paired with the TLb.
It is a light, small, and well balanced lens. The lenses weigh anywhere from 170-305g, with older versions being heavier. If you want the lightest lens, look for a new FD version.
There are Two faster versions of the 50mm lens in a FD lens mount.
Canon FD 50mm f/1.4
At the additional cost of weight, the Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 is 2/3 of a stop faster. It is slightly more expensive when compared to the f1.8.
- Excellent image quality.
- Optical multi-coatings.
- Fairly easy to find in good condition.
- Larger and heavier than the f/1.8.
The 50mm f/1.4 comes in 4 copies. The “new FD” version is the lightest and newest of the bunch.
Copies of the lens can be found on eBay, Amazon, KEH, and Adorama.A heavy, big, and challenging to focus lens. Shot wide open, images will not be sharp. Stopped down, you aren’t going to see a sizeable difference between it and the f/1.8 or f/1.4.
There are a couple versions, both are high-priced. The cost of the lens is as a result of rarity and collectibility, not optical performance.
Alternative Standard Lenses
If the 50mm focal length isn’t what you prefer, here are other alternatives. Expect to have to spend more than you would for a 50mm lens of equivalent speed.
- Canon FD 35mm f/2 SSC
- Canon FD 35mm f/2.8
- Canon FD 35mm f/3.5
- Canon FD 55mm f/1.2
Wide Angle Lens
Canon FD 28mm f/3.5
A 28mm focal length lens is often used for street photography. However, the most common use for wide-angle lenses are landscape and architectural photography.
- Great combination with a 50mm lens.
- Optical multi-coatings.
- Inexpensive and widely available.
- Small and light.
My recommended pick is the Canon FD 28mm f/2.8 mainly because of the cheaper price, ease of finding a copy, and terrific optics.
Alternative Wide Angle Lenses
In terms of price, the correlation is easy to understand. The greater the field of view, the costlier the lens ıs going to be. Faster versions also sell for noticeably more.
Weight will change based primarily on the characteristics of the lens. You can find lenses from 170g to 500g. Faster apertures will also mean that those lenses will be sizeable and cause the camera to be front heavy.
- Canon FD 7.5mm f/5.6 Fisheye
- Canon FD 14mm f/2.8L
- Canon FD 15mm f/2.8
- Canon FD 17mm f/4
- Canon FD 20mm f/2.8
- Canon FD 24mm f/1.4
- Canon FD 24mm f/2
- Canon FD 24mm f/2.8
- Canon FD 28mm f/2
- Canon FD 28mm f/2.8
Portrait & Telephoto Lens
Canon FD 100mm f/2.8
The 85mm lens wasn’t as big of a deal when the TLb was originally introduced. Rather, the 135mm focal length was the go to lens for portraits.
- Excellent portrait lens.
- Less expensive 85mm alternative.
- Great value.
- Inexpensive.
For taking portrait photos with the TLb, there are a few short telephoto lenses to select from. The 100mm f/2.8 lens is one of the least expensive options obtainable.
An 85mm lens will be the most expensive, with 135mm lenses making up the middle of the price bracket.
Since every one of the Canon FD telephoto lenses are manual focus, they are smaller sized than modern versions. Obviously, something like the Canon FD 85mm f/1.2L will certainly be enormous and heavy because of the quantity of glass in the lens.
Expect low prices for the Canon FD 100mm f/2.8. There is a 100mm f/4 macro version of the lens. It will be more expensive and is not ideal for portraits as it needs to be stopped down.
Alternative Telephoto Lenses
In addition to that, the Canon FD 135mm f/2.8 is one of the most affordable prime lenses you can acquire. You will be required to search through loads of listings for third-party 135mm lenses that will not be anywhere near as good as a Canon lens.
This is a variety of 85mm lenses to choose from out there. The most lusted after is the Canon FD f/1.2L lens. A cheaper substitute is the Canon FD 85mm f/1.8 lens, but it is significantly higher priced as opposed to the various telephoto lenses mentioned earlier.
- Canon FD 85mm f/1.2L
- Canon FD 85mm f/1.8
- Canon FD 100mm f/2
- Canon FD 135mm f/2.5
- Canon FD 200mm f/2.8
- Canon FD 200mm f/4
TLb Zoom Lenses
Canon FD 35-105mm f/3.5 & Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5
The usefulness of pairing a TLb with a zoom lens is enticing. Getting to use a range of focal lengths without having to swap a lens is advantageous.
You need to keep in mind that these are older zoom lenses.
- Haze and or Fungus
- Large amount of dust in the lens
- Loose or tight zoom ring
- Loose or tight focus ring
- Oil on the aperture blades
- Decentered lens elements
Additionally, you need to keep in mind the drawbacks the lenses have even when in excellent condition.
- Image quality will not be good when shot wide open.
- One or both ends of the focal range may suffer from a large amount of distortion.
- Zoom lenses are larger and generally heavier than primes.
Alternative Zoom Lenses
When considering pricing, just about all older zoom lenses are low cost.
- Canon FD 70-210mm f/4
- Canon FD 80-200mm f/4L
- Canon FD 28-85mm f/4
Macro Lens
Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 & Vivitar 55mm f/2.8
- My favorite vintage macro lens.
- Available in multiple lens mounts.
- Incredible value.
- Sharp corner-to-corner at f/8.
- My second favorite vintage macro lens.
- An excellent choice for close-up photography.
- It does not need an extension tube to reach 1:1 magnification.
Both of the suggested macro camera lenses were manufactured by Komine in Japan. The lens was also sold with assorted brand names. Quantaray, Panagor, Spiratone, Rokunar, and Elicar are brands you might see on a copy of the lens.
There is a Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Review and a Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Review.
For capturing photos at macro magnification (1:1), the 90mm lens is going to be the better choice because it has a larger working distance.
The 55mm lens is superb for close-up and table-top photography.
Alternative Macro Lenses
- Canon FD 50mm f/3.5
- Canon FD 100mm f/4
- Canon FD 200mm f/4
Used FD Camera Lens Prices
Lens prices are regularly changing. For the past several years, involvement in film photography has been increasing. Due to this fact, price ranges have continuously risen.
To get the lowest price, check outa lot of sites. Quickly get a great price when ever you find one since it can be a long time before more shows up.
What Lens Mount Does the Canon TLb Use?
The TLb uses the Canon FD lens mount. Canon used the FD mount for film cameras released from 1971-1992.
Here is a list of all the cameras that have a Canon FD mount.
The Canon FL lens mount was replaced by the FD lens mount, which was utilized between 1964-1971. FL mount lenses are compatible with the TLb, but you will need to use stopped down metering.
Standard Lens Cap Size
The standard lens cap and filter ring thread diameter for Canon FD lenses is 55mm.
Utilising a standardized filter thread size is useful since you only need to spend money on and bring one set of filters.
A handful of telephoto and zooms have larger filter ring thread diameters as they have huge front lens elements.
FD vs FL Lens Mount
The Canon FL lens mount was made prior to the FD lens mount. You are able to use FL lenses on the FD lens mount, and FD mount lenses can be used on the FL mount.
What Canon FL lenses do not have the technology to automatically do stop-down metering. As a result FL mount lenses need to be stopped down by pressing the depth-of-preview switch to ensure that the TLb’s light meter to display a correct value.
FD vs new FD Lenses
The entire body of the new FD lens rotates to lock onto the camera. In contrast to original FD lenses have a breech-lock ring at the rear of the lens that needs to be rotated to be able to mount a lens.
New FD and FD lenses are interchangeable with one another. There are no compatibility issues.
Quite often you will see new FD lenses referred to as FDn lenses.
The update in the design of the breech-lock ring was because of complaints. A small group of people suffered from lenses getting jammed on a FD camera.
If you have not mounted an FD lens to a camera, don’t get worried. Just take it slow and do not force anything.
Telling FD and FDn Lenses Apart
You can easily tell new FD and FD lenses apart. New FD lenses have a silver button on the barrel of the lens, near the mount.
Earlier FD lenses have a metal ring that needs to be rotated in order to lock the lens to the camera mount.
More Canon TLb Camera Resources
There is no more additional information on best TLb lenses. As soon more information on the camera is published on the site, it will be linked to below.
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