On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Andrew Allen <andrewdall...@gmail.com> 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 PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
