A Legend (Re)Born - Canon FD Glass For Filmmaking

In this super extensive video, Nikolas Moldenhauer from the fantastic (and truly Hollywood level) YouTube channel Media Division, we are presented with a very in-depth look at Canon’s legendary cine lenses first launched in 1976 and how you can affordably get the same look for use today.

Every time Moldenhauer posts a new video it is a celebration day for film and gear lovers on YouTube and this time is certainly no exception. In this epic (over 1 hour) 8K video he takes us on a voyage throughout history back to the film days and the first Canon Cine lenses released in the middle of the 1970s.

Moldenhauer explains how Canon, which did not have a Cine lens before that time or history of making cinema lenses, relayed on their FD stills lens design to develop the original K35 Cine lenses. Initially, very few Holywood productions used these lenses although there were a few notable exceptions like Stanley Kubrick who used them along with some ultra-fast glass from Zeiss and a few zoom lenses.

The K35 lenses have been sort of re-discovered over the past decade by Holywood filmmakers who shot several big productions with these lenses for films that required a sort of retro look for their productions (including “HER”. 2013, “American Hustle”, 2013, “Manchester by the Sea”, 2016, “Preacher”, 2016 and the “Handmaid’s Tale”. 2017 just to name a few).

All original K35 lenses came with a BNCR mount and so all the K35 lenses that you can rent these days are modified versions. These lenses, partly because of their ability to cover a larger format which is starting to become the norm for higher-end productions these days with new digital sensors have become unbelievably expensive ($200K+ for a set is not unheard of).

A big part of the rest of this video takes a look at how you can achieve a look that is as close as possible to that of the epic K35 lenses with modified cheap FD glass (which suppose to have the same optical formula).

Moldenhauer discusses the differences between the different generations of FD Canon lenses (and there are many important technical considerations here depending on your budget and what you are trying to adapt to or achieve with the lens).

This video includes much, much more info that we can’t really cover here (so get a nice popcorn and find a free hour and just sit and watch – there is a cool buying guide near the end of the video. Again big kudus for Moldenhauer for making this fantastic masterpiece (about another fantastic masterpiece).

You can find more photography-related technology videos on our photo-tech section here on LensVid. You can find more of Moldenhauer videos coverage here on LensVid and we will be sure to bring you more in the future.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.