Why HCB uses a 50mm lens

Out to Lunch said:
You are thinking of the printer, Voja Mitrovic:

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I took a photo workshop in Paris with Peter Turnley in September 2022, and Peter invited Voya to speak to the class. He brought some large prints of HCB’s work. The prints were remarkable. Talk about a living bridge to a classic age of photography!

After the workshop ended, I went up to the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson to see an exhibit of HCB’s landscape photos. Although a number of the photos have been published before, I think that quite a few had not been. Alas, there was no catalogue of the exhibition. The prints were gorgeous, as indeed were the compositions. It reinforced for me that you don’t need a large format camera to make great landscape photos.
 
Bingley said:
I took a photo workshop in Paris with Peter Turnley in September 2022, and Peter invited Voya to speak to the class. He brought some large prints of HCB’s work. The prints were remarkable. Talk about a living bridge to a classic age of photography!

After the workshop ended, I went up to the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson to see an exhibit of HCB’s landscape photos. Although a number of the photos have been published before, I think that quite a few had not been. Alas, there was no catalogue of the exhibition. The prints were gorgeous, as indeed were the compositions. It reinforced for me that you don’t need a large format camera to make great landscape photos.
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I keep getting the impression that Bresson was nowhere nearly as impressed with his work as were the rest of us. True, he was a trained artist and true, he had the eye-brain connection to see a scene as one to be captured. We all have that but he seemed to have it more often and better. The images are out there to be captured, "Just press the button."

To have seen what you have seen and been able to listen to two very interesting and gifted folks in the game is a rare opportunity.
 
Ororaro said:
A 50, in the end, is always where it’s at.

28mm photos and wider very quickly become super boring once you view a few of them. The wide thing absolutely has to be mixed with narrower images. A full book of 28mm images? Forget it. And 35mm is somewhat there also, but much less.

Same for 75/85mm images. A few of them seen together and it quickly becomes gimmicky, the need for a wider view is needed.

So, quickly, a 50mm fov is where its at. Never boring, and why would it be? This is how we basically see the world (between 35 and 50).

For a round trip around the world, and for more inpactful images than a 35, I’d choose 50mm without hesitation. The images speak for themselves with a 50.
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Every focal length has its unique use and on the right hands it can produce extraordinary photos. Garry Winogrand used 28mm and i find his photos far from boring. For every famous photographer i know i dont remember more than 4-5 photos when i think of him. Thats not such a huge amount to need the variety. About the argument that we see the world with the 50mm, id argue we see the world more near the 40mm range. Why do so few use the 40mm constantly then ? Because what our eyes see is not what we want to see on photos. The 28mm is the widest wide which can be used without crazy distortions, if i lived in ny,hk, india and did street photography id surely use that one. The 35 has more of a cinematic look to me, since it gives a little more environment than our eyes see but it is very very difficult to use properly. The 40mm is almost what our eyes see( or at least mine, idk) but it lacks every character and that makes him very very boring. The 50mm gives a pop effect because it sees a little less than you see, so you have some kind of compression, thats why its very good for some sorts of portraits too. If i was about to travel the world id take a zoom and if i had to take a prime i think it would be the 35mm althought its not my favorite lens.
 
boojum said:
I keep getting the impression that Bresson was nowhere nearly as impressed with his work as were the rest of us.
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He was impressed enough to exploit them commercially and protect them against unauthorised use. How many of us think our photos are worth anything?
 
Out to Lunch said:
It is a surrealist lens review.
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IKANAGAS. His reviews are very clever. With the Noctilux he advised keeping away from the low numbers as the pictures turn out blurry. He is the only one to point out that with the Monochrom Leica inadvertenty left off the e. His deadpan delivery is just great, sorry, professional. One video of the set seems to be missing, the one with the stacks of $100 bills, bullets and a gun on the desk.
 
Jonathan R said:
He was impressed enough to exploit them commercially and protect them against unauthorised use. How many of us think our photos are worth anything?
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I don't know whether my photos are worth any money, but I copyright all of them. It's easy, it's cheap, and if someone does post one of my photos and it goes viral inciting a monetary return, I can share in the profits. :)

G
 
CP93 said:
I use the focal length that fits the subject, regardless of who else likes what lens.
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JohnGellings said:
Yes, and I use the focal length that fits how I want my photos to look despite a wide variety of focal lengths being available.
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... Whatever lens I have on the camera when I make a photograph is the focal length that fits the subject and portrays it the way I want it to look.
;)

G
 
Jonathan R said:
He was impressed enough to exploit them commercially and protect them against unauthorised use. How many of us think our photos are worth anything?
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How many of us are selling them? I am not arguing the commercial value of his photos. I am just remarking that it seems he was not overly impressed with their artistic merit. In another way, if you had some photos that did not impress you much but were somehow found to be a commercial success, how would you react? I have a friend who is an author. He described his writing as "putting out the trash". A little false modesty, a little sardonic humor and a recognition that he never achieved the merit he wished he could have achieved. A photographer is an artist and a self-employed businessman. When you work for yourself you likely have a bastard for a boss.

Speaking for myself and myself only, I recently posted a photo of the Rembrandt The Night Watch. I was there in the Rijksmuseum seated before it along with Dutch tourists and Dutch schoolchildren. I was quite literally moved to tears by its beauty and magnificence. I am amazed by the work of Vivian Maier. There are others, too. I know that as much as I strive I will never be in their league. So no matter how much someone else appreciates anything I shoot, if they ever do, I will always be thinking, "It's not that good."

It is my guess that as an educated and trained artist Bresson was always thinking about something great that he was not equaling. He was never content, he always strove for better. But this is only my uneducated conjecture. In some circles known as a SWAG. ;o)
 
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Focal lengths. I just cannot get as wound around the axle. I just take a camera and wander around and if something interests me I press the shutter button. I do not fret over exposure, the camera does that. As do so many of us, my Leica shutter speed is "A" and I pick a lens opening of f/5.6 or f/8.0 for day and f/4.0 or wide open at night. With the A7 I just "point and shoot". In rare instances I will shoot at a wide opening in daytime for effect. This is what works for me.
 
boojum said:
Focal lengths. I just cannot get as wound around the axle. I just take a camera and wander around and if something interests me I press the shutter button. I do not fret over exposure, the camera does that. As do so many of us, my Leica shutter speed is "A" and I pick a lens opening of f/5.6 or f/8.0 for day and f/4.0 or wide open at night. With the A7 I just "point and shoot". In rare instances I will shoot at a wide opening in daytime for effect. This is what works for me.
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You've been looking over my shoulder.;)
 
Am traveling around the world at the present moment. I am carrying an MP with 35/90 and GR3. Last month I mailed the 21 and 50 home. I am now thinking I could have been happy mailing 21, 35, and 90 keeping just the 50f2.8 Elmar II Collapsible on the MP. The black one is the lightest lens Leica made in the M mount. I used to disdain the 50 and anything slower than f2. Now I value lightweight and compact lenses.
 
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