I find much of this discussion resonating with my own experience with one exception. I rarely use anything much wider than 20 or so with an APS-C body. My 50 is still a good normal. I get much use out of my FA135 because I don't live "in town"; I tend to walk along country roads and I need a little more reach.
BTW, Godfrey, I also have the ZD 50mm f/2 Macro on my E-P1. It's a wonderful lens. With the Lumix 20 1.7, it makes a nice little kit. On Fri, Dec 24, 2010 at 2:24 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Andrew Allen <[email protected]> > wrote: >> Back to photography, I was wondering if anyone has the same affliction >> I do; that is, using certain focal lengths almost exclusively. I find >> that 90% of my needs are covered by the rough range of 24mm - 85mm >> (this being a 35mm equivalent range). That is wide through portrait - >> clearly, I don't do any birding or serious sports work. Recently, I >> had a friend told me I should try out a RF for my needs - of course >> I'd love an M9 - but I've yet to win the lottery. Any thoughts on >> this focal length constriction, and the use of a RF for street >> shooting versus a DSLR? > > I don't know whether I'd consider it an affliction. > > Most of my photography is done with prime lenses in the range of a > wide-normal to portrait telephoto. The longest lens I use with any > real frequency is about 135mm in Equivalent 135 terms, and even that > is infrequent compares to a straight normal lens, a modest wide angle > and a short portrait tele. I use primes mostly because I become very > comfortable with a particular field of view and would rather have just > that then be constantly trying to decide whether I want to try more or > less FoV (aside from the simple technical benefits that primes usually > show over zooms in terms of more lens speed, lack of bulk and lens > performance). > > Which specific lenses I use are dependent on the system I'm using, > which currently is Olympus FourThirds, so I won't bother with > extolling the virtues of my current lenses to the Pentax discussion > list. However, I've found that, for me, an ultra-wide zoom, a fast > normal, and a fast portrait tele* accounts for 95% of what I need/use. > I have longer lenses for those occasions when they're useful but only > rarely just head out the door carrying them for an unplanned photo > shoot. > > For Street Photography, I've used everything from a Minox subminiature > to a 4x5 Speed Graphic, but the handiest camera to have for this is > something with a wide-normal to normal lens that is modest size and > handles well. I don't find myself needing extremes of lens speed very > often since I usually zone focus for this kind of shooting ... f/5 to > f/8 is what the lens is usually set to. When I was shooting with > Pentax gear, the *ist DS and K10D fitted with either of the DA21 or > FA43 Limiteds were my favorite shooters for this kind of work. > Nowadays, I tend to use the ultrawide zoom at the wide-normal FoV > (18-22mm) setting or the normal lens (25mm). > > RF cameras like the Leica M have a small advantage in being a bit > quieter and slightly more compact, but the advantages of a particular > camera type are way over-rated. A good camera that works the way you > expect, responsively, and suits your hands well ... with a good > quality lens that suits your FoV preferences ... is all that's needed. > -- > Godfrey > godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com > > > * If you want the detail: my entire present lens kit consists of > > Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 > :: a superb piece, better performance than nearly any set of primes > I've had with comparable FoV on any format. That's an EFL of about > 20-45mm > > Summilux-D 25mm f/1.4 ASPH > :: The best normal lens I've had since I sold my Leica Summicron-M > 50mm f/2 in 2002. 50mm EFL > > ZD 35mm f/3.5 Macro > :: An extremely high quality performer for a "consumer grade" lens at > a shockingly low price, useful for much more than just macro work. > 70mm EFL. > > ZD 50mm f/2 Macro > :: Without a doubt one of the very best 50mm lenses ever made for any > camera. 100mm EFL > > ZD 50mm f/2 fitted to EC14 - 70mm f/2.8 Macro > :: One of the best 50mm lenses ever made fitted to the best > teleconverter I've ever tried. This is my long lens. 140mm EFL > > Pentax SMC Takumar 135mm f/3.5 > :: Amazingly good performer, very small and light, that I got for > nothing from a friend who found it in the disposal bin at Good Will. > EFL 270mm, 380mm with the teleconverter. > > I use the 25/1.4, 11-22, 35 and 50 in order of decreasing frequency > where the 11-22 and 35 are about on par and the 25 runs about 60% of > my shooting. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- Steve Desjardins -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
