Canon FD 135mm F/2.5 S.C.

Specifications01

MountCANON FD

Focal length135mm

Max aperturef/2.5

TypeCinema · Telephoto · Prime

Release year1973

Weight630 g

Filter size58 mm

Physical length91 mm

Min focus distance1.5 m

Max magnification0.1401

Aperture blades8

Optical elements6

Groups5

AutofocusNo

StabilizationNo

Aperture controlAperture ring (Manual settings + Auto Exposure setting)

Lens hoodBuilt-in telescopic round

TeleconvertersCanon Extender FD 2X-B→ 270mm F/5

EraFilm era

Production statusDiscontinued

Additional Info02

Category["Vintage"]

Keywords["Canon","Prime","Tele","Vintage"]

Lens TypeMedium telephoto prime lens

Review AuthorKlaus

Review VerdictWe didn't really expect too much from the Canon FD 135mm f/2.5 S.C.. After all, it sits in the shadow of the more popular (as far as vintage popularity goes) FD 100mm f/2.8 S.S.C. and it's pretty affordable. However, it turns out that it is one of the best lenses tested in our mini-series. The lens is fairly sharp at f/2.5 and at f/4 it's almost impressive. Image distortions are non-existent. However, the lateral and axial CAs can be noticeable at f/2.5 at least. The vignetting is roughly in line with what we've seen from other 100mm-ish lenses of the era - thus you can expect some light falloff at f/2.5 although it's not extreme really. The quality of the bokeh is in the middle of the vintage pack. The build quality of the Canon lens is excellent. It uses an all-metal body with a silky smooth and dampened focus ring. The aperture ring action is also among the best that we've seen in the test group. The FD mount's breech-lock mechanism is one of the less convincing aspects and fortunately, this concept vanished into history. It's just too fiddly in our book with a lock ring both on the lens as well as on the adapter. If you plan on purchasing multiple FD lenses, it's probably a good idea to order one adapter for each one as well. Even so, with the combination of very decent optical qualities, solid construction and affordable pricing the Canon FD 135mm f/2.5 S.C. could be an interesting first candidate for exploring a vintage lens. A final word of caution though - 135mm are about as long as we'd suggest going with a manual focus lens. Hand-held manual focusing is getting quite difficult from this point onward. If your camera features an image stabilizer, it is worth configuring it to 135mm and live stabilization.

Review Published2023-01-04T01:27:00+00:00

Optical Construction6 elements in 5 groups

Field Notes02

Canon FD 135mm F/2.5 is a fast prime telephoto lens for Canon FD mount, suited to portraits and low-light subject isolation with shallow depth of field.

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Catalog note · source: thelensdb