Canon FD 17mm 4.0 on a F1N

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>This is a photo of Pensacola Beach. I used Fuji Reala 100 in the F1N. No filters were used.</p>

 

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>After getting absorbed into rangefinder photography for a few years, it felt good to pick up my trusted F1N with a 17mm 4.0 FD lens. The viewfinder added a spotmeter, which was handy for photography at a beach with white sand. I used Fuji Reala 100 negative film without any filter.<br>

Dana and Lina were having a blast running after birds at the nearly deserted beach that day. The wind was blowing and the waves were wild.<br>

The F1N feels rock solid and professional. It is heavier than some of my RF cameras. The 17mm lens appears to be very well corrected for curving lines. It looks like a rectilinear lens, but I could be wrong here.</p><div></div>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>The second image shows the water.</p><div></div>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>This image shows my daughters.</p><div></div>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>This image shows the birds at the beach.</p><div></div>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>The last image shows the scene.</p><div></div>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Nice Pics, Raid! Thanks for sharing these.</p>

[andy_game]

<p>great stuff, Raid. Certainly spot metering would be an advantage in bright beach scenes like these, but it still takes experience to know what to meter...</p>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>Louis and Andy: Thanks.<br>

I use a spotmeter to get reading from the sky and from neutral colored things around me. The back of my hand is usually a good Neutral "grey" area for metering. With white sand, you want to allow some overexposure to keep the sand white in the images. </p>

[gman]

<p>Raid, Good pics! I always wanted one of those when I was an FD user but never got one. I had always read that it was a very good lens. It is great that you have one!</p>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>Wayne,</p>

<p>Thanks. I recently read about how good this lens is! My lens was hidden somewhere at home, and I was so happy that I still had a minty 17mm lens. I have used it with the Canon F1N and also with Adapter B on a Leica RF camera.</p>

[rwbowman]

<p>Very nice pictures, Raid. I don't shoot many wide angle shots--you've inspired me to do more. Thanks!</p>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>Thank you, Robert.<br>

I used to use wide angle lenses only with nature shots of mountains and valleys ... etc., but now I am trying to use such lenses when getting very close to people or subjects. With the lens at 1m and setting the aperture at F 11~16, you get depth of field ranging from less than 1m to infinity. It becomes like an AF P&S situation where you don't have to watch focusing but pay attention to composing.</p>

[w_t1]

<p>Scanning and PP info, levels, curves? I think I like the 1st the best with the red building. I shot 90% of my pics with 24mm for many years, until I picked up 17. I wish they made a 17 fixed in Eos mt. My kids are probably 2-3 years older than yours, I must have a gazillion shots like "running away from birds" . Thanks</p>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>WT: I got the film commercially scanned on a Fuji Frontier, followed by basic PS where I just used CURVE. I am not very knowledgeable on PS.</p>

<p>I never got into using EOS cameras even though I have a A2E body at home. They feel so flimsy in comparison with FD cameras. </p>

[ben_hutcherson]

<p>Raid,<br>

Those are great shots.<br>

I don't own a 17mm(yet) although I am a self-described wide angle lover. My 20mm virtually lives on one of my cameras(whichever one I happen to be using), and I've been tempted to get a 17mm to take things to the next extreme.</p>

[John Crowe]

<p>I shot with the 17mm for 16 years and it was one of my favourite lenses. It is a rectilinear lens, and very well corrected. It is contasty and sharp with very good colour rendition.</p>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>Thank you Ben. I don't have the Canon 20mm lens [reputed to be excellent] but I have a Vivitar 19mm 3.8 and I may soon own a Canon 19mm 3.5 FL.</p>

<p>John: I forgot about my 17mm for a few years, but now I am finally using it. The first image looks sharp and contrasty to me, with excellent color rendition.</p>

[dirk_dom1]

<p> Very nice shots. Isn't the 17mm great??</p>

<p> I have two of them, a banged up breechlock version, and a mint condition one.</p>

<p>What I like most about the 17mm is the very short focusing distance.</p>

<p>With the 17mm, at F22, the hyperfocal distance is 0.5m, which means that everything from half that distance (0.25m) to infinity is in focus. Those 25 cm are not from the front of the lens, but from the film plane. The camera + 17mm combination is 10 cm thick, so everything from 15 cm from the front of the lens is in focus!! This makes for truly awesome shots.</p>

<p>Try it out!!! </p>

<p>Bye, Dirk.</p><div></div>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>Hi Dirk,<br>

Yes, the DOF properties for this lens are great, as you have explained. My 17mm lens still looks mintish since I hardly used it in the past, and I take very good care of all my lenses. Your posted image proves the 15cm rule! This makes such a lens also very useful on a rangefinder camera without RF coupling since the DOF is so great that I can just use the camera/lens like a AF P&S camera. The advantage of using a RF is not having mirror vibrations, allowing slower hand held speeds to be used. 1/15 on a Canon P or Leica M3 are quite manageable, but on a Canon F1N, it could be challenging.</p>

[scrivyscriv]

<p>Gorgeous! Great job controlling the dynamic range - and I love the look of your film!</p>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>Thank you Robert, Fuji Reala seems to get the best out of some vintage lenses.</p>

[joachim]

<p>Hi Raid,</p>

<p>Just came across your pictures. While I quite like them in principle, I feel there is a certain magenta cast which drove me up the walls the last time I tried Reala. Did you ever try some slide film? I find this easier to get nice colours, in particular with a profiled scanner.<br>

As I said nothing wrong with your pictures, just the colours ...</p>

[pensacolaphoto]

<p>Hi Joachim,<br />I have used this lens many times in the past with Fujichrome Velvia 50. The colors suggest a magenta cast, as you have said. It is most likely the effect of PS adjusting [curve] that may have tilted the colors towards magenta, but the effect is not that bad on my monitor.</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>I like the 17 F4 but generally prefer the 24 F2. I find that the 17 F4 suffers quite badly from flare and always needs to be used with the lens hood. Do you use the hood Raid?</p>