The 5 Best Canon AE-1 Program Camera Lenses

The Canon AE-1 Program uses FD-mount lenses.

Unlike modern lenses, FD lenses are manual focus and use a breech lock design.

Because the FD-mount was discontinued in 1987, only used Canon AE-1 Program lenses are available.

The three most popular FD lenses are easy to find in good working condition. Wide angle, fast aperture, portrait, telephoto, zoom, and macro lenses are covered in this guide.

If you buy online, make sure there is at least a 30 day return policy. Watch out for common problems like tight focus rings, lens fungus, oily aperture blades, or haze.

• 50mm f1.8 ($50) - Candid, street, travel, portraits, and general photography.
• 28mm f2.8 ($100) - Landscapes, architecture, travel, and street photography.
• 135mm f2.5 ($100) - Portraits.

Newer, EF or RF mount lenses cannot be used on the AE-1 Program.

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Standard Primes (Kit lenses)

Canon FD 50mm f/1.8

The Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 was the kit lens commonly bundled with the AE-1 Program. It is widely available, affordable, and produces strong image quality. It’s the first lens I would recommend.

• The original kit lens for the AE-1 Program.
• Widely available and easy to find in good condition.
• Light and compact.
• Uses 55mm filter threads.

The 50mm focal length is well suited for portraits, street photography, architecture, travel, and general use. It is the most common focal length paired with the AE-1 Program.

Depending on the version, the lens weighs between 170 and 305 grams. Canon produced several versions over the years, with the New FD variant being the most recent and the lightest.

Canon FD 50mm f/1.4

The Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 is 2/3 of a stop faster than the f/1.8 at the cost of additional size and weight. It is modestly more expensive than the f/1.8 and reasonably easy to find on the used market.

• 2/3 stop faster than the f/1.8.
• Optical multi-coatings to reduce glare and ghosting.
• Fairly easy to find in good condition.
• Larger and heavier than the f/1.8.

Canon produced four versions of the 50mm f/1.4, with the New FD variant being the most recent and lightest.

Wide Angle Lens

Canon FD 28mm f/3.5

A sought after focal length for street photography is 28mm. However, lenses that are wider than 28mm are typically the most popular for 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 inexpensive price, wide availability, and terrific optics.

Portrait & Telephoto Lens

Canon FD 100mm f/2.8

The 85mm lens wasn’t as significant when the AE-1 Program was originally introduced. Rather, the 135mm focal length was a more popular lens for portraits.

• Excellent portrait lens.
• Less expensive 85mm alternative.
• Great value.
• Inexpensive.

If you want to capture portrait photos with the AE-1 Program, there are several short telephoto lenses to choose from. The 100mm f/2.8 lens is one of the most economical selections around.

An 85mm lens will cost the most, with 135mm lenses sitting in the middle of the range of prices.

As all the Canon FD telephoto lenses are manual focus, they are much more compact than autofocus versions. Keep in mind, professional lenses like the Canon FD 85mm f/1.2L will certainly be hefty and large because of the amount of glass in the lens.

Anticipate very low prices for the Canon FD 100mm f/2.8. There’s also a 100mm f/4 macro version of the lens. It is going to be more expensive and is not the best choice for portraits as it ought to be stopped down.

Alternative Telephoto Lenses

An alternative, the Canon FD 135mm f/2.8 is just about the most inexpensive prime lenses you can acquire. You will be required to search through loads of results for third-party 135mm lenses that definitely are not anywhere near as good as a Canon lens.

You will find multiple 85mm lenses out there. The most desireable is the Canon FD f/1.2L lens. A cheaper choice is the Canon FD 85mm f/1.8 lens, but it is considerably higher priced than the numerous other telephoto lenses described.

• 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

Canon AE-1 Program Zoom Lenses

Canon FD 35-105mm f/3.5 & Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5

The benefits of partnering a AE-1 Program with a zoom lens is tempting. Having a range of focal lengths without having to switch a lens is nice.

Bear in mind that all of 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.

1. Image quality will not be good when shot wide open.
2. One or both ends of the focal range may suffer from a large amount of distortion.
3. Zoom lenses are larger and generally heavier than primes.

Alternative Zoom Lenses

Vintage zoom lenses are usually very inexpensive. This is because they have slow apertures that can make focusing in low light difficult. They also have more moving parts than a prime, meaning more can go wrong.

• 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.

The 2 recommended macro camera lenses were built by Komine in Japan. They were sold under the following brand names: Spiratone, Rokunar, Elicar, Quantaray, and Panagor.

There is a Vivitar 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Review and a Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Review.

For capturing pictures at macro magnification (1:1), the 90mm lens is likely to be the better pick because it has a greater working distance.

The 55mm focal length lens is ideal 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

What Lens Mount Does the Canon AE-1 Use?

The Canon AE-1 Program uses FD-mount lenses.

The previous FL mount lenses can be used. They will require the use of stop down metering. That’s where the lens needs to be stopped down by pressing the depth-of-preview switch to allow correct metering.

FD vs new FD Lenses

The entire new FD lens rotates to lock onto the AE-1 Program. Compared to original FD lenses which have a breech-lock ring at the back of the lens that has to be rotated in order to mount a lens to the camera.

New FD and FD lenses are interchangeable with one another. There are no compatibility issues.

Occasionally you will spot new FD lenses referred to as FDn lenses.

The change in the design of the breech-lock ring was attributed to complaints. A minority of users endured lenses getting stuck on a FD camera mount.

If you have not attached an FD mount lens to a camera, don’t stress out. Simply just take it slow and don’t force anything.

Telling FD and FDn Lenses Apart

It is fast and simple to tell new FD and FD lenses from one another. New FD lenses are going to have a silver button located on the barrel of the lens, where the lens mounts to the camera.

Older FD lenses have a metal ring that is required to be rotated after the lens is mounted to lock the lens into place.