Is 35mm All You Really Need?

[Guest]

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Grandagon 35mm for 4x5?? Is what you have your eye on?

[ECohen]

If we're talking 4x5..... I made a l commercial living with 90 150 and a 210

85% of the work shot with either the 150 or 210
 

I feel differently about the work I do in retirement. Its much like learning photography in my teens

35mm on 35/M is king  perfect walking around with one lens

....OK so you miss a few shots there is no "perfect" one lens

[pgk]

....OK so you miss a few shots there is no "perfect" one lens

 

 

I thought that this thread was all about the 'perfect' one lens?

[ECohen]

 

I do smile at the younger silly version of myself and that quest for perfection
The older I get the less perfection is a concern 

.....that said, here I am on the Leica site still searching
......this is better than therapy I think I've made a breakthrough

[NB23]

18-300mm ed if ex ld af-s art L usm nc Canikon lens, anyone?

[IWC Doppel]

I very rarely go out with more than one lens, and even less rarely go out without my M and one lens. It took me a while to realise that I actually prefer less choice. I really like 35, but would probably choose 28 if I could only have one focal length. If I had to go down to two lenses then 21,35

 

I do sometimes find I have the 'wrong' lens on my M or I wish I'd bought my monochrome instead of the M9, but I'm glad to say I never get that bu**er, iPhone only moment. I also think if you are forced to use a lens that is less than the perfect choice, you understand more about the lens

 

I sold my lovely 75mm summilux, and I miss it once a quarter, I sold my 12mm don't miss it at all, not sure if I really miss my 18 I would use it if I'd kept it.

 

I do think less is more so long as it's not too much less.....

[Printmaker]

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Well, the advantage of using only one lens is that year lern to master it in stead of having a large range of lenses which you really don't know.

 

As a back to roots experiment, I put a 50 on a Monochrom and used it exclusively for a year. I rarely felt the need for other lenses. In fact 2 plus years later the 50 is still mounted on the Monochrom.

 

When it comes to shooting color I really like using a 35 Summicron. This lens sees the most use. I still like to have a 90 in the bag for those just in case moments. But it rarely gets used. In fact, with the improved finder frames in the M10, I'm replacing the 90 with a 75 Summicron for a near perfect 2 lens set.

[erl]

I get the concept of one camera, one lens. I did it with my 111f + Summitar 50mm for a year, and produced a book as a result. But I believe it produces blinkered vision, relative to what is possible.

 

I have just walked in the door from visiting the Van Gough exhibition at the NGV (Victoria). There, I shot 15mmm (Sony A7S) and 50mm (M10). Both produced images of import (to me) that would have been missed if I had limited myself to one combo. I also carried a 75mm Cron, but didn't use it, this time. The story I was able to generate from the the display of visitors to the exhibition could not have matched my results, Had I only had one lens.

 

one lens is convenient and can fulfill your intentions if they are pre-defined for that scenario, but otherwise, for me, no.

[Rus]

The fact that there are (of course) millions of possible choices out there does not mean that one has to sample all of them. 

 

The more I read the threads in this post the more I feel that this is purely a matter of personal choice, and hence the issue of limitation is irrelevant. 

 

Otherwise I'm really curious as to why, as I've said before, that we don't seem to feel the same kind of "limitation" in not trying out every possible regional cuisine there is, and seem to happily stick with just a few---or even just one---types of food that we are familiar with and like. 

 

So is a 35mm lens all you need? The answer depends not so much on the focal length but on who that "you" refers to. 

Edited June 6, 2017 by Rus

[jto555]

To the OP, not really. Look at event/wedding photographers. Most will have the 'holy trinity' of lenses, the 16-35, 24-70 and the 70-200. Or they will have a selection of primes. As for the 'zoom with the feet' this does not always does not work because of physical limitations, or the perspective changes too much if you move.

Get the best tools for the job that you can afford. If that is only one lens then yes the 35mm is a good place to start.

[Peter H]

To the OP, not really. Look at event/wedding photographers. Most will have the 'holy trinity' of lenses, the 16-35, 24-70 and the 70-200. Or they will have a selection of primes. As for the 'zoom with the feet' this does not always does not work because of physical limitations, or the perspective changes too much if you move.

Get the best tools for the job that you can afford. If that is only one lens then yes the 35mm is a good place to start.

 

 

Wedding photography is a very specialised thing and I don't think it tells us much about what we need for most other types of photography. I'd give up photography altogether rather than have to carry every focal length from 16mm to 200mm (plus lighting etc etc...)  in order to feel I had everything covered.

 

I get what the OP is saying, but it's a matter of your own creative impulse, unless you are working to a very restrictive job spec.

 

What are you trying to do with your camera? Why are you even taking photos in the first place? You really ought to be able to answer these questions before you consider what focal length best serves your purpose.

[lct]

[...] I'm really curious as to why, as I've said before, that we don't seem to feel the same kind of "limitation" in not trying out every possible regional cuisine there is, and seem to happily stick with just a few---or even just one---types of food that we are familiar with and like. [...]

 

Many (most?) of us have tried all sorts of lenses and cuisines already. We just stick with what we prefer somewhat expectedly.

[Rus]

Many (most?) of us have tried all sorts of lenses and cuisines already. We just stick with what we prefer somewhat expectedly.

 

ah precisely, thank you

 

Hence we don't really feel we are limiting ourselves by sticking with what we prefer, because it is the result of our informed choice, right? 

 

Hence I feel this is more of a matter of personal choice rather than anything pertaining to any universal truth. 

Edited June 6, 2017 by Rus

[pgk]

ah precisely, thank you

 

Hence we don't really feel we are limiting ourselves by sticking with what we prefer, because it is the result of our informed choice, right? 

 

Hence I feel this is more of a matter of personal choice rather than anything pertaining to any universal truth. 

 

Not sure I'd want to eat the same thing every day though  .

 

Its like a lot of things that can be self regulated/limiting. You could buy Fish & Chips every day and eat nothing else. You could buy a Ferrari and only ever drive drive it at 30 mph. You can buy an interchangeable lens camera and stick just one lens on it. All perfectly possible. But why would you?

Edited June 6, 2017 by pgk

[Rus]

Not sure I'd want to eat the same thing every day though  .

 

Its like a lot of things that can be self regulated/limiting. You could buy Fish & Chips every day and eat nothing else. You could buy a Ferrari and only ever drive drive it at 30 mph. You can buy an interchangeable lens camera and stick just one lens on it. All perfectly possible. But why would you?

 

I guess sticking with one lens is more like say sticking with Chinese cuisine or French cuisine or Spanish cuisine...rather than with one particular dish. You can do quite a lot with one lens, just as you can vary your diet quite a bit well within one cuisine. 

 

Anyway..now this metaphor has outgrown its use

[pgk]

You can do quite a lot with one lens .....

Absolutely. But I wonder just how many people on this forum own an interchangeable lens camera and, through their own absolute choice (and not financial constraints which are understandable given Leica prices), have decided to stick with one, single focal length lens, and who actually own no other lens. I'd hazard a guess and say, very, very, very few. Simple question (in bold). Simple answers - yes or no .

[Exodies]

I don't like 24mm; I've never tried it.

 

Which song goes "too much freedom and not enough choice"?

[pico]

Grandagon 35mm for 4x5?? Is what you have your eye on?

 

Eye off for a while. I have put away the Horseman  SW-612 with Grandagon 35mm.

Edited June 6, 2017 by pico

[jdlaing]

I don't like 24mm; I've never tried it.

 

Which song goes "too much freedom and not enough choice"?

How do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Peter H]

How do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?

 

 

I think that was his point.