If you could only have ONE lens..35mm or 50mm???

[Rol_Lei Nut]

Strong preference for 35mm...

I feel frustrated when stuck with a 50mm only!

 

[nicholai]

The 50mm is probably the closest to the human eye angle of view, discounting peripheral vision.

To be fair, that's actually only true by 1mm. A normal lens on 35mm film would be 43mm. 50mm is 7mm off, whilst 35mm is 8mm off.

 

[emjo]

35 mm. Using a Cosina Voigtlander Ultron 40/2 almost exclusively this year! Perfect. 50 is too narrow.

 

[cliveh]

To be fair, that's actually only true by 1mm. A normal lens on 35mm film would be 43mm. 50mm is 7mm off, whilst 35mm is 8mm off.

What do you mean by a normal lens?

 

[nicholai]

What do you mean by a normal lens?

Quoting wikipedia here:

In photography and cinematography a normal lens is a lens that reproduces a field of view that generally looks "natural" to a human observer under normal viewing conditions, as compared with lenses with longer or shorter focal lengths which produce an expanded or contracted field of view that distorts the perspective when viewed from a normal viewing distance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_lens

Moreso roughly equivalent to the frame diagonal.

 

[cliveh]

Quoting wikipedia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_lens

Moreso roughly equivalent to the frame diagonal.

wikipedia, then it must be true.

 

[nicholai]

wikipedia, then it must be true.

Right on. It cited some "reputable" sources though.

Also i could refer to this page - i found it doing a quick google search right now, and he states the same as i did.

 

[MikeTime]

35. No, 50. Ehh, 35. 50.

35. And 50. ;-)

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

If it really came down to it and if I'm a 1 percenter, it would be this one

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/586190-REG/Leica_11_602_50mm_f_0_95_Noctilux_M_Aspherical.html

 

[MikeTime]

Nahh...

This one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140484570702

There's actually one for sale, brand new, in Amsterdam, for EUR 4500 (might go down to 4000). They say they'll sell it to the dlsr video crowd...

 

[ced]

35 as I really never liked a standard focal length on any camera, it seems a tad too long and I love the way you get amongst a group of people and they just seem to fit into the frame without too much distortion.

 

[removed account4]

:munch:

 

[benjiboy]

I wonder if more people have voted for the 50 because more of them own a 50 that came with the camera, and have never owned a 35mm lens, which have been unfashionable for sometime.

 

[nicholai]

I wonder if more people have voted for the 50 because more of them own a 50 that came with the camera, and have never owned a 35mm lens, which have been unfashionable for sometime.

Had i used a d*** crop camera, i would have chosen 35mm... because it equivalent to 50mm.
On a normal 35mm camera, i would choose 85mm over 50mm - for the bokeh! I shoot portraits mostly anyway.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I wonder if more people have voted for the 50 because more of them own a 50 that came with the camera, and have never owned a 35mm lens, which have been unfashionable for sometime.

Not I - I've had both focal lengths on a variety of cameras before. I like the 50 a bit better because it does reasonable double-duty as a scenic and a portrait lens. Doing a head-and-shoulders portrait with a 35 is not quite up someone's nostrils, but definitely putting you into halitosis detection range.

 

[benjiboy]

Not I - I've had both focal lengths on a variety of cameras before. I like the 50 a bit better because it does reasonable double-duty as a scenic and a portrait lens. Doing a head-and-shoulders portrait with a 35 is not quite up someone's nostrils, but definitely putting you into halitosis detection range.

I like 35mm lenses for environmental portraits or groups of two or three people Scott, but I agree that for head and shoulders shots a 50mm or longer lens for several reasons is much better.

 

[cliveh]

If it really came down to it and if I'm a 1 percenter, it would be this one

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/586190-REG/Leica_11_602_50mm_f_0_95_Noctilux_M_Aspherical.html

I'm not sure I would agree, as the 1.4 Summilux may provide a better all round performance without that "in your face full aperture definition".

 

[gb hill]

My more expensive lenses are 35mm like the CV35/2.5 I use on the Bessa R so I think I'd choose 35. My 50's which I tend to use more are fsu glass. Quite good but wider is more versitle & I could grow into it.

 

[Roger Cole]

I'm not sure I would agree, as the 1.4 Summilux may provide a better all round performance without that "in your face full aperture definition".

With most lenses those slightly slower are better overall than the very fastest ones, especially for closeups. This may or may not apply to something like the Noctilux. That's above my pay grade for photo gear.

 

[Oren Grad]

35. Not a close call.

 

[qpzil]

I've never played around with a 35mm on a 35mm (heh), but I'm tempted to now after reading this thread. The Pentax M 35mm f/2 looks pretty gorgeous, I'd love to give that a try.

 

[moki]

My all time favourite focal lenght for everyday use is 40mm, the MD Rokkor 40mm/2,0 to be precise. I find 35mm a tiny bit too wide for my personal taste. If I had to choose between 35 and 50, I'd go for the 50 and the widest possible aperture, since I prefer a shallow depth of field and do a lot of portraits.
I actually sold my only 35mm a while ago and even on zoom lenses its a very rarely used focal length. When I want a wide lens, 28mm is the absolute maximum and for everything else, I mostly use 50 to 85mm.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

i get the most use ou of my manualnikkor35mmf/2, a great lens!

 

[E. von Hoegh]

i get the most use ou of my manualnikkor35mmf/2, a great lens!

Would thet be the 35/2 Nikkor-O? I have a pre-ai version, well used, and it's on my Nikkormat more than any other lens.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

35mmwithout a doubt