Best Canon "walk around lens"

[User_502260]

<p>To go a little off topic, the Vivitar 35-105/3.2-4-4 arrived today. While I haven't tested it yet I did notice some differences between this lens and the 35-105/3.5 New FD. As Bob mentioned, focusing from 5.5 feet to infinity is a very short turn, less than an inch. Even in the close-up mode it doesn't get as close as the 35-105/3.5. The close-up mode can only be engaged at the 105 seting but at that setting focusing is continuous from infinity to about 20 inches. This is much better for portraits. The 35-105 leaves you stuck with nothing at 105 between 5 feet and its close-up mode. What about the 35-105/3.5-3.4 New FD? Now I'd like to find one of those too. </p>

[tomscott]

<p>Andy (Collins),<br>

You really should quit teasing us with such pornographic images. We've all seen your new EF, now put that thing away before someone gets hurt. :-)<br>

Seriously though, the 35-105 f/3.5 2 touch zoom is the only FD zoom that I own and I really wonder sometimes why I even have all of these primes that just sit around collecting dust. Mounted on the EF, it is just the perfect size and weight for a carry weapon, I mean lens. </p>

[Andy Collins]

<p>Oh, c'mon Tom...I love flashing my EF at unsuspecting eyes!</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>I had an AE-1 P for about 2 years and although I don't know much about the FD lenses, I did have the FD 28-85mm zoom and loved it. It is a beautiful lens and is hard to come by. Check ebay periodically, I had to look for about a year before I finally found one. It cost me almost $200 about 4 years ago and at the time I thought that was insanely expensive, but now that I have a couple of the "cheaper" L lenses I realize it wasn't that much.</p>

[bob_miller4]

<p>Jeff wrote "The 35-105 leaves you stuck with nothing at 105 between 5 feet and its close-up mode."<br>

Which lens does this refer to? At 105mm, the Vivitar 35-105mm/3.2-4 does focus continuously down to its minimum distance.</p>

[User_502260]

<p>What I meant to say was that with the 35-105/3.5 New FD you are stuck at 5 feet at the 105 setting. When you turn the zooming ring toward the 35mm setting and then cross into the close focusing range you are between about 12 and 16 inches from the focal plane mark. Tamron used to advertise their CF lenses which allowed continuous focusing from infinity to the closest focusing distance. Some of their later manual focus lenses dropped this feature. With the Vivitar 35-105/3.2-4 you can go from infinity to about 20 inches at the 105 setting. I don't need to be as close as 20 inches for a portrait but at least getting as close as 4 feet is helpful. When I am shooting with Minoltas my favorite portrait lens is the 100/2.5 MC Rokkor. This lens gets down to 4 feet. For adults that's fine. For a child it would be nice to be able to get a little closer. The Vivitar 70-150/3.8 (22XXX...) two touch zoom only gets down to 5 feet at the long end but at 150 that's close enough. </p>

[steve_kennedy3]

<p>Kiron 28-105/3.2-4.5. Bought it the same day I bought my first Canon (A-1) back in '84. Still use it more than any other for walking around. Relatively heavy but nicely sharp. Don't see Kiron mentioned often here but I like mine.</p>

[Andy Collins]

<p>I had a Kiron 35-135 that I used on an F-1N some years ago. It was a really nice lens, one I wish I hadn't sold.</p>

[mark_pierlot]

<p>And the Kiron 105/2.8 Macro is of course legendary, and fairly often mentioned in this forum. But it's obviously not a zoom.</p>

<p>My three zoom FD walkabout kit is the 20-35/3.5 L, 35-105/3.5, and 80-200/4 L. If I want to go with just one lens, it's the middle one. I have found this set of zooms to be so useful outdoors that I've given it an EOS "reincarnation" with the EF 17-40/4 L, 24-105/4 IS L, and 70-200/4 IS L. Again, for walking about with just one lens, it's the middle one.</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<blockquote>

<p>I had heard that this lens was not as good as the 35-105 f3.5 zoom</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yeah thats the chatter you hear but I distinctly remember, many years ago when this was a hotter topic, there was a published comparison tests with MTF charts and actual images between the two. Of course I can't find it now but the upshot was the were both very similar in resolution and distortion metrics. Practically identical if I remember correctly. The older fixed aperture lens had the edge with speed and a narrower DOF at the long end but at a price of weight with a slightly greater possiblity of flare due to the large front element.</p>

[barryreid]

<p>I think what you use depends on what you are trying to get on a given day. My personal FD 'walk around' kit therefore varies. For a general trip i'd take a 20-35/3.5L, 28-85/4. I'm more likely to be in a city than the country so the 20-35 field of view is good for buildings (in spite of some distortion) and the 28-85 is great for general shots and candids.</p>

[User_4136860]

<p>I have the FD 28-85 f4 and FD 35-105 3.5 that are both excellent optics, but to be honest the one I use the most is the much underrated FD 35-70 f3.5-4.5 it's lighter than my 50mm 1.4 and capable of excellent results , much better than most people imagine.</p>

[mark_pierlot]

<p>Ben, I have a first generation FD 35-70/2.8-3.5 SSC. It's IQ is excellent, but it's big and heavy, weighing in at 575g (as opposed to a mere 200g for your later 35-70). </p>

[User_4136860]

<p>Mark Pierlot, many people dismiss the FD 35-70 f3.5-4.5 optic as crap because of the lightweight plastic construction of the barrel, the majority of them have never actually used one of them, the lens has a three group zooming system, and a macro facility over the whole zooming range, and is capable of excellent results, although I must admit I only bought mine because it was attached to a T90 and the shop where I bought it wouldn't split them, when I actually used it to my surprise the results were first class, I find it the perfect compact, lightweight, do-everything ,walk around lens.</p>

[rick_janes]

<p>Zoom or prime? My answer is "yes" because walk-arounds are ideally like potato chips, nobody should have just one. What I'm carrying greatly influences the where and when, that's a big part of the fun. Bring something different, see what happens, try it more than once...nobody's inspired everyday...</p>

[john_schulz7]

<p>Personally, I like my Vivtar Series 1 35-85 f/2.8 as my all around "walk around" lens.<br>

It sports good macro/close up capabilities and the f/2.8 runs throughout the range.<br>

I have used this lens since new in the mid-70's, so the familiarity factor plays big for me.<br>

A little heavy, but nicely balances on the A-1 with the MA motor drive. On the T90, the<br>

lens hood does stray below the bottom plane of the camera. As a kit, I'll carry the<br>

35-85 f/2.8, the original 70-210 f/3.5 Vivtar Series 1, and a Canon 50mm f/1.2L... with<br>

whatever camera suits the day/trip/event.</p>

[igord]

<p>I would like to buy the 35-105 zoom so I let myself correct one of the photos just to see how it look little more contrasty, I hope Andy has nothing against.</p><div></div>