From Kodachromes to RAW...

My first "real" camera was a 35mm Canon AE-1 SLR and FD 50mm f/1.4 lens purchased new in 1976. Looking through the Canon's viewfinder for the first time I realized something was wrong as I could not advance the film without poking my right eye. This was due to the fact that I was looking through the lens with my left eye. Clearly the AE-1 was designed for right eye use. For the first time I realized that I was "left-eyed". Maybe this life long left-eyed perspective influences how I see images in the viewfinder and maybe even in my head as well...

Over the next several years a handful of Canon FD lenses were added to capture my sons as they grew up. All in all, thousands of Kodachrome, Ektachrome and a few Agfa slides were exposed with the AE-1 and FD lenses.

In December, 1993 I began the migration to the Canon EOS system. I purchased a new 35mm Canon EOS 5 (A2E) SLR body and a couple basic EF zoom lenses. Over time I have been upgrading to Canon's superb L lenses and have never looked back. My EOS 5 film body, now over 20 years old, has a few thousand exposures on it and is still perfect in every performance aspect. The innovative Canon EOS 5 "Eye Control" focus is a treat to use.

At age 57 I began the digital SLR journey acquiring a new Canon EOS 30D body in October, 2007 whilst recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery. By June, 2008, I added a new Canon 5D and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS lens combination to the kit. The digital EOS 30D and 5D paired with Canon's L lenses are truly outstanding. Other Canon "L" lenses have been added and the camera body has been upgraded to the 5D Mark IV.

Since January, 2005 all my older Kodak, Agfa and Fuji 35mm slides were scanned with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual IV then imported into Photoshop. The Kodachrome slides have held up especially well over decades of storage.

In early 2020 I acquired my first Micro four thirds camera, a Panasonic Lumix GX9. This has proven to be a very enjoyable, high quality camera system.

Thanks for viewing my Flickr photo submissions and especially for providing your comments and feedback. Lastly, please remember that all of my Flickr images are copyrighted. Contact me if you want to use any of them before doing so.

George Thomas