Canon FD lenses. SC vs. SSC vs. Black Mount

Okay, the SC lens stands for Spectra Coating. The SSC stands for Super Spectra Coating.

What about the "Black Mount" lenses (as the previous have silver ring mounts)? These do not

specify any coating. Are these newer and what kind of coating do they have on their lenses?

Are there any benefits to the different versions of lense or are they basically the same (color

rendition, sharpness, quality, etc.)

The silver lens mount is the original breech mount, the black is referred to as the bayonet or New FD mount.<p>I believe some lenses were reformulated (elements, groups, glass, coatings) during their remounting (if you will). Most lenses were probably already SSC by the time that Canon changed mount attributes, for that reason Canon may have deceided to forgo the SC/SSC label.<p> Why don�t you check out the

<a href="http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/f_lens.html"><b>Canon Camera Museum</b></a> for information on a specific lens.

Subjectively speaking (I'm a former Canon FD user) I saw little performance difference between the SC, SSC and later lenses. One of the best performing, most flare-free lenses I've ever owned was the modest Canon 35/3.5 SC.

 

As Jim suggested, try the online Canon Museum. Excellent resource.

Wow I was thinking about this exact same thing the other day! I also have a fd bayonet mount 50mm 1.8....It doesnt say SC or SCC on it. Can I assume this lens was made after and the SC/SCC was unnessisary? I looked at the canon link and it happens to be the only lens without a picture so I cant confirm!

The webs other definative Canon site is at <a href="http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/fdlenses/index.htm"><b>Mir</b></a>.<p>There is also a great Canon users group the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanonFD/"><b>Canon FD Group</b></a> (housed at Yahoo Groups).<p>Both of these sites are superb for doing research.<p>To answer your question Peter...if it's bayonet that means it is the last version of the lens <B>BUT</b> and I quote;<p>"<i>It (the 50 f1.8) was also the only lens in the FDn (Bayonet or New FD) series that was given the S.C. (Spectra Coating) treatment as opposed to S.S.C.</i>".

Sean, I have the silver breech lock and the bayonet lock,SC and SSC and I think its really insignificant in shopping for a used FD lens. More better check the other factors, like cleanliness and physical use and abuse. I have a preference for the bayonet style -the newer versions because they snap on without turning a ring,and thus are just a skoshi quicker to mount. Its six of one and half dozen of the other. Noone has proven that one is more desirable than the other ones. And its hard to think of a Canon FD lens that is a bummer. Color,chromatic abberation, spherical aberration, coma, and all those other distortions are as corrected as one might expect from a company that did its homework,makes shopping easier eh what?. So, yep, if the formula of the elements is the same,(here you get to look at the Book Canon Lens Work on Rollingers site) and the focusing mechanism is same,the lens iis just about the same (you dont care about filter size I assume) the Bayonets tend to be smaller filter size. Even the use of some plastic (polycarbonate) still hasnt deterred my views in the Canon lineup. GS

Hey Gerry,

Thanks for using the word "skoshi"!