28mm lens

markrich

markrich

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All!

I presently only have one lens for my Contax G2, the obligitory 45mm, but have the opportunity to buy a 28mm or 90mm for £150 (€219 / US$300).

I was erring towards the 28mm lens but thought I would perhaps ask around here and see what people's opinions of either is.

My camera typically is used for street photography when on my travels around Europe. Both would be useful I think from my experiences with my Canon EOS30 film camera with Sigma 28-300mm but unsure which on my Contax would be the better buy.

Appreciate any comments, notes, opinions, etc. Also, is this a good price for either lens? They do appear to be in very good condition with no visable damage or use.

Marky
 
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Can't comment on the price for your market -- I'd look at Ffordes listing and see what they ask -- but if I had to pick from the two, for travel and general use, I'd go with the 28 as having more utility. I use a 28/40/90 kit, and no more than 10% of the photos are made with the 90. Nice lenses and camera.
 
Can you afford both?

The wide would be a more classic street lens, but only you know your style and know which one to go for.

I too am just deciding on a new lens and am keen on a 28mm for cityscapes and a little street. 90mm would be way to long for me; but it may be just right for you.

A Zeiss lens is going to be top quality so the choice is not about resolution and so on. It's about your style and what you are comfortable using.

If you can buy both do it.
 
The fortunate thing for us film users and even more so for non SLR cameras is that there isn't going to be a rush on the lenses so it's possibe the other one will be around on next payday 😱 but honestly can't afford both at the same time. Having to sacrifice a lot to afford the one as there's a Canon P and 50mm calling me from a shop shelf which may require further drooling.
 
I had the G2 with both the 28mm Biogon and 90mm Planar.

Here is an image with the 28mm biogon:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=45846

And another with the 90mm planar:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=46008

Both were great lenses for the G2 setup. I used the 90mm for a lot of portrait sittings - very good framing, focus and parallax compensation for this longer lens. Pictures from the 28mm Biogon are just plain pretty - great for street, family and scenics.

I now shoot an M6 and just added the 28mm Biogon (ZM) to my kit. It is the same lens formula and my initial results with it are just as nice as the version I had on the G2.

Best of luck - buy both if you can!
 
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I think you would enjoy the 28mm focal length.

I've had 28mm's for years with SLRs and didn't use them much in favor of 21mm or 35mm.

Recently (18 months) I bought a 28mm Nikkor for my Nikon RF camera and a year after that I bought a 28mm Elmarit for my "M" Leica...now this focal length is probably my favorite.

For travel a 28mm and a 50mm is all I need.....but don't get me wrong, if I put a 21mm on the camera and go out and look for 21mm shots that works well also...but I am specifically looking for those shots.

With the 28mm I can easily make good shots out of most opportunities that are presented.
 
I'd say the 90 is the sharper of the two, perhaps the sharpest of the lot of G lenses I have. That said, the 28 gets more use. It is no slouch for sharpness, and is nice and compact. The 90 w/hood gets a bit big on the G.

I'll agree that you ought to go for both

My 2¢
 
SirAlien said:
All!

I presently only have one lens for my Contax G2, the obligitory 45mm, but have the opportunity to buy a 28mm or 90mm for £150 (€219 / US$300).

I was erring towards the 28mm lens but thought I would perhaps ask around here and see what people's opinions of either is.

My camera typically is used for street photography when on my travels around Europe. Both would be useful i think from my experiences with my Canon EOS30 film camera with 28-300mm but unsure which on my Contax would be the better buy.

Appreciate any comments, notes, opinions, etc. Also, is this a good price for either lens? They do appear to be in very good condition with no visable damage or use.

Marky
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From a reputed dealer with proper warranty the price is ok, for a private sale I would say it is to high. If you are lucky they go for less then £100 on ebay (with the typical ebay risks). It is your choice whether to take or not to take this risk.

Whether to get a 28 or a 90, only you can decide this. Take a look at your past pictures and decide which ones you are most proud on. If there are more WA amoung them, get the 28, if it is more tele than it is the 90. If you discover that you like the really long glass best (> 130mm) it seems you are out of luck here. My personal favourite is the 35mm by the way.

With respect to Greg, the Biogon 28/2.8 for G and for ZM are different designs. The G is build way closer to the film than the ZM. I expect this extension of the backfocus was done to ease using the ZM version on a digital sensor. The performance data published by Zeiss (http://www.zeiss.de/C12567A8003B8B6F/EmbedTitelIntern/Biogon2.8_28mm_d/$File/Biogon2.8_28mm_d.pdf http://www.zeiss.de/C12567A8003B8B6F/EmbedTitelIntern/Biogon2.8_28mm_ZM_d/$File/Biogon2.8_28mm_ZM_d.pdf) for these lenses indicate to me that G version is superior to the ZM one (at the expense of no digital solution in the wings). Whether the difference is noticable in a real photograph is a different matter. I expect the difference in distortion is.
 
To me the 28mm tells a story of what you are seeing, more or less the complete story, maybe emphasizing the most important part for the viewer.....the 40-50mm brings to "focus" a much more limited area and in a much more direct fashion the photographer presents the subject he wants to display.....the 90mm is simply a tool useful in portrait photography or simply to isolate as the 50mm but for a more distant subject. My opinions only.

All lenses have their purpose, some a different purpose than for others. What I have said is how I use these focal lengths to my best advantage.
 
Mark,

I am a SLR user, and all I can say about a 28mm lens is it is so usefull, especially for street, and getting closer to your subject, brings more into the photo. Did you use the 28-300, (in 28) for your Europe photos? I would go for the 28! Look on line of examples of what a 28mm lens does, that will give you a better feel for what it captures. With a 28, it is great for landscape, and street. Depending on where you go in Europe, those tight narrow streets, a 28works really well. Go for the 28! 😀

MArk
Quito, EC
 
SirAlien said:
The pictures look great. One thing just occured to me. With the 28mm on general use and the 90mm for those nice closeups, what use for the 45mm any more?
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Hi Marky-- I find the 28 more useful than the 90, but it's a personal thing. The 28 and 45 make a great pair too, and neither can replace the other except maybe for flat subjects like a wall, and where you can "zoom by foot" to frame it equally well with either lens.

Focal length choice is all about perspective... Perspective depends on distance from the subject. At the same distance a 28 and a 45 and a 90 all have the same perspective of the subject. The difference among them is the angle of view; how much you're including in the frame. The longer lenses are like cropping the shorter. This can be a choice.

The choice of distance/perspective often has restrictions. Narrow streets or alleys allow backing away only so far. Walking 100 yards has only a limited effect on the composition of distant mountains.

Further, a wider lens virtually forces you to get closer to your subject, thus changing the perspective. Some of us like that close-in perspective as having an intimacy missing in the same framing done at a distance with a long lens. Each combination of framing and perspective is unique to the lens focal length and subject distance. They give a different feel and effect. You might like to keep the 45. 🙂

I have the 28, 45, and 90 G lenses, and they're all great glass. Everyone's use is going to be different, but I learned some things about my own a few years ago on a vacation to southern Spain (pre-Contax days). I had a 15mm, a 25, a 40, and 90. In all the film I shot, the 90 was used only twice. The 15 wasn't used much. The 25 and 40 did all the work, and the 25 (new to me then) was remarkably useful in tight quarters.

Here's one with the 28 Biogon-G...

050729-36big.jpg
 
I visited the shop selling the lenses again today and tried them out on a G2 body also for sell. I have to say I can see uses for both the 28mm and 90mm. Getting that decent picture of a statue or person with the 90mm would be beautiful and I would like to take a fair number with that particular lens. However I looked back at the photos I had from places like Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Prague, etc. etc. and my second home in St. Petersburg, and most are street pictures with the most common image being small alleyways and crowded buildings. I think the 28mm would be more useful than my 45mm in these circumstances so my original leanings seem to be correct based on what you have said here.

The thing I am still worried about is how much use would my 45mm lens get if the 28mm seems to take priority in general use. I hate to move it to the fridges of use. The 90mm is clearly on the shopping list, but alas last payment on Council Tax for this year means that won't happen for a while.
 
If you do get the 28mm, what will you do with it once you succumb to the 21mm which is marvellous? I have 5 lenses for the G2 and use them all. I think you could learn to do the same, maybe, I hope ... They are easily interchangable, right ...
 
SirAlien said:
The thing I am still worried about is how much use would my 45mm lens get if the 28mm seems to take priority in general use. I hate to move it to the fridges of use. The 90mm is clearly on the shopping list, but alas last payment on Council Tax for this year means that won't happen for a while.
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Hi, this sounds as if the 28mm is indeed the way forward for you. I would not worry if you find it more useful than the 45mm you already own. You own that already and the decision you are presently facing is not 28 or 45, it is 28 or 90. The 45mm is a very nice lens and it definitely has its uses. I got one recently to augment my 35mm and 90mm. At present I prefer the 45 over the 90, but the 35 still sees most use.
 
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