wlaidlaw Posted June 8, 2017 Share #241 Posted June 8, 2017 Advertisement (gone after registration) A more appropriate question than "Is 35mm all you ever need" might be "If you had to live with just one lens, would it be 35mm?" When I am travelling light with just one body and lens, either film or digital, M or LTM, my first choice would normally be 35mm, with 50mm a close second. Wilson 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 8, 2017 Posted June 8, 2017 Hi wlaidlaw, Take a look here Is 35mm All You Really Need?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Archiver Posted June 8, 2017 Share #242 Posted June 8, 2017 If it's a 35mm f1.4, and you're using a M9 or higher, the answer could be 'maybe'. It's quite possible to shoot multiple panning exposures and stitch in Photoshop to create wide angle panoramas. It's also possible to crop considerably to simulate 50mm and 75mm focal lengths, albeit with increased depth of field. This allows the 35 to emulate a wide angle, a normal and moderate tele. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
riswanc Posted June 8, 2017 Share #243 Posted June 8, 2017 My favs lens is 50mm but i wouldnt mind add one or more in 35 and superwide 15 voigtlander I might not use 'em but u never know Instagram @jakontil Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rus Posted June 8, 2017 Share #244 Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) Regarding the question on whether anyone here really owns absolutely only one lens: I confess I don't quite see the point of asking. Can it not be several lenses in the same focal length then? Can it not be several lenses in quite similar focal lengths? Can it not be that one has tried many different focal lengths and found one that one likes best? I've mainly tried 35mm, 40mm and 50mm lenses in the past, and have gradually come to the recognition that I work best with a 50mm. I still own a few 35mm and 40mm lenses that I haven't bothered to sell, or haven't got around to sell, or I feel I should keep for their possible future increase in value. I just don't see why any of these matters? Does any of them negate the fact that I might very well have come down to a particular focal length that I like best and use most for my own photography? The whole point is about not blindly sticking with one focal length, but finding, out of many choices, what work (or works) best for oneself. Everything else that one still owns and keeps at home is entirely irrelevant. Edited June 8, 2017 by Rus Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted June 8, 2017 Share #245 Posted June 8, 2017 Illusion that a real photographer is supposed to work with only one lens. Not sure where it comes from. Photogs having used a Speed Graphic or a Rolleiflex in the past? Mix of a myth and web parroting i suspect. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rus Posted June 8, 2017 Share #246 Posted June 8, 2017 Illusion that a real photographer is supposed to work with only one lens. Not sure where it comes from. Photogs having used a Speed Graphic or a Rolleiflex in the past? Mix of a myth and web parroting i suspect. I do agree that it is an illusion, but to a similar degree so is the belief that one must have multiple lenses in order to make the most out of a shooting situation. Hence I said finding what work, or works, best for oneself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
almoore Posted June 8, 2017 Share #247 Posted June 8, 2017 Advertisement (gone after registration) Illusion that a real photographer is supposed to work with only one lens... Has anybody here actually said 'that a real photographer is supposed to work with only one lens'? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted June 8, 2017 Share #248 Posted June 8, 2017 I confess I don't quite see the point of asking. Can it not be several lenses in the same focal length then? Can it not be several lenses in quite similar focal lengths? Can it not be that one has tried many different focal lengths and found one that one likes best? Exactly. I have FAR too many 50mm/5cm lenses. More than any sane person could need or use. 1xAnastigmat, 3xf3.5 Elmar, 1xSummitar, 1xf1.5 Summarit, 1xf1.8 Serenar, 1xLTM Summicron V, 1xOpton-Sonnar, 1xZM Planar, 1xf0.95 Noctilux. Wilson Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted June 8, 2017 Share #249 Posted June 8, 2017 Has anybody here actually said 'that a real photographer is supposed to work with only one lens'? What with the number of straw men in this thread, it's like an episode of Worzel Gummidge. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted June 8, 2017 Share #250 Posted June 8, 2017 I draw a different conclusion from this. If it shows anything, it shows that most jobbing commercial photographers have a very definite and narrowly constrained view of what their clients want. Do you think that if the two photographers in question were Parr and Pinkhassov they'd have taken near identical photographs? Or that either of them would have come up with something similar to you and the first guy? Are you disagreeing with my earlier suggestion that Steve Pyke made the journey from the low paid world of the 80s British music press to arguably the most coveted position in the editorial world as staff photographer at the New Yorker, using no more than a fixed lens Rolleiflex? I recently spent a year of my life using no other lens than a 40mm on a series of photographs that were very important to me. Normally, I use more than one focal length, but even then they're very tightly grouped - 35mm, 40mm, 50mm. You're devaluing language by repeatedly claiming that the one focal length photographer is a myth when it's clearly anything but. FWIW I have no idea whether either of the photographers you mention would have been asked to do the job in the first place. They may or may not have been capable of it - they would have had to show relevant material of a similar quality to that required which they may or may not have been able to . So the question is not merely academic but pointless. Rollei also produced at least two other focal length variants - carrying three Rolleis would be daunting. The supposition that it was simply a matter of using a Rollei with a fixed lens specifically because of wanting to use that lens is conjecture without a definitive statement from the photographer. A tight group is not one focal length - and many would argue that Leica M rangefinders are constricting due to their limited lens focal length usability so its a matter of degree. When I studied we had exercises to do using a single focal length. Its a great way to get to understand the attributes of a specific focal length (an educational mechanism), but as a way of working I am still of the opinion that its a myth - and probably one largely perpetrated by the 'art' scene at that . Real life photography, professional or amateur, or indeed the large betwixt/between sector, can very, very rarely have the luxury of being so totally specific and inward looking IMO. I do talk to some photographers who do the sort of 'work' which enabes them to be incredibly specific in how they shoot, however in my experience most have a 'real' job (sometimes commercial or editorial photography) which supports their 'passion', and that said I still can't think of anyone who exclusively uses one focal length. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
almoore Posted June 8, 2017 Share #251 Posted June 8, 2017 What with the number of straw men in this thread, it's like an episode of Worzel Gummidge.Quite. It really is becoming bizarre. Pgk's persistence has worn me down and I'm now happy to defer to his every point and claim. Steve Pyke in fact has numerous special edition Rolleiflexes with lenses from fisheye to supertelephoto. Parr and Pinky are undistinguished photographers who could never rise to the level needed to photograph a hotel room. And it's a verifiable myth that no talented or successful photographer has ever stuck to a single focal length. Top marks also for leveraging those telling inverted commas around the word art, or 'art' as I'll now obediently style it for the rest of my days. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted June 8, 2017 Share #252 Posted June 8, 2017 Steve Pyke in fact has numerous special edition Rolleiflexes with lenses from fisheye to supertelephoto. Parr and Pinky are undistinguished photographers who could never rise to the level needed to photograph a hotel room. And it's a verifiable myth that no talented or successful photographer has ever stuck to a single focal length. I have a vivid picture in my mind of Parr and Pinkhassov eagerly showing their portfolios to the proprietor of a Llandudno hotel only to be met by a shaking of the head and various remarks that the management are looking for something "a bit more classy". 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted June 8, 2017 Share #253 Posted June 8, 2017 I have a vivid picture in my mind of Parr and Pinkhassov eagerly showing their portfolios to the proprietor of a Llandudno hotel only to be met by a shaking of the head and various remarks that the management are looking for something "a bit more classy". Where did Llandudno come from? But you are right, why would you employ a specialist in one area to work in another? I doubt that either would be much good at natural history underwater photography either. Why would you think otherwise? My whole point is that myths become established facts if perpetuated long enough. The Leica M IS a street camera, A single focal length lens IS all a photographer needs. And so on. True enough at times but utterly inaccurate as an overview. And your posted photo above shows appropriate use (if you appreciate such photos) nothing more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
almoore Posted June 8, 2017 Share #254 Posted June 8, 2017 (edited) I have a vivid picture in my mind of Parr and Pinkhassov eagerly showing their portfolios to the proprietor of a Llandudno hotel only to be met by a shaking of the head and various remarks that the management are looking for something "a bit more classy".My wife once assigned Pinkhassov on a long and rambling Asian story that begin at the Korean DMZ and ended with a musing on the quirks of the travel industry in Bhutan. I can confirm that he took some very nice photographs of his Bhutanese hotel room - including a fetching selfie - although I accept that they might not have been to the taste of pgk's paymasters in Merthyr Tydfil. Edited June 8, 2017 by almoore 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted June 8, 2017 Share #255 Posted June 8, 2017 I hope that they were ALL taken on a 35mm lens. Your geography is a bit dodgy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted June 11, 2017 Share #256 Posted June 11, 2017 Illusion that a real photographer is supposed to work with only one lens. Not sure where it comes from. Photogs having used a Speed Graphic or a Rolleiflex in the past? Mix of a myth and web parroting i suspect. When a poor college guy, I had one camera with fixed lens. Drove me nuts. After landing first job, bought a Pentax Spotmatic and 6 lenses. Was happy for a while. Tried 1960 zoom lenses like Vivitar 80/200. POS lens. Have Nikon and Leica with lots of lenses. Try to carry 3. Currently 35 Ais, 55 3.5 Ais, 105 2.8 AiS for digital and film Nikon , Classic 35,50 90 for the leica dig and film. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrp Posted June 11, 2017 Share #257 Posted June 11, 2017 Well the billions of phone camera users seem to be surviving on a single 28mm lens. The results speak for themselves. Horses for courses. 24-70/90mm zooms are popular for a reason. Combine them with a telephoto (zoom) of some sort and you can shoot 80% of whatever you want. The remaining 20 are specialist situations that call for extra long toms, or macro or shift lenses, or fast (f1.4) lenses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted June 12, 2017 Share #258 Posted June 12, 2017 If you are walking the street, One lens seems to be the mantra of such aficionados. I don't subscribe to that entirely, but that is just me. If you are shooting a drama or stage production, running say 2 hours, it is imperative that you vary angles and viewpoints or your shoot will be dead boring to look at. That demands you move your feet, change your lens (or have a separate camera for each focal length). My point? It is not possible to define if one lens is all you need. The simple answer is take as many as you know/think you may need. Anything lens is a risk. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sml_photo Posted January 25, 2018 Share #259 Posted January 25, 2018 UPDATE: I just returned from a trip to Cuba with Peter Turnley (which I STRONGLY recommend!!). Peter suggested to each of us to bring a fast, wide angle lens. That's my inclination anyways. But, I took over 2000 frames on this trip and 100% were taken with the 35mm Summicron. Not only liberating and comfortable, I was also extremely satisfied with the images. Really reinforced my style and approach. Not sure when I'll change lenses now!! haha If you're interested: http://blog.sml-photos.com/people-of-cuba/ 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ko.Fe. Posted January 25, 2018 Share #260 Posted January 25, 2018 It looks like I was listening to Peter even without knowing him. I recently added 28 1.8 lens. After selling of 28/6 lens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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