steve_walker4

Wow, what a blast from the past, my son was reading through this thread when his daughter saw the pictures mwmcbroom posted she said "there's pawpaw". I do remember that day at Sabine St. bridge. I had my Canon 20D with a 135mm soft focus lens hanging by my side and was shooting with my Bronica ETSRi camera with 85mm lens. I didn't know this got posted, cool. I believe I was using a 580EX with cowboy studio trigger and receiver to fire the flash. Both digital and film turned out well. I lost the digital file in a computer crash but should have the film shot stored somewhere. Sorry if I detracted from the original thread.

<p>Back in the 1980s was when I was most active as an FD user. I switched to Nikon in 1989, then a year later added an EOS outfit to my gear, and sort of added to both over the past 20 years. Most recently, however, I've been picking up FD gear again, simply because I've missed it -- especially my old F-1s and FTbs. Anyway, back in the day, I started out with a 28mm, then "graduated" to a New FD 24mm f/2.8, and honestly, the 28mm was seldom used after that. So, my first bit of advice is, if you're looking to acquire only one lens, make it a 24mm. It is so much more useful to me than a 28m is. And I'll wager you'll agree.</p>

<p>So anyway, I really enjoyed my New FD 24mm f/2.8. It was sharp, contrasty, and had great color. Since I've gotten back into shooting FD, though, I haven't yet re-acquired a Canon 24mm. If I were to buy a Canon now, I also would be inclined toward a BL 24 SSC, and if my wallet permitted, an f/1.4 SSC. But in the interim I've acquired a Tamron 24mm f/2.5, and I've been <em>very</em> happy with this lens. I have compared it closely with my Nikkor AIs 24mm f/2.8, and have determined to my statisfaction that, overall, it is just a tad sharper than the Nikkor. It exhibits just a slight amount of ghosting wide open that the Nikkor doesn't, but other than that, it actually outperforms the Nikkor. Besides, it's about 1/3 stop faster too. As for distortion, with the sort of photography I've used it so far, I haven't noticed any, but then you be the judge. Here are a couple of pics I took at a photo shoot I attended several months ago. Canon F-1, Elite Chrome 100 side film, exposure unrecorded.</p>

<p><img src="http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/sabine_st_bridge/srb3.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="599" /></p>

<p><img src="http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/sabine_st_bridge/srb5.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="598" /></p>

<p> </p>