Used Camera Database Blog

Bleary-eyed, but functioning, I’ve just finished a once through of all the lenses in the database.  I made a tool that helps me sort through the previous sales and hopefully that will help me keep prices more accurate.

The majority of the changes were to the back-end and to the FD lenses.  I made the “new FD” (or FDn, or nFD) more restrictive, so in some cases you’ll want to check the FD lens listing even if you want the new-FD mount, mostly because the majority of sellers do not distinguish the lenses in their titles.

Also, lens averages might be a little odd for a couple of weeks while I integrate the historical prices (those past 60 days old) into the system.

Overall though, I think you’ll find the database much improved and less noisy.  In the past couple of weeks I also made some cosmetic changes, and I’ll continue to do them as I have time.  If you have any suggestions for functionality (or anything that just bugs you) leave a comment!  My goal is to make the site as useful as possible for camera enthusiasts!

This afternoon I finished adding the FD series of Canon lenses to the database.  If you are not aware, the FD series was the manual focus 35mm SLR series the predated the current EOS (autofocus) system.  The FD lenses were made from 1971 to the late 80’s and contained two basic mount types (FD and “new FD”, or FDn).  The FD cameras were also backwards compatible with the FL lenses.  The Wikipedia page on the Canon FD mount has a lot of great historical background on the FD series of lenses — for now, I’ll just hit the high points as an introduction to the FD series.

Indexing camera lenses in an organized way is always difficult, and the FD series has lots of quirks.  First, all FD lenses will fit FD mounts, but the FDn mount uses a rotating ring to emulate a bayonet-mount.  To distinguish the mounts in the database, the new FD lenses are marked with the mount ‘FDn’.  Within the specific mounts, there are many variations, especially in lens coatings.  The main coatings are S.C. (Spectra Coating) and S.S.C (Super Spectra Coating).  The new FD lenses, with the exception of the inexpensive 50mm lenses, all use an S.S.C coating but the old FD mount has multiple variations.

Another interesting quirk of the labeling is the ‘L’ series, that designates a lens with asphericaL elements (and other Luxury elements) .  The L-series started in the FD line, but was predated by lenses marked ‘AL’ or ‘Aspherical’.

The FD series also included some experiments in autofocus, including the ‘AC’ series, and one ‘AF’ lens.  All autofocus lenses will operate on an FD mount, although the AC series will not allow autofocus without a camera that supports it.  If you are curious, here is a search for the autofocus FD lenses in the database.

While the FD lenses are added to the database, it will take me a little while to get the quirks out of the searches.  Most eBay sellers do not distinguish between the lens mounts, although it can be relatively easy to distinguish them if a picture of the mount is listed.  As a result, it will take me a while to tweak the search logic to present relevant results, especially since many of the lenses are quite rare.  If you have recommendations, let me know!

For now, you can view the new lenses by using the search.  For instance:

• All lenses that fit FD cameras
• All FD mount lenses (not new FD!)
• All New FD (FDn) lenses

Since the FD line is a completely discontinued line of lenses and cameras (Canon completely revamped the mount for EOS) there is less competition for lenses and there are often many good deals out there.  I’ve been toying with obtaining an FD camera and a few lenses myself for when I want to shoot on 35mm film.

If you’d like more information on the FD line, here are some great resources (many of which I pulled from for the list at UCDB):

• Wikipedia page for the Canon FD mount.  Great overview of the line, it’s quirks, the FD mount cameras, and a complete list of lenses.  I pulled my master-list from here.
• Photography in Malaysia: The Canon FD Resources — The FD Lenses.  Amazing, amazing site with tons of information about all the lenses, including tons of pictures and specs!  A great place to start when looking at FD lenses, but be nice — they have limited bandwidth available.
• FDReview.com.  A new site, with FD camera and lens reviews and information.  I’m excited to see where they go!
• Denis Baron’s Canon FD Lens Info.  Basically a big table of all the FD lens specs.  A useful resource.