Using 21mm on FF

[Mylek]

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Hello,

 

I'm looking for a WA to use on a FF M. I was going for a Zeiss 21mm then the new Leica SEM then the Zeiss because it is available but after reading an article on the SEM on the latest LFI, i'm wondering about what was written concerning the use of a 21mm on a RF compare to DSLR.

 

Is it really harder to compose decent shots compare to a 24mm? Do we have to get close to the subject to get more depth most of the time? Do we need layers to make it work? Is it better to shot at waist level with it then standing up?

 

I'm more into streets and reportage than interiors.

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[ho_co]

I don't think there's much difference between CRF and SLR with a 21mm lens. The lens still "sees" the same way.

 

With the rangefinder, one generally uses an external finder with both the 24 and the 21. And because you're not looking through the lens, there may be a difference between the way the lens and the finder make you see the image.

 

I think LFI simply means to tell people that working with a wider lens requires more attention to what's in front of the lens. IOW, the lens sees a wider angle, so the photographer needs to be aware of a greater foreground, which should be used in the composition.

 

To me, the 21mm is the natural next choice after the 24mm, and I don't think the two lenses work that much differently; the 21 just gives you a slightly larger field of view. So if you're comfortable composing with the 24mm, I don't think you'll find any difference in approach needed with the 21.

[Lord Fluff]

To create a great picture, every focal length requires you fill the frame with interesting stuff - with a wider lens you simply have more space to fill, so you need more stuff. If a 50mm gives you one subject, a 21mm may give you four - this is either better or worse depending on your skills and style as a photographer. This is why you'll see people saying "i find Xmm too wide / long" as they have a style, or pattern, to their shots. Owning a wider or longer lens can make you challenge or revise this pattern, or make your realise you're stuck with it. But there is no such thing as a lens which is 'hard to use' as such, at least not until you get near the very ends of the optical range.

[lct]

...Is it really harder to compose decent shots compare to a 24mm...

Not a huge difference as Howard said above but, to me at least, the wider the harder. With more DoF and more details in the frame it is a challenge to get good photos IMHO. Some photogs are excellent at that though. No problem with crop cameras of course.

[budrichard]

I've been working with a Leica 21mm f2.8 ASPH for a few years now. I tried both the Zeiss and the Leica 21mm finders and found that one needs to use the Leica finder with offset to avoid a rotation about a vertical axis. The use of a 21mm on a rangefinder requires much more diligence if shooting any type of picture that has straight lines in it as the effect of not have the film plane exactly parallel to the subject is not as evident as when using a SLR.

For decades my favorite lens was a Nikkor 24mm on various Nikon bodies. Used on an SLR one can see distortions introduced with improper camera position, its the not the framing per se but the position of the film plane, i.e for taking pictures of buildings, Perspective Control lenses are available that tilt the lens upwards while keeping the film plane parallel to the building plane. otherwise you get convergent lines.

Photographing street scenes is a little less difficult if you don't care about divergent or convergent lines and distortion that happens in at the frame sides but as one can tell, much of 'modern' wide angle photography even with SLR's, most photographers appear to be completely ignorant of distortion or just disregard distortion and apparently believe it is just a normal occurrence when using with these lenses.

I've seen Wedding albums done by so called Professionals where one gets sea sick from the distortions in all the shots where the photographer apparently believed that, 'shoot often and shoot quickly' was the mantra of the day.

So to answer your questions succinctly, you will just have to use one of these 21mm's to experience whether the problems are a problem to your style of photography.-Dick