35mm or 50mm?

[pcgarner]

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On 12/10/2023 at 4:04 PM, adan said:

The really short version: I now use both a 35 and a 50 (along with a 21, 28, 75, and 135)

The longer version: But I come at it from a different direction.

For decades I skipped 50mm lenses altogether (~1980-2021 - in any 35mm system).

Before kit zooms, they were "the lens that came with the camera." Which meant "the conventional wisdom" - what the hoi-polloi use - unexciting and unoriginal. The "lined paper" across which the advice is always to "write sideways." Pour épater la bourgeoisie!

https://www.amazon.com/They-Lined-Paper-Write-Sideways/dp/1586421263

One gets ahead in art by rebelling against, and throwing out, the conventional. 😁

The 35 (used right) has just a bit more edginess and surreality in how it handles space. Which is one reason the M3 viewfinder, limited to nothing wider than 50mm, had vanished by the end of the rebellious 1960s.

However, since 2022, I have added a 50mm Summicron v.3 as a "relaxed 75mm." Lighter, smaller, easier to focus - but capable of intimate portraits and other "short-short tele" work that doesn't need the reach or "perspective" of a 75/90/135, but still provides subject isolation.

In the 50mm compilation below, the top-left picture (of a woman and her husband hanging her art at the gallery) was my "epiphany" that there is a place for 50mm drawing. A 75 would not have had enough context; a 35 would have lacked the separation.

If Ralph Gibson has declared that "75 is the new 50............,"*** again I write sideways by declaring that "My 50 is my new 75!" At least some of the time.

But my ab-"normal" is still the 35mm lens (or even a 28 Summicron - another "new" discovery - but that is for a different thread).

*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yaf8l1quJQ

 

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Very nicely phrased. Not sure I agree 100%, but quite thoughtful. Thanks.

[newtoleica]

On 12/11/2023 at 12:28 AM, muskyvibes said:

Some people feel they need a lens in every focal length to cover everything. 

for me, my lens serves to give me what I see in my mind, and each lens matches your personality. For me it is a 50mm. To that a 35mm is the perfect pair because it can look like a 50mm. Sometimes either you don’t have enough room to move or architecture is too big to fit in the frame. 

For me it’s not either or. It’s both. I put the lens on depending on where I’m going. I bring one camera and one lens wherever I go. 

Choosing a lens is just a journey in self discovery. It’s not about the lens it’s about you and how you see the world. Eventually a companion to that lens will emerge. That way when you put all your photos next to each other you won’t be able to tell which is which. It’ll be seamless. 

In my journey I’ve gone from 24mm to 85mm.  But I only own 2. I’ve tried them and now I know. 24 is too much. 28 is just too wide, frame lines are hard to see, it looks sparse and without form, it’s hard to frame it the way I see things. 85 is too narrow. 50 is just right. I know instinctively where to stand and the frame is exactly as I want it. I can see it in my mind before looking through the finder. 

The 35mm has been an interesting one because I shot this lens exclusively for a couple of years. I didn’t have any other lens. It was great, yet I always longed for the 50mm. I was always cropping. 

So it just so happens these 2 lenses are my perfect pair. The 35 is my 50 when I don’t have enough room.

Simetimes I look at a photo and I have to see the exif data to remind myself if I took it with the 50 or the 35. Sometimes I can tell by the colors of the SC when the light hits it the right way. 

For me 35mm 75% of the time, 24mm the rest.

I've tried 50-90 on Leica M and the 90 is too hard to nail focus, the 75 a bit slow to use and the 50 just 'dull'. I've owned a bunch of them and they always get sold (most recently a 50 APO yesterday, just wasn't using it). I can see an argument for a 75, but I know if I get one I'll end up selling it again...

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[MarkPS]

I have a 35mm Summicron and a 50mm Voightlander Lanthar that I use on an M10r. Hard to say which is my go to lens as I like both.  When I used SLRs I never liked the 50mm focal length as I favored 85-105mm lenses.  I find that the 35 and 50 work well with a rangefinder.  I use the 50 both for street shots and portraits although the Lanthar is almost too sharp!  I think that a 28mm lens covers the edge of the frame  lines and it is hard to visualize any distortion. Further with a 28 you lose the feel of what is coming into the frame.   I don’t think the 35mm is too wide but my primary use is street photography. Both the 35 and 50 give natural perspectives and allow you to anticipate the shot in the frame lines. I also have a 90 mm tele-elmarit.  When I used this on an M6 years ago, it was great but I don’t like the way it renders on my M10r.

[EddieJ]

On 12/10/2023 at 3:52 PM, Olaf_ZG said:

My most beloved lens was the Planar 45mm for the G1… and somehow, therefore 50mm is so natural to me. It’s my favorite F/L.

Often looking - here - the 35mm is too wide too me. If the photographer shot a bit tighter, the image would be stronger. My opinion of course. That said, when I look at images like of Peter Turnley, I like how he uses 35mm.

To me, 50mm is great outside, as you have space to move around. For most portraits, 50mm does better. Inside, 35mm has an advantage, and for reportage as well.

I have a 24mm, great for going wide. A 28mm, tiny, as I want to be it tiny, and two wonderful 50’s.

Have a 35mm as well, the nokton 1.4sc, but it is too gimmicky to me. So may be I should get a new 35. Not to big, the nokton is perfect regarding size.

But then, maybe I don’t need 35. Maybe 50 is all one need. Any photographers out here without a 35?

I am a 50 guy  seems that a 35 (which I have) suits the M4 & M6. The 50 feels 'too narrow', restricted ... M4 35/135, 50, 90 & M6 28/90, 35/135, 50/75. So shooting with the M3 & 50 Rigid just works. 

https://artichokepl.wixsite.com/javier-efg/portfolio

Much of my personal work has been shot with either a 50 or 28 *which suits the M6

 

I also shoot with an X-Pro2 with 50, 35 & 28 equivalent focal lengths and an iPhone 12 Pro Max with 65, 26, 14 (sic).

When I go out to shoot personally, I'm always out with a camera, one lens only, and ensure that I shoot to that focal length.

[ianforber]

I know I’m an outlier but I’ve never bothered myself with a particular focal length. I crop almost every shot, most quite heavily. That is regardless of whether I’m using a 28mm (Q2), 35mm (f1.5 Nokton) or 50mm Summicron. I just look through the viewfinder’s and take the picture without thinking what sort of lens is on the camera. 

[Olaf_ZG]

An update: bought a 35mm summicron today which I will put on the m240 (my EDC) for one year. The 50mm (and others) will be for the mm. Just curious if I can make it work for me. Thanks all for feedback.