The first S lens — what should it be?

[setuporg]

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7 minutes ago, geetee1972 said:

Er, it's focal length is 5mm shorter? 🤣

Go on...

[peterv]

@setuporg the question is, do you feel there is a big gap between the 24 and the 35? Are you missing shots/opportunities because you don't have the 30mm? 

I couldn't say anything about the difference in drawing which could be a good argument for buying them all. Of these wide angles I only have the 24 and cannot compare between the 30 and 35 directly.

[setuporg]

Yeah I saw someone here say that the 30mm is a better lens than the 45mm, and the character matters...

[geetee1972]

On 10/30/2019 at 12:47 AM, setuporg said:

Yeah I saw someone here say that the 30mm is a better lens than the 45mm, and the character matters...

I think the point is that the 'character' or absolute resolution of a lens is academic; it ought to play no part in whether you buy that lens or not. You either need that focal length or you don't, unless of course you like collecting lenses (which is of course very common and entirely understandable).

[peterv]

I wholeheartedly disagree, you can have a need for a certain focal length - field of view - for very different purposes and if a certain lens helps to convey the message, then use it. I mean as a simple example, maybe I’d want a lens to be more contrasty and sharp for a medium shot of a villain and more soft and pastel-like for a medium of the leading actress who the producers want to look beautiful.

[Stuart Richardson]

Maybe I misunderstood, but I got the impression that he was referring more to the lenses within the S system? They have all been designed to have a fairly homogeneous rendering, apart from the 100mm and the 120 TS, so I would imagine that the question of 30mm or 45mm is more a question of angle of view than anything else. As for the 30mm being better than the 45mm, where did you see that? I do not have the 30mm, but I have the 45mm and many of the other lenses, and I would say the 45mm is the best lens I have used after the 120mm macro. Certainly the MTF readings on the 45mm are much better than those of the 30mm, which are pretty poor in the edges, at least for tangential structures...it is most likely field curvature, but still...

[peterv]

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49 minutes ago, Stuart Richardson said:

Maybe I misunderstood, but I got the impression that he was referring more to the lenses within the S system?

I'm sorry if I misread what you said geetee1972, but my point still stands. For instance if I am a commercial photographer and I do a shoot for a high tech company, I would want to use my S lenses. In case I was shooting for a huge Dutch flower-export company, I'd probably want to use the Hasselblad lenses and if I’d shoot an add aimed at millennials, maybe I would want to choose for the Contax option for a more gritty look.

Quite a few focal lengths in these lens-lines overlap, but they can all serve a purpose to try and convey the message more clearly or give the photographer creative options. It's just another piece of the puzzle, just another freedom of choice, and alternatives on the photographic palette.