Trying out The New FD Mount 35 F2 lens.

 I have a pair of Canon New F-1s along with the great leap forward with A-1 and the new pro bodies at the dawn of the 1980s Canon messed around with the FD mount which up until this point was breach lock. Great lenses, some amazing lenses, they weren't light and were a pain to mount to the camera if you were in a rush. Canon came up with the "New" FD Mount which was backwards compatable with any FD mount body Canon made but was easier to mount as it behaved more like a bayonet as opposed to breach lock. The other thing with the New FD mount lenses, they were smaller and a lot lighter due to more use of plastics in manufacturing. Some lenses were better, others not quite so much, most of it quite subjective. I always wanted a lighter 35 F2 FD mount lens, because the older chrome nose with the thorium element weighed a ton. I finally found a FDn mount 35 F2, they have popped up in price thank you to the Re-Housing Lenses for Cinematographers crowd (leave our glass alone!) because they are scooping up all the best examples. 

Shooting with the FDn 35 F2 on my Canon New F-1 was a breeze, instinctual in fact. I captured pretty much the only winter photography so far this season when we had a some snow north of St. Clair. I used this lens and camera combo both around my neighbourhood and downtown from Downtown Camera and Graination Lab and Sonic Boom Records. The neighbourhood around Downtown Camera is getting very spooky, my camera stayed in my camera bag as I'm pretty good with situational awareness and just kept a "I'm expected somewhere and if I don't show up, a search party is going to come looking, and you don't want to meet them" look about me. After my business I hopped the 501 westbound to Queen and University, and walked the rest of the way. Downtown Toronto is having its mid 1970s New City moment.