Zoom lens v bigger enlargement

[oxcanary]

Which would you do quality wise? Use a zoom lens to get closer and fill the frame, or enlarge a negative from a prime lens further and bigger?

 

[snusmumriken]

Are you talking 35mm, or bigger?

Do you have the options of using a longer prime, or moving in closer?

 

[Ian Grant]

Using a longer focal length lens will always give far higher quality results than enlarging a portion of a negative regardless of the film format.

Ian

 

[ic-racer]

I'd get closer or use a longer focal length prime lens.

There is one situation I encountered where an enlargement of the center of the frame is better.

It seems my Yashica "Telephoto" accessory for the 124G TLR is not that great. Maybe not much better than just cropping the image without the accessory.

 

[Alan9940]

I'd get closer or use a longer focal length prime lens.

+1

 

[MurrayMinchin]

I chose to have two zooms for several reasons.

I photograph from the deck of our boat quite often where rocks and the shoreline make it impossible to choose distance. When hiking, the forests and mountains can put major obstacles between me and subject matter, and it's often raining or snowing which makes frequent lens changes problematic. Also, my pack weighs less than if I had a bunch of primes covering the range of the two zooms.

 

[George Collier]

"Using a longer focal length lens will always give far higher quality results than enlarging a portion of a negative regardless of the film format."
True that - and the perspective remains the same as a shorter lens from the same position with more enlargement.
Moving closer will result in a different perspective - things near and far will have different size relationships.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Picture if you will...standing on a log/fallen tree laying across a steep slope, about 12' above the frozen ground, camera on a mono pod, with only one vantage point between tree branches on either side.

A zoom allowed for the cropping I wanted and my packsack with camera gear and enough clothes/food/emergency gear to survive an unexpected night in the bush (was rummaging along the mountainside by myself all day) didn't weigh a ton. I'm 62, so weight is a major concern!

I'll probably never make a print past 11x14 and it's destined to be a hand coated alt process print on textured paper, so a zoom will do.

 

[George Collier]

Looks like 35mm proportions - what was the focal length setting on the zoom? (Nice image)

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Looks like 35mm proportions - what was the focal length setting on the zoom? (Nice image)

Thanks...it was the first cold snap of the year, the creek had frozen solid, and hadn't snowed yet.

I shared the photo to illustrate where I stand on the OP's question. There was no way the photo could have been taken with my 4x5, as it was taken 12 feet off the ground while balancing on a log. I used a Fujifilm XT2 (APS-C sensor size) at 24mm using the 16-80mm lens. (Equivalent to a 36mm lens on a 35mm camera).

Part of the reason I got an XT2 was to reduce the weight of my camera gear (over 60 now and can't scamper through the mountains like I used to do) but acquired so many lenses that the Fujifilm packsack weighed the same as my Wista 4x5 pack, which is kind of ridiculous. Now I have 2 zooms in the Fuji bag which brought down the weight quite a bit.

As stated earlier, these won't be going much bigger than 11x14 as digitally enlarged negatives enroute to becoming hand coated alt process prints on textured paper, so whatever debates usually occur regarding 'quality' don't necessarily apply in my case.

Would have come to the same conclusion with a film camera, because vantage points can be severely limited on our boat or in the thick forests around here.

 

[Pieter12]

Get closer if you can. If you have tripod, use a longer lens. Blur induced by motion or vibration will cancel out the sharpness of the larger image vs a greater enlargement in the darkroom.

 

[Paul Howell]

Best for overall sharpness is a prime lens of the proper length, or a modern high quaility zoom like Canon L or Sigma Arts lens. Nikon, Minolta, and Pentax all make high quaility zooms that will be as sharp as a prime. Next as mentioned by Pieter12 is a sturdy tripod, then a cable release or remote trigger, last if you camera as the option for mirror lock up. As this was posted in enlargment under the analog portion I assume that OP is using film, the mention of zoom bring to mind 35mm which have the widest selection of zoom. What we don't know what she/he is shooting with, what film, what format, what enlarger what enlarger lens, or other details that play a role in an answer.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Starting off shooting slide taught me to move in and crop in the view finder. I use modern zooms for 35mm and primes for MF. There is not a good selections of zoom lenses for Hasselblad and its primes are wonderful. Always strives to photograph with the maximum use of the slide or negative since one never knows which photograph will later get enlarged. Some get enlarged to extremes.

 

[xkaes]

"Using a longer focal length lens will always give far higher quality results than enlarging a portion of a negative regardless of the film format."
True that - and the perspective remains the same as a shorter lens from the same position with more enlargement.
Moving closer will result in a different perspective - things near and far will have different size relationships.

Exactly. If you like the perspective, using a longer lenses -- zoom or not -- is better than cropping.

But it's just as likely that the perspective needs the change.