Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

FD 24mm f/2.8

Canon · Canon FD · 1971

Also known as: Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 · Canon FD 24mm 1:2.8 · Canon FD 24mm 1:2.8 S.S.C. · FD 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C. · New FD 24mm f/2.8 · Canon nFD 24mm f/2.8 · FDn 24mm f2.8 · キヤノン FD 24mm F2.8 · キヤノン NewFD 24mm F2.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
FD 24mm f/2.8 (chrome nose) Canon FD 1971–1973 — —
FD 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C. Canon FD 1973–1979 — —
New FD 24mm f/2.8 · 10 elements in 9 groups with a floating system; a new composition, roughly 20 percent shorter and 28 percent lighter than the breech-lock lens (mir.com.my) Canon FD 1979 — —
  1. The family spec table carries the S.S.C. breech-lock lens of 1973 (330 g, f/16, 55 mm filter). The chrome-nose lens shares its optics and dimensions at 410 g; the New FD is a different computation, 10 elements in 9 groups, f/22, 52 mm filter, 240 g. All three sets of figures are from the Canon Camera Museum.
  2. Coating on the chrome-nose lens. Canon's museum page names it plainly FD24mm f/2.8, with no coating suffix, and Wikipedia's FD mount article says the 1971–73 lenses used S.C. and S.S.C. without marking either on the front. Camera Ray describes the 1971 lens as S.C.-coated; no Canon document seen here says so, and the point is left open.
  3. Floating elements. mir.com.my says the FD 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C. has Canon's floating system for close-range correction and that the New FD keeps it. Canon's own museum pages for the two lenses list specifications only and do not mention it; Canon's page for the FD 35mm f/2 S.S.C. (I), marketed the same month, calls that lens the first Canon SLR wide-angle with a floating mechanism. Which of the two March 1973 lenses was first is not something the sources settle.
  4. Canon Classics calls the 24mm f/2.8 "the first 24mm wide angle in the industry". Canon's own pages make no such claim and the statement was not checked against other makers' catalogues, so it is not carried here.
  5. No US list price was found for any version. The yen prices are the Canon Camera Museum's.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Three barrels, one focal length: chrome filter ring (1971), black ring with S.S.C. in red and a chrome button on the aperture ring (1973), and the New FD with its turning outer barrel and square release button (1979)
  • The New FD is the odd one out in every measurable way: 52 mm filter against 55 mm, f/22 against f/16, 43 mm long against 52.5 mm, 240 g against 330 or 410 g
  • The two breech-lock lenses are told apart by the filter ring colour and the S.S.C. engraving, not by weight alone: 410 g against 330 g with identical glass

FD 24mm f/2.8 (chrome nose):

  • Chrome (silver) filter ring at the front; no coating engraved on the name ring
  • Breech-lock: a freely rotating chrome locking ring at the rear, the lens body itself stays still while mounting
  • Green o on the aperture ring for automatic exposure, with no lock button
  • Marketed March 1971 at 30,000 yen; 9 elements in 8 groups, 6 blades, f/16 minimum, 0.3 m close focus, 55 mm filter, 66 x 52.5 mm, 410 g (Canon Camera Museum)

FD 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C.:

  • Black filter ring, S.S.C. engraved in red on the name ring
  • Chrome lock button on the aperture ring that must be pressed to move on or off the green o
  • Same 9-element, 8-group optics as the chrome-nose lens, but 80 g lighter at 330 g; marketed March 1973 at 33,000 yen (Canon Camera Museum)
  • Floating system for close-range correction, per mir.com.my
  • Hood BW-55B, cap C55 (mir.com.my)

New FD 24mm f/2.8:

  • Bayonet-style mounting: the whole outer barrel turns, a square chrome release button sits at the base of the lens, and the aperture ring carries a green A rather than a green o
  • No S.S.C. engraving, although the coating is still Super Spectra (mir.com.my)
  • 52 mm filter (55 mm on both breech-lock lenses), f/22 minimum aperture (f/16 before), 63 x 43 mm, 240 g; marketed June 1979 at 40,000 yen (Canon Camera Museum)
  • Hood BW-52C, cap C-52 (mir.com.my)

Serial-range notes

any number
Canon FD serial numbers do not encode a date. The date is in the separate code stamped on the rear plate: one letter for the year (A = 1960 through Z = 1985, then A again for 1986), followed by digits of which the first one or two are the month, on lenses up to 1986; two letters (factory, then year) and four digits after that. Alan Watson Forster, who compiled the table, notes that lenses in one serial sequence sometimes carry codes a month or two apart, so the code may record inspection rather than assembly. No published serial ranges for the three versions of this lens were found in the sources consulted.

Specifications

Formula
9 elements in 8 groups with a floating group (breech-lock FD, 1971–79); recomputed as 10 elements in 9 groups for the New FD of 1979
Construction
9 elements / 8 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/16
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
0.3 m
Dimensions
66 × 52.5 mm
Weight
330 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1971
Country
Japan
Coating
Not engraved on the 1971 chrome-nose lens; S.S.C. (Super Spectra Coating) engraved in red from March 1973; S.S.C. without the engraving on the New FD
Original price
¥30,000 (1971, chrome nose); ¥33,000 for the S.S.C. of 1973; ¥40,000 for the New FD of 1979 (today ¥99,000)

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Chromatic aberration
moderate lateral
Vignetting
gone by f/5.6
Flare & ghosting
good for age
Coma
corners wide open
Distortion
mixed, uncorrectable

History

Canon launched the FD 24mm f/2.8 in March 1971 with the F-1 and the first FD lenses, at 30,000 yen. It was the moderate 24: the same catalogue had the 24mm f/1.4 S.S.C. Aspherical for people who could pay for it, and this lens for everyone else. The 1971 version is a chrome-nose breech-lock, 9 elements in 8 groups, six blades, f/16 at the small end, 0.3 m close focus, a 55 mm filter and 410 g, all from Canon’s own museum listing. Nothing on the front ring says what the coating is, and Canon’s page does not say either.

In March 1973 the same optics reappeared as the FD 24mm f/2.8 S.S.C., at 33,000 yen. The chrome ring went black, S.S.C. was engraved in red, and the aperture ring gained the chrome lock button that has to be pressed to move on or off the green o. The lens also lost 80 g, to 330 g, with the glass unchanged. mir.com.my credits both this lens and its successor with Canon’s floating system, a rear group that moves separately to hold correction at close range; Canon’s museum page for the 24 lists specifications only, so the attribution rests on mir.

The New FD 24mm f/2.8 of June 1979, at 40,000 yen, is a different lens inside a different barrel. Canon’s figures give 10 elements in 9 groups, f/22, a 52 mm filter, 43 mm of length and 240 g, which mir.com.my puts as roughly 20 percent shorter and 28 percent lighter than the breech-lock lens. The mount changed too: the whole outer barrel turns to lock, a square chrome release button sits at the base, and the green o became a green A. mir.com.my calls it the best seller of Canon’s three 24s.

Reviewers of the New FD agree on the centre and disagree about how much the edges matter. Phillip Reeve finds it very sharp in the middle from f/2.8 and sharp across the frame by f/8, with low-contrast corners before that, coma in the corners wide open, moderate lateral colour and a wavy distortion he could not correct, and rules it out for architecture. Dmitri at analog.cafe, shooting film, sees a very sharp lens with almost no colour fringing and unusually good flare control and calls it his favourite FD lens. Canon Classics’ owner reviews rate the S.S.C. breech-lock higher than the New FD for wide-open use and build, which matches Camera Ray’s remark that the later lens is not built as well. Nobody reviewed here has compared the two optical designs side by side under controlled conditions, so the question of which is sharper stays open.

Buying one: the three versions are easy to separate by the filter ring colour, the engraving and the mount, and by weight if the barrel is in doubt. On a New FD, check that the square release button springs back and that the lens locks and unlocks cleanly on a body or adapter, since frozen release pins on New FD lenses are a recurring adapter-forum complaint (a DPReview thread on the subject is listed in the sources by title; the forum blocks this site). On either breech-lock lens, make sure the aperture ring’s lock button and the rear locking ring move freely. No serial-number ranges have been published for any version; the rear-plate date code dates a lens to the month.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the FD 24mm f/2.8
Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 (James Petts) — James Petts, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the FD 24mm f/2.8
Canon FTb-N with an FD 24mm f/2.8 (pcs34560, 2002) — pcs34560, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain (released by the uploader))

Sample photo wanted — shot with a FD 24mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $130 across 48 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-18 (middle half $100–$180). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 120 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-18. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: FD 24mm f/1.4 Aspherical / L · FD 28mm f/2 · FD 35mm f/2

Sources (13)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.