- good for landscapes and maybe street photography (at longer focal lengths, keeping people in the center of the frame as the previous poster suggested)What you're describing is kinda the point of photography as opposed to just pointing and hoping you capture something half-decent. I would suggest that if you're not doing that for nearly all your photos, you don't need to spend the amount of money you've invested into this kind of camera, and you're better off with a quality P&S or camera phone.
Traveling has nothing to do with snatching pics as they come. There's always time while traveling to compose a good photo.
It's the same with any UWA lens, and whether it takes "lots of time" just depends on your experience. After experimenting a bit you'll get a feel for where the camera needs to be to get the shot you want. You'll learn where distortion will enhance a shot, as well as ruin a shot.
I think the reason a lot of people gravitate for UWA lenses while traveling is because they usually want to fit "everything" into the frame, for better or worse. UWA lenses give options for getting it all in, even if you don't have the luxury of moving back far enough to get it all in with a lens that would provide more flattering distortion characteristics, etc. But that's the nature of traveling - sometimes you're just along for the ride, so having that flexibility can be a good thing. Just be sure to practice a little before you go.
... but well said. A good reminder to all of us -- anyway, to those of us who think we can just snap away because "film is cheap."
but in any event, i will have fun playing with it.That's why I think this lens is better suited to the Olympus cameras: they have a built-in dual axis electronic level (much handier than a bubble level when handholding the camera) and built-in stabilization (because the lens lacks optical stabilization).
I'm using a E-P1, but with bubble level mounted all the time. The built in solution adds another display type where you have to cycle through, plus it has to be adjusted from time to time.
Such an UWA will give great picutures of landscapes (clouds!) and architecture. But please dont't point it at people. ;-)
While the 7-14 is not the ideal "portrait lens," it can work well for pictures of people in an environmental context. Here's one I took at 7mm. I dare say a longer focal length in the same position would not have communicated as much about the place and the situation where the photo was taken.
From some of your later posts, perhaps you are a more thoughtful photographer than I first thought. One needs to consider foreground-background relations in any photo. That is much of what separates photographers from camera owners. There may be more to look at in a wide angle view, but the basic problem is the same. Perhaps "snatching pictures" led some of us astray. There is no reason one cannot work quickly AND thoughtfully, if one has enough practice and experience, just that the two do not often come together in amateur photography.
