50 mm 1.8 FD (Plastic version)

The 50 mm 1.8 FD Lens was a popular kit lens that was sold with many Canon FD mount cameras. The one I'm covering here is the 50 mm 1.8 with the plastic body. If you have read my other postings, you'll come to understand that I focus on the transitional differences between the use of metal to plastic quite a bit.

BUILD QUALITY
Structurally speaking. The 50 mm 1.8 plastic version is as ridged as the 50mm 1.8 metal version. I owned both at one time and I could not tell anything different regarding the lens coating. The pictures were consistent with my findings.

Aside from the weight savings, the metal 50 mm lens is mounted onto the breech lock with a pressure ring that tightens by turning the ring. The plastic version had a locking mechanism that required you to push down a button on the lens and then twisting the lens onto the body. The plastic version's mounting mechanism ensured that you gave the lens just the right amount to pressure to install it. The older lock ring on the metal version of the 50 mm lens doesn't manage the pressure and you can over/under tighten the lens. The other thing that changed is the number of pins that had to be pushed in to activate rings to mount the lens. The older metal version has one pin where as the newer plastic version has 2 pins positioned adjacent to each other. So, why should you care about this? With the plastic version, the lens will always park in the correct position when you undo the lens from the camera. The metal version sometimes doesn't return to the right spot during dismount. Under this condition, it can get a little confusing when it wouldn't mount back on the camera.

Another difference between the Canon 50 mm 1.8 plastic versus metal is the lube used in the metal body lens often leaked onto the aperture blades causing them to get stuck. The plastic lens has much fewer cases of that happening. I have found 3 possible reasons for this.

1. The lube was different (though I have no evidence of this). 
2. Metal body lenses heats up a lot quicker under sunny conditions causing the lube inside to become more viscous thus leaking onto the aperture blades. 
3. The resting position of the aperture blades are different. While the metal 50 mm 1.8 lens' aperture blades are parked at 1.8 position with the lens wide open, the plastic 50 mm 1.8 lens is parked at f5.6. I found that the plastic 50 mm lenses that has oilly blades only has the contamination on the portion beyond the f5.6 opening. 

All metal 50mm f1.8 lenses I have encountered has stuck aperture blades whereas only 2 out of 10 plastic ones have slow but not stuck aperture issues.

Image Quality
Wide open, the 50mm at f1.8 provides plenty of pleasant bokeh (background/foreground blur) and at f22, everything between 6ft to infinity is sharp with maximum sharpness at 10 ft. I tend to shoot the 50 mm with subjects at 10 feet and beyond.

My favorite outdoor landscape setting for the Canon 50mm 1.8 lens is focus at 10 ft, f16 with the infinity symbol and 6ft mark over f22 mark on the distance scale. Shutter speed is 1/125th second on a sunny day and 1/50 on a cloudy day hand held. I can see my cafenated body tremors at 1/60 so I generally would prop up against something at that point. Body tremors not very visible at 1/125th of a second shutter. I shoot sunny days outdoor with Fuji Superia X-TRA 400. When I want some bokeh on a sunny day, I drop it down to f1.8 1/1000th shutter speed.

Columbia River Bridge Vancouver WA
July 28th 2013 10AM
f16, 1/30th, FUJIFILM SUPERIA X-TRA 400
Shot taken handheld with elbows propped up on guardrail

The Academy Vancouver WA
July 28th 2013 2pm
f16, 1/125th, FUJIFILM SUPERIA X-TRA 400
Shot taken handheld and standing

The Academy Vancouver WA
July 28th 2013 1:48PM
f/11 1/100 sec. NIKON D3200 ISO-100

Which do you prefer? Canon AE-1 Fuji Film or Nikon 3200 Digital?