The 5 Best Canon F1n Camera Lenses
The F1n is a fantastic film camera.
This page will go over the best 5 lenses to use on the F1n camera.
Additional details are further down, however here’s the list if you’re in a rush:
- 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 F1n, the Canon FD 50mm f/1.8. The 50mm f1.8 is cheap, plentiful, and has superb 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.
A 50mm camera lens is a very good choice for several types of photography. The areas of photography comprise everyday use, travel, landscapes, portraits, street, and architecture. This is the most popular focal length that is combined with the F1n.
In terms of size and weight, the lens is light, small, and well balanced. Based on on the version of the lens, it will weigh between 170-305g. If you want the lightest lens, search for a new FD version.
Additionally, Canon built two versions with larger apertures for the FD camera 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 not that much 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.
Canon made four different variants of the 50mm f/1.4. The “new FD” variant is the newest and lightest out of the choices.
Copies of the lens can be found on eBay, Amazon, KEH, and Adorama.This lens is bulky, hefty, and tricky to focus lens. Shot wide open, images will not be sharp. Stopped down, you’re not going to see a large difference between it and the f/1.8 or f/1.4.
Both versions of the lens are expensive. Optical superiority is not the driver of price. People want to have the lens stemming from rarity and collectibility.
Alternative Standard Lenses
If the 50mm focal length isn’t what you like, here are several other options. Expect to have to pay additional money than you would for a 50mm lens with a equivalent aperture.
- 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 well liked focal length for street photography is 28mm. However, the most prominent 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 choice is the Canon FD 28mm f/2.8 on account of the low price, wide availability, and superb optics.
Alternative Wide Angle Lenses
In terms of cost, the relationship is simple. The larger the field of view, the costlier the lens ıs going to be. Lenses with larger apertures also sell for considerably more.
Weight will vary depending on the qualities of the lens. You can find lenses from 170g to 500g. Faster apertures will also mean that those lenses will physically be large and will make the camera more challenging to hold.
- 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 widely used when the F1n was initially released. Instead, 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 F1n, there are a few short telephoto lenses to select from. The 100mm f/2.8 lens is one of the cheapest possibilities available.
An 85mm lens will cost the most, with 135mm lenses coming in the middle of the price range.
Since all the Canon FD telephoto lenses will be manual focus, they are smaller than autofocus versions. Undoubtedly, a lens like like the Canon FD 85mm f/1.2L is going to be big and heavy with the amount of glass in the lens.
Expect to see very low prices for the Canon FD 100mm f/2.8. There’s also a 100mm f/4 macro version of the lens. It will certainly be more expensive and is not a good choice for portraits as the lens needs to be stopped down.
Alternative Telephoto Lenses
An alternative, the Canon FD 135mm f/2.8 is just about the least expensive prime lenses you can get. You will need to dig through loads of listings for third-party 135mm lenses that will not be anywhere near as good as a Canon lens.
You will find a few 85mm lenses available. The most desireable is the Canon FD f/1.2L lens. A lower priced substitute is the Canon FD 85mm f/1.8 lens, but it remains somewhat more expensive as opposed to the other telephoto lenses in this article.
- 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
F1n Zoom Lenses
Canon FD 35-105mm f/3.5 & Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5
The benefits of combining a F1n with a zoom lens is appealing. Having the capability of using a range of focal lengths with no need to change a lens is advantageous.
Don’t forget 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.
- 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
As far as price, most older zoom lenses will be affordable.
- 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.
Komine made the 2 recommened macro camera lenses in Japan. The lens was also released with different brand names. Spiratone, Rokunar, Elicar, Quantaray, and Panagor are names 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 pictures at lifesize magnification (1:1), the 90mm lens is without a doubt the better choice because it has a larger working distance.
The 55mm focal length lens is superb for table-top and close-up 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 constantly changing. During the past few years, involvement in film photography has been rising. Because of that, prices have continuously gone up.
The best option is to check out prices from a lot of sites. Immediately snap up a great deal when ever you find one mainly because the best deals are purchased the fastest.
What Lens Mount Does the Canon F1n Use?
The F1n 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 FD lens mount replaced the Canon FL lens mount, which was used between 1964-1971. FL mount lenses are compatible with the F1n, but you will be required 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 because you are only required to find and carry one set of filters.
Some zoom and telephoto lenses have bigger filter ring thread diameters due to the fact that they have enormous front lens elements.
FD vs FL Lens Mount
The Canon FL lens mount was made before the FD lens mount. You can make use of FL lenses on the FD lens mount, and FD lenses can be used on the FL mount.
What Canon FL mount lenses lack is the ability to do auto stop-down metering. As a consequence the an FL lens need to be stopped down by pressing the depth-of-preview switch so that the F1n’s light meter to show the proper value.
The most popular camera to use the FD mount would be the Canon AE-1. The best Canon AE-1 lenses can be found on the page.
FD vs new FD Lenses
The whole body of the new FD lens rotates to lock onto the F1n. In contrast to original FD lenses have a breech-lock ring at the back of the lens that is required to be tightened in order to secure a lens.
FD and new FD lenses are interchangeable with each other. There will be no compatibility issues.
Frequently you will see new FD lenses referred to as FDn lenses.
The change in the design of the breech-lock ring was caused by complaints. A small number of camera owners endured lenses getting stuck on a FD camera mount.
If you have not mounted an FD mount lens to a camera body, don’t worry. Just take it slow and do not force anything.
Telling FD and FDn Lenses Apart
You can without difficulty tell new FD and FD lenses from one another. New FD lenses have a silver button on the barrel of the lens, where the lens mounts to the camera.
The first version of FD lenses have a metal ring that is required to be rotated in order to lock the lens to the camera mount.
More Canon F1n Camera Resources
That is it for the best F1n lenses. Once more info on the camera is published on the site, links will be below.