Canon nFD 200 F2.8 IF
Vintage telephoto magic…
Canon nFD 200mm (Internal Focus) @ F2.8 on my EOS R
As with many telephoto lenses back in the days of analogue film the Canon 200mm FD lens went through several iterations to improve not only the mechanical handling of the lens but also the optical quality. You see, with what I consider “normal range lenses” i.e. 24-85mm range the optical formulas didn’t drastically change their optical construction until the advent of molded Aspherical elements in the late 1980’s / early 1990’s, most of these “normal” focal lengths were based on variations of double Gauss for the most part. However creating longer telephoto lenses such as a 200mm focal length lens was something that had not yet gone through the same levels of refinement as many of the normal range lenses in the 1970’s. I actually initially owned the first FD version of this lens, the 200mm F2.8 S.S.C. which was quite a beast. This older version was beautifully made with the fantastic mechanics you would expect from the original S.S.C. silver breach lock FD lenses from the beginning of the FD system in the early 70’s. Although I liked the original version I never did find edge-to-edge sharpness, contrast or resolution to be particularly impressive. Yes in the middle of the frame there was sufficient “definition” but it fell off quite quickly at the edges. Also close focus performance of the original version was really rather lackluster, really quite soft. Another gripe I had with my original S.S.C. version was that the helicoid system required a lot of rotation using considerable effort from two fingers to finally get you where you wanted to be. Not to mention the barrel extended considerably leading to a rather unbalanced set up as you tried to quickly turn the focus ring to get the shot. It was not an ideal lens for quick manual focusing. Alas Canon must have decided it was time to show the world what a 200mm prime could be later in the evolution of the FD system.
Canon nFD 200mm F2.8 (Internal Focus) @ F2.8 on my EOS R
The original version of this lens, the FD 200mm F2.8 S.S.C. and the subsequent nFD 200mm F2.8 both shared the same optical construction, a rather basic 5 element in 5 group construction which although rudimentary was fairly common at the original lens’ date of introduction in 1975. In the mid-1980’s Canon decided to take the lens back to the drawing board for the first time and change the optical construction to 7 elements in 6 groups. This redesign also incorporated a rear focusing group and floating system which greatly improved image quality across the entire focusing range as well as offering far superior mechanical handing of focus. This resulting lens was a lot lighter and much slimmer, tapering down substantially past the first few groups of elements. Overall optical performance improved dramatically. Compared to the original iterations, the Canon FD 200mm F2.8 Internal Focus has much improved, resolution, contrast and resulting sharpness across the entire image. Even wide open the lens renders a lot of fine and coarse detail with deep blacks and well delineated micro contrast to give it that extra “pop”. The lens offers impressive overall flare resistance for a vintage telephoto with little to no objectionable flares or overall veiling glare to “milk up” the image. Blacks remain rich even when bight light is steaming down the barrel.
Canon nFD 200mm F2.8 Internal Focus @ F2.8 on my EOS R
This version, of course, is not with out faults as is the case with almost every lens. As is common with many Vintage Telephoto lenses, especially those approaching the “Super Telephoto” range, the level of Longitudinal chromatic aberration (spherochromatism) is quite high and is especially noticeable in high highlight to shadow areas of transition on high contrast subjects. This level of chromatic aberration means there is a subtle effect on the smoothness of the out of focus regions of the image, many of the “bokeh balls” are often surrounded by a thin outline of a green ring past the plan of focus, however thankfully the foreground “bokeh” and out of focus regions of the image suffer from just some Spherical aberration and do not exhibit magenta fringing caused by Longitudinal chromatic aberration must past the plane of focus. Color rendition is actually quite neutral which is surprising for a vintage telephoto as many render rather warm due to Thoriated elements or glass. If anything I’d say the color balance leans a touch on the cool side. As you can see in the first photo there is something magical about how this lens renders colors in such a nuanced manner in the out of focus regions of the image, as can be seen in the out of focus leaves.
That’s it for my first impressions, check back later for an update with a more in depth review and analysis of this magical piece of glass.
