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15mm As A Travel Lens?


ktmrider2

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It seems many of us are keen to impress upon the OP which lens WE prefer. (?) His question was about the useability of the 15mm lens. So forget the rest.

A 15mm lens can be a new and very different experience. Like ALL lenses, one needs to acquaint oneself with its characteristics. They are extreme for the 15mm. So exploit that feature, or frankly forget it. Main rule IMO is to get even CLOSER when using it. Remember, the forground will always dominate. So that must be your subject, but watch everything else as well (same as for any lens).

I have added in one of my (1000's) of 15mm shots to illustrate my point. I hope this helps your decision.

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1 hour ago, erl said:

It seems many of us are keen to impress upon the OP which lens WE prefer.

This is the problem with all of these 'which lens should I use' or similar. You may as well ask what should I eat for dinner tonight or what kind of politics should I follow.

How does the OP decide given the variety of answers given in any case?

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40 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Good luck stitching moving water.

Plenty of online tutorials for merging photos with moving objects… skies, people, water, etc.  Not my cuppa tea, but neither is a 12mm lens.  One of my earliest photos in 1974 was a similar night skyline reflected in water, using my 35mm Canon lens.  The print hangs in my nephew’s house.  Times have changed dramatically tech-wise, for those so inclined.  But to each his/her own, as James notes.

Jeff

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2 hours ago, erl said:

It seems many of us are keen to impress upon the OP which lens WE prefer. (?) His question was about the useability of the 15mm lens...

Not quite.

The OP asked for our opinions on taking along a 15mm lens. If a respondent doesn't think that the OP's choice of 15mm is advisable then it's perfectly reasonable to expect them to explain why not and, by extension, for them also to suggest a focal length which, in their opinion, might be a better option.

None of us can know the OP's individual shooting-preferences and it goes without saying that the choice of f/length is always a very personal decision but if the OP secifically asks for opinions then what else should they expect in terms of the answers they receive?

Philip.

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20 hours ago, ktmrider2 said:

.. I am very tempted to just pack a 35 and leave everything else at home.  Then the question becomes, a small light 35f2.8 or a fast, heavy 35f1.2.  Or perhaps leave everything at home!

Seems those complaining that some of us are mentioning lenses that are not 15mm did not pay attention to everything the OP wrote.

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Which is why I brought up the delectable, tiny and fast CV 35 1.4 v2.  It bridges the OP's small light or fast and heavy by being small, light and fast!

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Taken with the most excellent CV 15mm v1.  The thing with the 15mm lens is you have to have something leading in the foreground for reference otherwise it becomes a very dull image of something which seems very far away.  You also will use this lens very rarely so if you are traveling light, it seems a better idea to bring along a lens you would use more often.  Plus, don't forget, you will also need to bring along a separate optical finder for the lens!  Not a big deal, but just more stuff that can get easily lost.

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Well, it is no longer a temptation as I sent it back to Cameraquest today.  Presently, my M4 with 35f2.8 C Biogon and 90 Elmarit M are going with me to Vietnam.  I am debating a really fast 50 for the night market but I think the FujiX100f would cover that well without having to worry about shooting daylight film under tungsten lights (we will see how many here know what I am talking about).

Thanks for the advice.  I may just travel with the M4 with 35 C Biogon which is becoming my favorite lens.  When I started in photography I did not like either the 35 or 50 focal lengths.  As a newspaper photographer, I carried two Nikon F's with a 24 on one and a 85 on another.  Now, 35 is my go to but I would not be to put out if I had a pair of Nikon F's using the same lenses I used in the early 1970's.  My M4 is an anniversary model from 1975, the year I graduated from college.

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1 hour ago, pippy said:

Not quite.

The OP asked for our opinions on taking along a 15mm lens. If a respondent doesn't think that the OP's choice of 15mm is advisable then it's perfectly reasonable to expect them to explain why not and, by extension, for them also to suggest a focal length which, in their opinion, might be a better option.

None of us can know the OP's individual shooting-preferences and it goes without saying that the choice of f/length is always a very personal decision but if the OP secifically asks for opinions then what else should they expect in terms of the answers they receive?

Philip.

Quite specifically, the OP asked about taking a 15mm, or not. He did not seek views on alternative lenses. (See his second para). If opinions on alternatives were what he sought, then we might as well change his camera choice for him as well! Advising on gear outside a specific request is always fraught with dissent. I don't wish to change your opinion, just stating what the OP asked for.

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1 hour ago, Huss said:

Seems those complaining that some of us are mentioning lenses that are not 15mm did not pay attention to everything the OP wrote.

As the ' complainant' I direct your attention to my post above this one. It's just a question of fact. Additional info was NOT sought according to my interpretation.

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1 hour ago, erl said:

As the ' complainant' I direct your attention to my post above this one. It's just a question of fact. Additional info was NOT sought according to my interpretation.

It was when he wrote:

I am very tempted to just pack a 35 and leave everything else at home.  Then the question becomes, a small light 35f2.8 or a fast, heavy 35f1.2.  Or perhaps leave everything at home!

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