7.8
8.5
8.0

Canon New FD 35-70mm f/4 AF

Year 1981
Lens Groups 8
Lens Element 8
Aperature Blades 6
Minimum Aperture f/22
Closest Focusing 0.5 m
Max. Magnifcation 1:6.7 (0.15x)
Filter Size 52 mm
Diameter x Length 85 x 99.5 mm
Weight 604 gr (1.33 lb)
Hood -
2017-02-09

NIbarr

IQ
8.5
Build
10.0
9.0
Nice metal build, AF, constant aperture, sharp, great collectible
Not very accurate, Hefty and small manual focus ring, awkward, heavy

This is a very unique FD lens that it uses AF on any lens it works on.

It has a nice metal build and has the "Canon Telephoto" White paint. It's AF system works well for stationary objects and in bright light. Itt's a very simple AF system: Push the button and it will autofocus. It's also a constant aperture which is surprising. The lens is actually quite sharp and good performing. But in the end, it's not a very practical lens. It does make a good collectible though.

The AF system suffers in low light and can take a while to focus. If you want to manual focus it, you have to turn a hefty tiny ring at the front of the lens. It almost feels like you are going to break the AF motor manually focusing this. It is also awkward in weight distribution because the AF motor is pretty big and lopsided to one side. Also due to the metal build and heavy motor system, it is very heavy to handle.

If you get this, It is fun to use occasionally, but not for very serious photography or video. It does make a fun to look at collectible and you can brag about having Canon's first interchangeable AF lens.

2009-10-27

rjc

IQ
7.0
Build
7.0
7.0
Auto focus, sharp
Difficult to manual focus, slow autofocus, colors subdued

I got this lens to try it out, and when it worked it was terrific, sharp images, dead on focus accuracy, but this didn't happen all the time. It was difficult to manual focus, changing the focus length by turning the lever was not as precise as lens that your turned the barrel on a regular lens. When the AF was dead on the images were sharp even at F4, but the AF on plants and trees were often off it just didn't seen to focus that well on the twigs, flower stems, but on larger items it was dead on. The colors were much like the 70-219mm zoom. It was a major innovation for its time, and that was part of the desire to own it, but I sold it off a year later. Went through batteries very often. AF system was big and bulky. I eventually replaced this with a 35-105 F3.5.