Advantages of Canon FD lenses versus Nikon AI/S

[gwhitegeog]

Having built up a very large collection of Canon and Nikon manual focus lenses from the 1970s- 1990s (about 35 lenses at the last count), I have now taken an informed overview about the two marques.

1. Nikon lenses were slightly better made. Less likely to yellow, or the aperture iris stop working etc. Or fall apart.

2. Canon lenses were better designed. All from 1971 do what it took Nikon another 10 years to get round to - all index automatically, no faffing around with rabbit ear connectors, or not working on some metering heads, etc.

3. Canon lenses are better in that they all have proper half stops - crucial if you shoot (shot) slide film. Nikon don't. For me, this is the major shortcoming of Nikon lenses of the era.

4. Possibly, Nikon lenses are slightly optically superior, lens for lens, though there are so many variables, that is a difficult one to call.

5. The F mount continuity is admirable with Nikon, though of course they paid the price initially in their poor auto focus design.

6. Owning about 15 Nikon and Canon bodies, and still using them all regularly, I'd say probably that the Nikon F4 was the best 35mm film camera ever made (I don't know much about Leicas!). I'd put the Canon T-90 a close second, though they are far less reliable mechanically than the F4.

Gary

[SCL]

Owning both a T-90 and F4 I'd have to basically agree that they are well made, although the EEE issue with the T90 should have been resolved early in production. As to whether either is the best 35mm film camera ever made, I'd have to take issue..., but don't want to get into that discussion here. I actually liked the F5 better than the F4, but it was a beast to carry, and the F100, although based on the F5, really wasn't a competitor, although it too was a god camera for the time. I also put the Contax RX just about equal to the T90 in functionality, and of course its use principally of Zeiss T* lenses of the era made it a strong competitor to Canon's L lenses. All the comparisons aside, I love shooting with the film oldies (including Leicas) of the 1950-90s. Thanks, Gary, for your comments.

[gwhitegeog]

I agree about the F5 - I have one too and though overall it is better than the F4 (focussing, ability to get the best from later lenses, etc), I think the F4 is the classic. The Contax RTS was a beauty. I think the problem with the T-90 was they crammed in all they could at the end of the FD era - it was the pinnacle really - and enthusiasts and pros adopted it with alacrity and many got hammered but Canon had only fitted an 'amateur' shutter mechanism to it. Probably, they would have redesigned it were it not for the fact it really only had a 3 year production run and Canon were paying attention to EOS then.  I have one good working T-90 body (and two u/s bodies for spares) and I fire the shutter across the range at least once a month to exercise the shutter! I also store it very carefully.

[glen_h]

As to the half f/stops.  All the manual Canon and Nikon lenses that I know have a continuous aperture ring.

You can select any value, between the actual stops.

The Nikon FM meter indicates when you are within 0.2 f/stops of the desired exposure.

If you are using an external meter, and setting the aperture, I suppose half stop detents are useful.

Otherwise, choose any setting that you want. 

I believe that works with manual mode on Nikon cameras with built-in meters, and also Canon cameras.

[gwhitegeog]

To my knowledge and from my experience, Canon FD have full half stop clicks (e.g, f1.4, f.1.8, f2.0, f2.5) and meter automatically as such. Nikkor pre-AI / AI lenses may have a continuous aperture but it is click stopped at full stops only. Thus, if you try to set a half way position, there is a danger it will not hold. All modern AF lenses with electronic irises have 1/3 stops. I always used Canon in the film days when I used Kodachrome and Fujichrome slow slide film and wanted 1/3 stop adjustments. Using the F1n or T90 on aperture priority whereby the camera could set the shutter speed steplessly, you could get very accurate exposures, with 1/2 stops on the lenses. Am just looking now in my hand at an early AF-D 20mm f2.8 Nikkor. The aperture scale is quite firm and will hold at say f9.5 between f8 and f11 and the meter coupling ring moves accordingly. But I still prefer the Canon system.