Guest flatfour Posted August 14, 2006 Share #1 Posted August 14, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) There have been numerous messages and questions on this forum about what is going to happen to wideangle lenses with the M8 assuming a crop factor. But who really wants wideangle ? Are there many people who really want this ? In our LPP group the only 'wideangle' lens used is a 35mm and that is rare - about 2% of pictures at the last count I made. I have a 35mm and sometimes use it but it seems to me that its only advantage is that it makes the M6 a snapshot camera removing the need to focus. I personally don't like the distortion which appears in photos taken with any lens wider than this. So who does use the wideangles and why ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 14, 2006 Posted August 14, 2006 Hi Guest flatfour, Take a look here Who wants wideangle ?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
stunsworth Posted August 14, 2006 Share #2 Posted August 14, 2006 Anthony, I don't think it's possible to generalise too much about the use of wide angle lenses. It depends on what people shoot amd their style. You rarely use a 35mm, I probably shoot 80%, or more, of the time with a 35mm on my Ms. It depends on what the photographer wants to try and achieve with an image. I have a 15mm which I use very rarely, but that doesn't mean that I never use it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pascal_meheut Posted August 14, 2006 Share #3 Posted August 14, 2006 I'm using the 28mm a lot with the Leica M so I'll want a 21mm with the M8. But the rumoured 16-18-21 f/4 Tri-Elmar would be interesting too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted August 14, 2006 Share #4 Posted August 14, 2006 It's interesting what focal lengths people use. Outside of specialists like Doug Herr I'd expect most peope to use 28-50mm, with the majority using either 35 or 50. The digital M has changed my lens buying plans. I had planned on getting the 75mm Summicron, but I'm leaning more towards replacing my VC 28mm with a 28mm Summicron at the moment - I'd want to have a play with the VC lens before making any decision. My only concern with the wide angle Tri-Elmar - apary from speed and price ;-) - would be the mechanical complexity. My Tri-Elmar has been back to Solms several times with mechanical problems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlancasterd Posted August 14, 2006 Share #5 Posted August 14, 2006 I would normally use either a 28-70 zoom (on film) or the 21-35mm zoom (with the DMR) as the standard lens and usually find myself working at the wide end of both of these. Distortion is not a problem if you know what you are doing when (a) taking the photo or ( doing post-processing in PhotoShop - problems such as converging verticals are easily corrected provided that they are not too extreme. I do a lot of photography in restricted spaces (eg railway workshops) where a wide angle lens is essential. If the Leica 15mm lens wasn't so damned expensive I'd have one for the DMR. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted August 14, 2006 Share #6 Posted August 14, 2006 I do - because (in jazz-speak) it's my AXE, Man! First lens I've bought in every system I've owned since 1978 (Canon, Nikon, Contax R, Contax G, Leica M) has been a 20, 21, or 25. No focal length has made me more money. I can remember the very first pictures I saw that awakened me to the power of wide-angles (35 years ago): Gene Smith's lead picture for "Nurse Midwife", where he used a 28 to look 'down' on the sleeping expectant mother, while looking "out" across the room at Nurse Callum and beyond her to the kerosene lamp on the table. Bruce Davidson's portrait of a Puerto Rican couple in their apartment from "East 100th Street" - where one could see the couple, and also see out the window to the street they lived on. Wideangles reveal space. They allow me to get in the middle of the action while still capturing everything around me (putting my audience in the middle of the action, too.). They look up, down, left and right simultaneously, placing a subject in its environment. They define relationships, emphasize gestures and body language, and make what's important stand out - without having to blur everything else to a fare-the-well. I could go on - but pictures speak louder than words: "Go-Go-Go" yells the offensive line coach. Contax G2, 21 Biogon-G. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/3237-who-wants-wideangle/?do=findComment&comment=30284'>More sharing options...
adan Posted August 14, 2006 Share #7 Posted August 14, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Captain "in irons", Delaware Bay oyster schooner, Leica M6, 15mm Voigtlander. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/3237-who-wants-wideangle/?do=findComment&comment=30286'>More sharing options...
adan Posted August 14, 2006 Share #8 Posted August 14, 2006 Hilltop memorial overlooking Columbine high school, scene of school massacre - 1999. Leica M4-2, 21mm Elmarit. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/3237-who-wants-wideangle/?do=findComment&comment=30288'>More sharing options...
adan Posted August 14, 2006 Share #9 Posted August 14, 2006 Handshake for a cop - four days after 9/11, 2001. Leica M4-2, 21mm The 21 allowed me to included everything from the flag at the left to the pat on the back at the right, while separating the cop from the marchers around him (by size, rather than focus). Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/3237-who-wants-wideangle/?do=findComment&comment=30290'>More sharing options...
uulrich Posted August 14, 2006 Share #10 Posted August 14, 2006 Hilltop memorial overlooking Columbine high school, scene of school massacre - 1999. Leica M4-2, 21mm Elmarit. A very sad event. A very good photograph - the answer to this question also. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uulrich Posted August 14, 2006 Share #11 Posted August 14, 2006 Well put Andy; (I need to work my English skills.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smep Posted August 14, 2006 Share #12 Posted August 14, 2006 I am using 35, 28, 50 and 90mm mostly with my M. But I have also a CV 15/4.5 It´s nice to have this small inexpensive lens with me, but I use it very seldom. I would not like to pay 3000,-€ for such a lens. [ATTACH]5282[/ATTACH] Puerto Esperanza, Cuba. 15/4.5 [ATTACH]5283[/ATTACH] Playa Maria La Gorda, Cuba. 15/4.5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_l Posted August 14, 2006 Share #13 Posted August 14, 2006 If they want to address the photojournalist market that they lost to Canon due to not having a digital body, they MUST do wideangle, and at least get a 28mm FOV without having to put on an accessory finder - which means a 21mm frameline.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted August 14, 2006 Share #14 Posted August 14, 2006 If they want to address the photojournalist market that they lost to Canon due to not having a digital body, they MUST do wideangle, and at least get a 28mm FOV without having to put on an accessory finder - which means a 21mm frameline.... no, surely if a 21mm lens is used it will need a 28mm frameline to cover just the 'cropped' area? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted August 14, 2006 Share #15 Posted August 14, 2006 No surprises that I agree with you. 28mm equivalent fov is wide but not that wide. James, I think Steve means that the camera needs a frame activated by the 21mm which gives a 28mm equivalent fov (of the cropped area). No one - not even me - is expecting a viewfinder which can show a 21mm equivalent fov - that's for the new ultra-wide lens which will surely need an aux finder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted August 14, 2006 Share #16 Posted August 14, 2006 Re who wants W/A. Well, many of us. I use (heavily) 15mm, 24mm, 35mm, just as much as my (2)50mm, and 90mm. Without ANY of them I would feel as though I had cut a finger from my hand. End of declaration. Cheers, Erl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flatfour Posted August 14, 2006 Share #17 Posted August 14, 2006 Well Iv'e not really had an answer to why people want wideangle. Some have said they do, the pictures shown all having intense distortion, and many too much depth of focus for my liking. So I know they are used simply by the M8 questions but why ? Does it pack more into the frame ? Does it make people fat ? Does it bend trees and make roads look longer ? All to your liking ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizard Posted August 14, 2006 Share #18 Posted August 14, 2006 Well, Anthony, in my view Andy Piper's shots posted above DO make it very clear why wideangle lenses are a sometimes indispensable tool. I would not know of any other way to capture the situations shown in Andy's shots with such intensity, making you feel you're right amidst the action. I don't personally care about distortion too much, unless I do architectural shots. Best, Andy P.S.: Andy P., great shots! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flatfour Posted August 14, 2006 Share #19 Posted August 14, 2006 yes Andreas, I can see that. I suppose it's just a personal view but the shot on the yacht is so distorted that I can't really tell how the scene should be understood. Is it about a grimace on the face of the helmsman ? or is it a scenic shot ? or is it about a yacht going fast ? IMHO it doesn't tell me anything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bernd Banken Posted August 14, 2006 Share #20 Posted August 14, 2006 W/A is for people who are not afraid to come closer to the scene, for example in streetphotography. When the object is very interesting, a teleshot is ok but if you have to add surrounding as the part of the visual story you need w/a. Many years ago during my wild days:D a 28mm lens gave me portraits which are slightly distorted f.a. the head, but this I like very much in order to come to the person's inner contents (ughh my English) A friend of mine in those days used his Exakta with a 20mm Flektogon, his Portraits are so stunning with a special visible 'feel' - very difficult to explaine for me. If I buy a M in analog, it should be with 0,58 window. lg Bernd pls. look here: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/3237-who-wants-wideangle/?do=findComment&comment=30564'>More sharing options...
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