Vignetting on FDn Lenses

Can anyone tell me the number of filters that can be stacked on the FDn lenses?..

 

I'm interested, to one degree or another, in most of the lenses ranging from the 14mm f2.8L up to the 300mm f2.8L..

 

In specific, I'm interested in the 14mm f2.8L, the 24mm f1.4L, the 35mm f2.0, the 50mm f1.2L, the 85mm f1.2L,

the 135mm f2.0, the 200mm f2.8, & the 300mm f2.8L lenses..

 

Any info will be greatly appreciated..

 

Thanks, Bruce

It depends on the lens, and on the thickness of the filters.

 

As for the 300/2.8L, it uses a drop-in filter that inserts in the lens barrel. You can use one filter there. If you want to use additional filters they'll have to be large, around 112mm in diameter IIRC.

I have five of the lenses on the list, but I never use more than one filter at a time (or haven't for many years, anyway).

So my experience is limited.

 

You can read about these lenses on the Canon Museum site, and that would have eliminated two from your list. The

14/2.8 has a slot for rear-mounted gels, and the 300/2.8 has a slot for a drop-in 48mm filter.

 

Of the remainder, you can be pretty sure the 24 would vignette with more than one filter of standard thickness. Of

course you could get around this by using larger filters and a stepping ring. You could probably get away with at

least two filters on the long lenses. I don't know about the 35 or the 50.

 

Many lenses have mount vignetting, even without a filter, when they are used at large aperture, so your results might

depend on the taking aperture.

I use a nFD 24mm 2.8 and a 28mm 2.0 and never double stack filters because even side/top lighting can cause problems with most wide angles.As for polarizers I use a Tiffen that is made for wide angle lenses (thinner - front threads removed) and never with a stepping ring.The colors 'explode" with FD's and polarizers so I use them a lot this time of the year when the leaves change color.The UV 0 protection filters stay at home through this season as far as I'm concerned.As a rule of thumb anything wider than 35mm focal length should not be used with more than one filter.Many on this forum resist using any filters at all because they can slightly degrade the image quality of their FD optics.

Thank for the responses..

 

I am recently returning to 35mm film photography after almost a 30 year layoff..Although I first started posting

& asking questions here on PN over a year ago, my return to film photography has been delayed for a number of

reasons..

 

I should have mentioned that I am primarily interested in black & white photography..Color generally represents

less than 10% of what I expose over the course of the year..Does shooting almost all B&W film have any effect as

regards to stacking filters on the above mentioned lenses?..

 

I am interested in switching to the Canon F-1N body, the Speed Finder FN, the AE Power Winder FN, & the lenses

listed above for fast-paced, available-light, primarily (but, not always) hand-held cityscapes & street photography..

 

In the past I have been exclusively a Pentax person, but the no longer manufactured Pentax lenses that

approximate the Canon one's that I mentioned above are so far out of my price range as to be unobtainable..

 

The filters that I can see myself using will be clear UV filters, neutral density filters, black & white contrast

filters, & occasionally star filters at night..

 

Thanks again,

 

Bruce

I regularly use a full size polarizer and a UV filter on the 85mm f1.2 and 135mm F2.0 with no problems. While I have not used the f1.4 24mm the f2.0 vignettes very slighly if a polarizer is used with a UV filter. You may want to use the narrow filters for this lens - I have to use a narrow filter on the 17mm F4. I also find that you need a lens hood with the 85mm F1.2 and the 24mm F2.0 (and especially the 17mm F4) this rather limits filter use.