help with variable aperture....im going insane!!!!

[NEPats37]

i have a canon fd 35-70 1:2.8-3.5 variable aperture lens and i am completely lost on how to manually use this camera. i prefer using cameras in full manual mode which is why this is bothering me so much.
here's where i need explaining....
on the focusing ring there is a blue 35 a white 50 and pink 70. then directly above the aperture ring there is a blue line and a pink line that are 1/2 f stop apart. then my aperture choices are directly below these lines. how do i know which line to line up the desired aperture with? especially if im at the white 50 because there is no white line to line up the aperture with. i know the colors of the numbers go with the color of the lines.

the other thing that boggled my mind is when i have it in speed priority my view finder shows the speed i choose as well as the aperture the camera has chosen best. if i zoom out (blue 35) the aperture chosen becomes 3.5. but if i zoom in (pink 70) the aperture opens more to 2.8.
i thought it would be opposite because of the way the lines are next to each other. the pink line is to the right (smaller f stop,larger numbers) but its telling me to choose a more open f stop (smaller number)
I know this is alot but if you are good with variable aperture lenses please help.
i am using a canon a1 with a canon fd 35-70 1:2.8-3.5. refer to the picture below.

 

[Big Mike]

The aperture changes when you zoom because the maximum is different at different focal lengths. At 35mm, the max is F2.8 and at 70mm the max is F3.5.

You don't have to match up the 35, 50, 70 numbers to the aperture. That is the focal length.

When adjusting the aperture on the lens, there should be a mark to like up with the aperture numbers 3.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22.

I think you are over thinking this. Choose an aperture that you want and choose a focal length that you want...then set the shutter speed using the meter.

 

[NEPats37]

When adjusting the aperture on the lens, there should be a mark to like up with the aperture numbers 3.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22.

there are two lines blue and pink which one do i choose?

 

[Big Mike]

I'm not sure...:scratch:

 

[Flash Harry]

open your aperture to the widest it can go (3.5) and see which it lines up with, by the way I think this was answered in your other thread.

 

[Mike_E]

Use Negative film, check the meter or buy and use a hand held one and then switch to decaf. (a half stop is not going to make any difference on a film negative as long as it is otherwise metered properly)
mike

 

[w.pasman]

My guess is that the yellow and blue lines for the aperture ring are indicative. I mean, you do not have *exactly* 3.5 when you put the zoom at 35mm and the aperture ring with the 3.5 at the blue line.
When you are at a zoom point somwehere between the 35 and 70, your actual aperture value is somewhere between the blue and yellow line. They might have added a white line but probably canon considered half a stop small/accurate enough.
Is there a specific reason that you really want to know exactly which aperture you are on? I mean, you normally use it to get the right depth of field, but I assume you do that by looking through the viewfinder and not by looking at the aperture number on the lens?

 

[OmlessWanderer]

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/fdlenses/fdzooms/3570.htm

Does that help? I'm too tired to read through it myself right now but that was the first link I found on google when I searched "canon fd 35-70 1:2.8-3.5" and it looks like the same lens...