Your most important focal range?

Hello, my feeling is that many people, regardless of brand of course, worry half of their photographic lifes about what lenses to get, upgrade to etc etc. Specially WA is a problem with the 1,5x factor (but won't be after PMA .

However I have tried out 5 or 6 different lenses on my S2, and have more or less settled to the Tamron 28-75mm. 42mm effectively seems long for the wide end, but I have recently shot 1700 frames on an india trip exclusively with the Tamron, and I rarely missed a wider lens. I've more often missed a longer lens to shoot candids in the street.

So, my prefered focal range seems to be 42-110 mm. For general photography this is - in my opinion - all one needs. With a FF this may be a problem, because there is no real 42-110 Zoom, they will have to build one for me!

What about you?

Cartier Bresson had only a 50mm and after all he made history with it.

Bernie

12-24mm for 90% maybe a 300mm for those critters

Bernie Ess said:

Hello, my feeling is that many people, regardless of brand of
course, worry half of their photographic lifes about what lenses to
get, upgrade to etc etc. Specially WA is a problem with the 1,5x
factor (but won't be after PMA .

However I have tried out 5 or 6 different lenses on my S2, and have
more or less settled to the Tamron 28-75mm. 42mm effectively seems
long for the wide end, but I have recently shot 1700 frames on an
india trip exclusively with the Tamron, and I rarely missed a wider
lens. I've more often missed a longer lens to shoot candids in the
street.

So, my prefered focal range seems to be 42-110 mm. For general
photography this is - in my opinion - all one needs. With a FF this
may be a problem, because there is no real 42-110 Zoom, they will
have to build one for me!

What about you?

Cartier Bresson had only a 50mm and after all he made history with it.

Bernie

Click to expand...

Wayne W said:

Bernie Ess said:

Hello, my feeling is that many people, regardless of brand of
course, worry half of their photographic lifes about what lenses to
get, upgrade to etc etc. Specially WA is a problem with the 1,5x
factor (but won't be after PMA .

However I have tried out 5 or 6 different lenses on my S2, and have
more or less settled to the Tamron 28-75mm. 42mm effectively seems
long for the wide end, but I have recently shot 1700 frames on an
india trip exclusively with the Tamron, and I rarely missed a wider
lens. I've more often missed a longer lens to shoot candids in the
street.

So, my prefered focal range seems to be 42-110 mm. For general
photography this is - in my opinion - all one needs. With a FF this
may be a problem, because there is no real 42-110 Zoom, they will
have to build one for me!

What about you?

Cartier Bresson had only a 50mm and after all he made history with it.

Bernie

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I do mostly people photography, I came from medium format where you lived with the lens on the camera till you could swap it out, or had to swap it out ( not many zooms). I did a lot of shooting with what would be considered a normal lens for general shooting , and a moderate tele for people, but I have to say I use the full range of my Tamron 24-135 for general shooting/ everyday photography and for some portrait work with the S2. For formally photographing people I find the 24-85 range nice, though rarely shooting under about 40 MM. on the lens barrel. I could live with the 35-70 nicely, if it weren't for weddings, as a general people lens, or a fixed 55 or 60 MM. lens even ( in fact I loved the 60 Micro when I had it, and may get another one).

Wide angle has never been a super important range for me. I need wide angle around, but it isn't used a whole lot.

David

David Grabowski said:

or a fixed 55 or 60
MM. lens even ( in fact I loved the 60 Micro when I had it, and may
get another one).

Click to expand...

You mean true 60mm or 60x1,5= 90?

I recently got a 105 DC Nikon lens, it seems a superb lens but indor the focal length is really a bit long (155mm).

regards, Bernie

As I work with prime lenses most of the time, I tend to just stick with a few focal lengths and zoom in and out with my feet. In general photography the Nikon 24mm and 50mm are can be found on my S2 most of the time. With a film camera I would say 28-70mm would be my most used focal range. I am not a fan of extreme focal lengths on 35mm equipment, if I needed to go really wide I would prefer to use a panoramic camera. At the other end I only go longer than my Nikon 180mm if the subject is out of range and inaccessible. My longest lens is a 300mm F4, I have never found myself needing to go longer with this lens mounted on my S2. Although I do sometimes have ideas about shooting the moon and other distance subjects where an even longer optic would prove useful.

Regards

Simon
--
http://www.sbphotography.org.uk

X-Sync said:

In
general photography the Nikon 24mm and 50mm are can be found on my
S2 most of the time. With a film camera I would say 28-70mm would
be my most used focal range. I am not a fan of extreme focal
lengths on 35mm equipment,

Click to expand...

Are you happy with the Nikon 24mm? I have it also, but found it softer than my Tamron 28-75/2,8 on the wide end, so I dont find any use of it, the little wider end is not so important to me. The Tamron is even sharp enough most of the times to replace the 50mm/1,8 although the 50mm is probably as good as a lens can get. Just not so practical after all for general photography, a bit too long for other than portrait shots.

Regards, Bernie

I see a lot of very narrow, "small" scenes in my mind's eye. I have a really quiet eye. Some would call it boring. Whatever. I have little use for wide-angle photography. I prefer a 24mm as my wide angle lens...it's the shortest lens that keeps foreground objects from dominating and the backgrounds from simply "falling away" into nothingness. The 20mm and shorter ranges just don't "do it" for me. But that is personal preference.

Outdoors, my favorite lens lengths range from 45mm to 400mm in actual length, with 70-200mm comprising my favorite range, and of that most-favored range perhaps 3/4 of the time I select a length between 90mm and 200mm.

Indoors, 24mm,35mm and 45mm see more use than they do outdoors. it helps that Nikon has decent 24,35,and 45mm prime lenses.

--
Happy Shooting!
Derrel

Bernie Ess said:

David Grabowski said:

or a fixed 55 or 60
MM. lens even ( in fact I loved the 60 Micro when I had it, and may
get another one).

Click to expand...

You mean true 60mm or 60x1,5= 90?
I recently got a 105 DC Nikon lens, it seems a superb lens but
indor the focal length is really a bit long (155mm).

regards, Bernie

Click to expand...

True 60x1.5=90 Bernie. Think about it, it is a true 60, the Nikkor 60 Micro, that equals 90 in terms of magnification, but the lens is still a 60.
David

I think that the idea of "most important" varies with the situation. I recently went to Europe & found that my 12-24 mm was invaluable in many interiors as well as exteriors. I took my 24-85 AFS & Sigma 80-300 as well. The two shorter lenses got the most use. It is nice to have the full range to accommodate the unique circumstances of the situation but if I had to choose I would say 12-84 is nice range...No one lens can do it all.

People often say you can zoom with your feet but you can't always.

Here's the scene at 24 mm from the Klein Matterhorn



Here's the scene at 12 mm from the Klein Matterhorn Into the sun with a little flare.



I couldn't zoom with my feet without really zooming (straight down).

Interiors are another situation where the wide angle allows compositions that just aren't there for you in the longer focal lengths

The Hapsberg Crypt Vienna:





Again...couldn't zoom with the feet.

Sometimes the composition possibilities are affected quite dramatically with the different focal lengths as here in Lucerne:

At 84mm:



At 24mm:



At 12 mm:



Apart from the constraints of cost & bulk, in these situations it is good to have a few options...why restrict yourself?

Thanks for the discussion.

-evan

--
Fuji S2 etc.

http://www.pbase.com/eheffa

I find my Nikon 24mm F2.8 to be sharp, I don't own the Tamron so I can't compare the two. The 24mm is no where near as sharp as my Nikon 50mm F1.8, but thats to be expected. Compared to other Nikon wide angle lenses I have used the 24mm AF holds its own quite well. Its better than the 20mm in terms of sharpness and distortion, and outperforms the 28mm F2.8 in all departments. Its not as refined as the 28mm F1.8 but it costs a lot less. I like this lens and find its performance to be impressive, and I know other photographers who feel the same. Your lens might be a bad sample, if you know another photographer with this lens prehaps you should borrow it and shoot it side by side with yours. Or you could take it to Nikon service and ask them to check it out, I am not sure what they can do if it is not upto standard, but its worth asking.

Good luck

Simon
--
http://www.sbphotography.org.uk