Why HCB uses a 50mm lens

[charlesphoto99]

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I’ve been making landscape photos the last couple of years, a new genre for me. Mostly using 90 and 135mm lenses. They bring an intimacy and abstraction - when I switch to a wider lens, the look becomes too ‘normal’ i.e. as if shot by an iPhone. 

[lct]

42 minutes ago, charlesphoto99 said:

I’ve been making landscape photos the last couple of years, a new genre for me. Mostly using 90 and 135mm lenses. They bring an intimacy and abstraction - when I switch to a wider lens, the look becomes too ‘normal’ i.e. as if shot by an iPhone. 

Effects of the iPhone on the perception of normality. Could make a good title for a thesis . Just kidding. Not sure what the equiv. focal length of an iPhone can be. 13mm or 26mm? Definitely wide or ultra wide in my Jurassic book.

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[Pyrogallol]

If we go by the phone pictures we see on TV everything is a triptych with a thin vertical picture and very blurred side panels.

[Al Brown]

M stands for Messsucher.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Al Brown

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, lct said:

Effects of the iPhone on the perception of normality. Could make a good title for a thesis . Just kidding. Not sure what the equiv. focal length of an iPhone can be. 13mm or 26mm? Definitely wide or ultra wide in my Jurassic book.

13 /1.5, 26 /2.8 and 77/ 1.8 equivalent on the 13Pro Sensor-shift O.I.S. PDAF. 1.9µ pixels.

[Herr Barnack]

23 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

M stands for Messsucher.

Most of us already knew that. 

In the video that @Anbaric posted, it was a stunning revelation to at long last learn that APO carved on the 50/2 APO lens means "Professional."   FINALLY - no more sleepless nights at the Barnack residence! 

Wait, though - is the 50 APO a 2-16 zoom or a 2-50 zoom?  And does the autofocus work across the entire range, or just from 2 to 16??  Oh, hell.  How am I supposed to sleep not knowing the answers to these secrets??  😳

Edited August 26, 2022 by Herr Barnack

[Guest]

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@Anbaric thanks for the laugh 😂

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Al Brown said:

M stands for Messsucher.

Nope …l it stands for MINE and don’t you touch it! 🤪

[jakontil]

I love the 50, mostly shot with 50mm.. im resembling HCB out of my own concussion 

[RexGig0]

I keep seeing references regarding 43mm as the mathematically “normal” focal length, which may be why I really like my Nikkor 45mm f/2.8 AI-P lens, as a walking-about lens, on a Nikon SLR. This tiny “pancake” lens looks like a body cap, when affixed to a large Nikon D5. 50mm is a bit longer than 43mm, and, 35mm is a bit shorter, so, it makes sense that I have long liked 35mm, on SLRs, and, more recently, started really liking 50mm, when I added the Leica M system, starting with a Summilux-M 50mm ASPH.

I like 28mm, but if shooting images of people, it is mostly for the times I am actively playing with my grandsons. If among people, with whom I am unfamiliar, I would much rather use a 35mm or 50mm lens, if using a Leica M camera.

21mm is another focal length that I find very “natural,” while shooting, though it takes more effort to compose and capture images that I really like, when viewed, later, compared to lenses in the 35mm to 50mm range.

I do not tend to like to shoot landscape images, with 21mm or 28mm images. 35mm seems to be “my” landscape focal length, in the wide to wide-normal range. Tentatively, I seem to be interested in trying 75mm for landscapes, but, it is too early, in my experimentation, to make any determination. I am really liking the way that my APO Summicron 75mm ASPH complements my much-loved Summilux-M 50mm ASPH lens, but it is taking some time to become accustomed to shooting at 75mm.

It was the Summilux-M 50mm ASPH that drew me into wanting to try the Leica M system. I really liked the ‘Lux 50 images that I had seen, on-line, and when a well-preserved, pre-owned Summilux-M 50mm ASPH lens became available for sale, at a local Leica dealer, I tried it on pre-owned and demonstrator M9 and M Type 240 cameras, during multiple visits. Fortuitously, this was shortly after I retired, when I wanted to buy myself* some kind of gift, and, was also when one could finally hope to find an available new M10, at a Leica dealer, without having to be placed on a waiting list. On the day that I decided to buy the Summilux, there were two new M10 cameras available. I had not previously become fond of the 50mm focal length, while using DSLRs, but 50mm really “clicked” when using an M camera, and the Summilux-M 50mm ASPH.

I soon added a Summicron-M 50mm Version IV, for images with a different look, and an Elmar-M 50mm, for the times maximum compactness might become necessary. Recently, I added a Voigtlander 50mm f/1.0 Nokton VM, to try to let more light into the camera, when I attempt shooting in ridiculously low light, and, to take advantage of yet another unique visual signature. I do seem to really like 50mm M-mount lenses. 🙂

*I had been assigned the additional duty of forensic/evidentiary/crime scene photography, during the final 7+ years of my career in public service. By the time I retired, in early 2018, I was in danger of becoming sick of photography, so, wanted to try something notably different than making as-perfect-as-possible close-range and macro images of complainants’ injuries. 

 

[Aryel]

I like 50mm a lot: far enough to get candid and tell stories and the option to come close without distortion for more intimate shots. 

It works for me, and there are so many great 50s to choose in both m and ltm. 

I don’t really understand some reactions to the quote. It definitely works for him. “Moi” means “for me” in this context (cf @lct’s post). It is not meant as a universal lesson. We all learn to choose the gear that works for our own photography. Luckily we are not all shooting 50mm all the time 😅. 
 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Aryel

[grahamc]

59 minutes ago, RexGig0 said:

I keep seeing references regarding 43mm as the mathematically “normal” focal length, which may be why I really like my Nikkor 45mm f/2.8 AI-P lens, as a walking-about lens, on a Nikon SLR. This tiny “pancake” lens looks like a body cap, when affixed to a large Nikon D5. 50mm is a bit longer than 43mm, and, 35mm is a bit shorter, so, it makes sense that I have long liked 35mm, on SLRs, and, more recently, started really liking 50mm, when I added the Leica M system, starting with a Summilux-M 50mm ASPH.

I like 28mm, but if shooting images of people, it is mostly for the times I am actively playing with my grandsons. If among people, with whom I am unfamiliar, I would much rather use a 35mm or 50mm lens, if using a Leica M camera.

21mm is another focal length that I find very “natural,” while shooting, though it takes more effort to compose and capture images that I really like, when viewed, later, compared to lenses in the 35mm to 50mm range.

I do not tend to like to shoot landscape images, with 21mm or 28mm images. 35mm seems to be “my” landscape focal length, in the wide to wide-normal range. Tentatively, I seem to be interested in trying 75mm for landscapes, but, it is too early, in my experimentation, to make any determination. I am really liking the way that my APO Summicron 75mm ASPH complements my much-loved Summilux-M 50mm ASPH lens, but it is taking some time to become accustomed to shooting at 75mm.

It was the Summilux-M 50mm ASPH that drew me into wanting to try the Leica M system. I really liked the ‘Lux 50 images that I had seen, on-line, and when a well-preserved, pre-owned Summilux-M 50mm ASPH lens became available for sale, at a local Leica dealer, I tried it on pre-owned and demonstrator M9 and M Type 240 cameras, during multiple visits. Fortuitously, this was shortly after I retired, when I wanted to buy myself* some kind of gift, and, was also when one could finally hope to find an available new M10, at a Leica dealer, without having to be placed on a waiting list. On the day that I decided to buy the Summilux, there were two new M10 cameras available. I had not previously become fond of the 50mm focal length, while using DSLRs, but 50mm really “clicked” when using an M camera, and the Summilux-M 50mm ASPH.

I soon added a Summicron-M 50mm Version IV, for images with a different look, and an Elmar-M 50mm, for the times maximum compactness might become necessary. Recently, I added a Voigtlander 50mm f/1.0 Nokton VM, to try to let more light into the camera, when I attempt shooting in ridiculously low light, and, to take advantage of yet another unique visual signature. I do seem to really like 50mm M-mount lenses. 🙂

*I had been assigned the additional duty of forensic/evidentiary/crime scene photography, during the final 7+ years of my career in public service. By the time I retired, in early 2018, I was in danger of becoming sick of photography, so, wanted to try something notably different than making as-perfect-as-possible close-range and macro images of complainants’ injuries. 

 

I love the 40mm focal length and am surprised they are not more common.  My (completely unfounded) theory is that such a focal length would eradicate the need for 35s and 50s and vastly reduce units sold for camera manufacturers 

Edited August 27, 2022 by grahamc

[jakontil]

8 minutes ago, grahamc said:

I love the 40mm focal length and am surprised they are not more common.  My (completely unfounded) theory is that such a focal length would eradicate the need for 35s and 50s and vastly reduce units sold for camera manufacturers 

But still we find a way *excuses* to collect ‘em mate

[grahamc]

1 minute ago, jakontil said:

But still we find a way *excuses* to collect ‘em mate

Yes because there is no damn 40mm framelines 😂   ........ leica's genius strategy  

[Herr Barnack]

14 hours ago, Ernstk said:

I think that 50mm is the worst possible focal length on a rangefinder. It's too long to be wide and it's too wide to be long. It's a lost focal length.

Despite the popular myth, 50mm does not equate to the human field of vision. 21mm is much closer to that. Perhaps that's why that 21mm is the focal length that I use 80% of the time. The other 20% is 35mm. 21mm feels to me the most natural focal length for rangefinder use, on a full frame rangefinder.

In my view (and it is only my view), 35mm and wider are the optimal focal lengths for a rangefinder.

I simply don't understand the concept of a lens 'screaming' or images from it becoming 'tiring, boring and annoying'. Only the photographer can do that, not a lens.

Ernst

I think the Hasselblad XPAN with the 45mm lens - roughly equivalent to 22mm when used in the camera's panoramic format - is about as close to the normal human field of view as any camera and lens combination can produce. 

When discussing this topic, people seem to forget that we humans are equipped with two eyes that are approximately 3 to 3.5 inches (7.6 to 8.9 cm.) apart with a combined forward-facing horizontal arc of the visual field being slightly over 210 degrees (Harry Moss Traquair - An Introduction to Clinical Perimetry, Ch. 1, pp. 4–5).

This makes me miss my XPAN II. 😟

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Herr Barnack

[Robert Blanko]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Herr Barnack:

 

When discussing this topic, people seem to forget that we humans are equipped with two eyes that are approximately 3 to 3.5 inches (7.6 to 8.9 cm.) apart with a combined forward-facing horizontal arc of the visual field being slightly over 210 degrees (Harry Moss Traquair - An Introduction to Clinical Perimetry, Ch. 1, pp. 4–5).

This makes me miss my XPAN II. 😟

 

That matches my (subjective) perception that the normal two-eyed view is very much wider than 50mm equivalent.

My perception: One eye = 50 mm equivalent, two eyes = 28 mm equivalent (more or less) is a reasonable approach in practice and this is why I like both focal lengths very much.

[pegelli]

Maybe there's a reason that this thread is already 185 pages long 😁

[Anakronox]

The preachiness of people claiming that one focal length is better than any other is tiresome at best, aggressive at worst.  

That being said, I’ll go ahead and throw in my forever humble opinion; 50mm is the most milquetoast, bland, boring focal length on this planet or any other.  Death to 50!  😉

[Ernstk]

2 hours ago, Anakronox said:

That being said, I’ll go ahead and throw in my forever humble opinion; 50mm is the most milquetoast, bland, boring focal length on this planet or any other.  Death to 50!  😉

Well said!

Ernst

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[kivis]

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/leica-m-50mm-lens-comparison-part-4