My question would be ,why in the world do they still compare digital lenses to 35mm eqiv.There are so many people now with cameras and most never used a film camera ,so why not let it die? To compare a unit of measure with another that most have no knowledge of seems a bit silly.
You are the first to ask that question this week.
It has to do with the fact that the 35mm film was the commonest format used for decades that was sold with lenses from fish eye to extra long telephotos.
Eventually most ,somewhat keen photographers ,were able to visualise the angle of view of say a 200mm lens without looking it up on Google.
Given the many formats around now we could be using the angle of view as a measurement but we just still carry on with what we know. The new ones just need to learn.
BTW, this is not the only, at least perceived , anachronistic measurement used.
Nobody knows why a 10 shoe size is called that (actually I did some time ago but forgot...) nor anyone dials a phone number, yet both those sort of terms/measurements are generally understood.
Here is a copy and paste about the mile :
The basic concept of the mile originated in Roman times. The Romans used a unit of distance called the mille passum, which literally translated into "a thousand paces." Since each pace was considered to be five Roman feet—which were a bit shorter than our modern feet—the mile ended up being 5,000 Roman feet, or roughly 4,850 of our modern feet.
From that one would have to ask : why do we still use it, given that even the modern Romans don't walk a mile like they used to ?
Anyway, what do you suggest should be used ?
