Canon 35mm FL On F1 Advice

I'm not a Canon shooter but would like to try the Canon F1 with a 35mm FL lens. Can someone offer advice on how exactly to use the 35 FL on the F1? I think I lock the stopdown lever on the camera and camera will stop down to the aperture I chose once the shutter is fired. I'm assuming the lens is wide open for focusing. But what is the ring behind the aperture ring for on the lens? Do I ignore this using this lens on the F1? I see it will close the aperture blades to the corresponding f-stop if I turn it clockwise. Is this yet another way to stop down the lens for smaller apertures? Or should I just stick with the stopdown lever on the camera body.

Thanks!

FL lenses will fit on your F-1. You focus wide-open and the lens will stop down to shooting aperture when you hit the shutter button. You meter in stop-down mode, which on the F-1 means pressing in the stop-down lever. When the meter needle aligns to an index mark, you're at the proper aperture. You then release the stop-down lever and view with the lens wide-open. Depending on the FL lens you are using, Canon may have included a secondary "manual/auto" aperture ring. You can set it to full-time manual, or keep it on auto. Your choice. Actually it all works pretty seamlessly. Enjoy your FL 35mm lens.

wjlapier said:

I think I lock the stopdown lever on the camera and camera will stop down to the aperture I chose once the shutter is fired.

Click to expand...

-) a FD-mount camera will stop down at releasing to the apertrure set at the lens.
-) stopdown push button will stop down this way before releasing.

The basic difference between FD and FL lenses is that the latter lack open-aperture metering and shutter-priority autoexposure. They just have an auto-diaphragma, which means closing to a preset value.

It's been years since I used a 35mm FL with one of my old F-1s or FTbs, but as I recall, I set the camera to stop down mode and then metered from the index tab in the viewfinder and shot with the lens stopped down. That ring behind the aperture ring allows you the convenience of focusing at full aperture. But it has to be cranked down to taking aperture to meter.

The 35mm FL was, for years, my favorite 35mm lens. My copy was tack sharp from corner to corner. I took lots of great slides with mine. So I hope you enjoy yours.