Canon FD New 50mm f/3.5 Macro (Close-up Video Secret Weapon?) | Round Glass Review

[@ChasWG]

I own the older SSC version and have had some really great and fun results with this lens. I also own the FD 25 U extender as well as some shorter FD extension tubes. On of my more favorite set ups to use with this lens is a stack of 15mm extension tubes with this macro lens. Not fully 1:1, but I like the results better unless I absolutely need to be that close. I have been building a complete set of SSC lenses. Love that 50mm f1.4 lens! The tip on using the RF to FD adapter as the aperture control while shooting video is one of the coolest things I've picked up from a YT video in a while. It never dawned on me to use that. But I don't shoot a lot of video with my Canon R7. Some, but not a lot. I'll have to give this lens a try on the film scanning. I own a set of Asahi Pentax Bellows II and have used the Takumar 50mm f4 macro lens for that with great results. But, to be honest here, I just picked up a great copy of the Tokina AT-X Macro 90mm f2.5 with the AT-X Extender with Canon FD BL mount. That is a killer lens!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! That Tokina lens is a really good one.

[@jw48335]

My go to macro when I used Canon R for film digitization! Fantastic results with the macro tube. It actually gave equal performance to the RF 35mm F1.8 + tube, at least for macro. I use the laser matte SJ screen in my New F1 with this lens, as I favor spot metering for macro. Great stuff David!

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! This is such a good lens when used for macro work and other close-ups writ large.

[@Dwarvenchef]

I’ve had the same 50 macro lens since 1980 on my AE-1 Program, by far the most used lens in my FL/FD lineup. I agree that this lens is amazing, for my bush crawling events it does fantastic work on bugs and such 😊

[@DavidHancock]

Nice! Yeah, this is a great lens for looking for near-macro insect photos.

[@selkiemaine]

Thanks! I appreciate the review. This is another lens I have and have enjoyed using. I recently tried it without the spacer on dahlias handheld on my New F-1 - focusing was annoying as heck, as the split prism typically turned half black as I approached MFD, but I was able to get usable results. I also use it for negative scanning - I've alternated it with the RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro - and am perfectly happy with either for the purpose. I have not thought about using it for general walkaround - and given this review, I will probably not bother with it for that - I've got so many lenses with more engaging "personalities" for that kind of thing.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you! I concur, I'll probably never take this lens on another hike.