Am I really a wide-angle shooter?

Just for fun I decided to see what focal lengths I've used for my 4-5 star photos.  I was surprised to find that the majority of my shots were in the wide angle category.  I shoot with a bag full of primes and I feel like I rarely mount my Panasonic 14 and 15mm lenses.  I also have a Sony RX100iii and I don't feel like I shoot at the wide end on the lens.  I would have guessed the opposite actually.
Now I'm wondering if I should embrace the obvious and get an ultrawide lens, though I don't think that's a focal length that's calling out to me.

No you're not a wide-angle shooter; two thirds of your shots are 42mm or longer.

Out from day one I know I love wide angle more than everything for my travelling. I love history, religious places and landscape. Museum, Palaces, Cathedrals/Mosque/Temple, historical ruins etc are my favourites. When I move onto M43, 14-45 been slightly too restrictive for my usage and eventually purchased 7-14 f/4. 7-14 be used >50% of time, followed by >45% using 14-45 and a few % on 45-200.

After replaced 14-45 by 12-35 f/2.8, I found the usage of 7-14 been reduced a lot.

I did a research last year like you on my latest travelling albums. Found the 200mm end was rarely used (less than 1~2%) and so decided to buy a smaller 45-150 to replace the unjustifiable weight of carrying the 45-200.

Follow what statistic tells you, it does not lie. If you shot a lot in shorter range for huge monument like me, you might worth to try an ultra wide. Perhaps it might reveal something you have not noticed before.

Hi

UWA lenses can be great. The Oly 9-18mm is a very versatile and well packaged lens. It might be worth trying one!

The problem with most wide angle lenses is that they are usually big and bulky.

The olympus 9-18mm dinky wide angle zoom solves the issue of carrying one around and can be easily thrown into a bag of primes.

Most of my shots are at 9 mm and you can get a good 35mm equivalent normal field of view in a pinch. Throw on a circular polariser and you are good to go for wide angle landscape photography.

KTMfan wrote:

Youcan't use something you haven't got, & get meaningful statistics for it. 7-10 mm is a LOT different to 14 & 15mm. Even if you don't use it a lot, it's still worth having (an ultrawide ) for the times you need it. Or want that specific look. No need to justify it with numbers.

I agree, ultra wide can be world's apart from wide, you may love it or hate it but it'll require an adjustment period either way and I don't think your (OP's) stats will tell you anything meaningful in advance... They might actually say more of the tendency was in the opposite direction.

Jumping into it with a zoom like the 9-18 that has a useful/familiar long end can be helpful IMO, even if it isn't the widest or the best of the UWAs (certainly the least bulky of the zooms). I'd say it's actually more about how you like to shoot than actually 'needing' it per se tho...

If you only go really wide when you think you have to fit it all in you might end up with disappointing results (and stitching w/a longer lens can be an alternative there)... On the other hand if you've already noticed you like getting very close to subjects when you shoot wider then that might be indicative that you'll like shooting UWA.

How did you get the stats?

karlreed wrote:

How did you get the stats?

It's a Lightroom plugin: http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/data-plot

The widest thing I recall photographing was the Space Shuttle Endeavor.  My 14mm didn't quite get it all in, but it was perfectly fine anyway IMO SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOR

When I'd had the 9-18 Olympus for few months, I went back and looked at the images I had taken and found that rarely did I ever use any focal length wider than 12mm. So I sold the 9-18 and bought a 12-40.

Fast forward a couple of years, and on a lark I bought a Rokinon 7.5 fisheye for about $200. What a gas. Not for a steady diet but when I want wide.....I get really wide (180 degree FOV). After a few trials at various de-fish routines I'm pleased. Since I don't shoot ultra wide very often the tiny and cheap Rokinon is nice to have around, but only when I want it.