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Why are there not more focal lengths?

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MinAZ

MinAZ

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I've always wondered why everyone makes exactly the same focal lengths. Every mfg and third party has an 85mm lens, but why not a 90mm or 80mm? 105mm is hailed as one of the best focal lengths, but no one has a 110mm lens. I know there are some exceptions to the rule - Tamron has a 28-75mm while everyone else has the 24-70mm lens. Still it seems there could be more variation than there is.
 
MinAZ said:
I've always wondered why everyone makes exactly the same focal lengths. Every mfg and third party has an 85mm lens, but why not a 90mm or 80mm? 105mm is hailed as one of the best focal lengths, but no one has a 110mm lens. I know there are some exceptions to the rule - Tamron has a 28-75mm while everyone else has the 24-70mm lens. Still it seems there could be more variation than there is.
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MinAZ said:
I've always wondered why everyone makes exactly the same focal lengths. Every mfg and third party has an 85mm lens, but why not a 90mm or 80mm? 105mm is hailed as one of the best focal lengths, but no one has a 110mm lens. I know there are some exceptions to the rule - Tamron has a 28-75mm while everyone else has the 24-70mm lens. Still it seems there could be more variation than there is.
Click to expand...
 
90mm is far from unknown. Leica' s "short tele" length is is 90mm rather than 85mm, and Tamron has long made their classic 90mm macro for various mounts. If you're talking 90mm equivalent field of view, there are 45mm primes for MFT, and Fuji has an excellent, if quirky, compact 60mm close focus telephoto. I'm an 85mm diehard, but find i adapt nicely to 90mm.
 
It would be financially inefficient to offer more focal lengths. They sell zooms to fill in the gaps.

Tamron makes an excellent 90mm macro.

--
Tom
Look at the picture, not the pixels
 
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MinAZ said:
I've always wondered why everyone makes exactly the same focal lengths. Every mfg and third party has an 85mm lens, but why not a 90mm or 80mm? 105mm is hailed as one of the best focal lengths, but no one has a 110mm lens. I know there are some exceptions to the rule - Tamron has a 28-75mm while everyone else has the 24-70mm lens. Still it seems there could be more variation than there is.
Click to expand...
 
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Why do some hairstyles become popular and not others?

People copy each other when they see somebody else having success.

Imagine a company made a legendary 85mm once upon a time. Other companies saw it and said, we can cash in on this love and just sell our lens a little bit cheaper. So they made another 85mm. Not a 90mm, not a 70mm. Because those lengths hadn't created the same market.
 
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MinAZ said:
I've always wondered why everyone makes exactly the same focal lengths. Every mfg and third party has an 85mm lens, but why not a 90mm or 80mm? 105mm is hailed as one of the best focal lengths, but no one has a 110mm lens. I know there are some exceptions to the rule - Tamron has a 28-75mm while everyone else has the 24-70mm lens. Still it seems there could be more variation than there is.
Click to expand...
 
MinAZ said:
I've always wondered why everyone makes exactly the same focal lengths. Every mfg and third party has an 85mm lens, but why not a 90mm or 80mm? 105mm is hailed as one of the best focal lengths, but no one has a 110mm lens. I know there are some exceptions to the rule - Tamron has a 28-75mm while everyone else has the 24-70mm lens. Still it seems there could be more variation than there is.
Click to expand...
 
MinAZ said:
I've always wondered why everyone makes exactly the same focal lengths. Every mfg and third party has an 85mm lens, but why not a 90mm or 80mm? 105mm is hailed as one of the best focal lengths, but no one has a 110mm lens. I know there are some exceptions to the rule - Tamron has a 28-75mm while everyone else has the 24-70mm lens. Still it seems there could be more variation than there is.
Click to expand...
Nikon used to have a 28-70, their 24-70 is a recent thing.

And I still have a 28-70 Sigma which I like a lot.

Mark_A
 
DenWil said:
Wheatfield7 said:
Then there is the 31mm, 43mm, and 77mm from Pentax.
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Pentax equates their 67 135mm to 77mm in 35mm so they made the equivalent lens.
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Do you find that to be a useful focal length for 6X7? I think 77mm is well into limbo for both APS-C and full-frame 35mm. But at least they're consistent.
 
FrancoD said:
Why does milk come in 1,2 and 3 L and not 1.5 L ?
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Because wine comes in 1.5 liter bottles and they didn't want children to get confused.
 
Leonard Migliore said:
DenWil said:
Wheatfield7 said:
Then there is the 31mm, 43mm, and 77mm from Pentax.
Click to expand...
Pentax equates their 67 135mm to 77mm in 35mm so they made the equivalent lens.
Click to expand...
Do you find that to be a useful focal length for 6X7? I think 77mm is well into limbo for both APS-C and full-frame 35mm. But at least they're consistent.

--
Leonard Migliore
Click to expand...
In 6x7 format, anything much longer than 135mm gets pretty big and bulky The 135mm was long enough for good portrait perspective, and sufficient working distance for macro work. I found the 135mm Macro and the 55mm wide angle were my most used lenses when I shot with Pentax 67.

Note that the original "normal" lens that Mamiya used to ship with the RB67 was the quite similar 127mm. Later though, they shortened it to 110mm with the RZ67
 
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