35 or 50?

[ChrisN]

If you had to settle for just one lens, would it be a 35mm or a 50mm?

 

[maddoc]

Not an easy to answer question for me ... Given only practical reasons, the 35mm focal lens is more versatile, IMO. But considering that I have 5 lenses of 50mm focal length in M and LTM mount tells me different.

My recently favorite focal length is 40mm, though. A compromise but works very well in most situations.

 

[back alley]

of the two listed i picked the 35...

in life i went with a 40.

 

[35mmdelux]

35, no question about it.

 

[Brian Legge]

If everyones going to say 40 perhaps we should have stuck with fixed lens rangefinders. Plenty of 40s there.

 

[f16sunshine]

50 was my vote. I also prefer the 40mm FL in the real world. On RF Film or Digital (cropped m8). On Reflex (full frame) I like the 50mm view to compose on.

 

[Contarama]

35mm much greater DOF vs the 50mm...

 

[BTMarcais]

What Gabor said. And oddly enough I have the same number of M or LTM 50's...!

-Brian


(and one of MY favorites is my pentax 43mm, just to throw something thats not a 35/50 OR 40mm out there )

 

[redisburning]

hard to go wrong with a 50.

personally I take a goldilocks approach to DoF; I dont like infinite depth of field most of the time but conversely I don't want the color wash background of a 200mm. although I must admit some noctilux shots convince me that I could live with such a thing. A 50/2 suits me there, although sometimes that extra stop would be great since finding the one stop penalty for souping delta 400 in rodinal has made the importance of adjacent solid objects considerably higher.

 

[PatrickCheung]

Such a nice thread as I've been wondering that myself. I want a Zeiss but I can't decide between the 50, 35, or 28, and I can only afford one if I sell my current 35. Last year I was a 50 guy... this year I found myself gravitating towards the 35... and I've recently discovered the joy of a 28.

I dont think I'd be able to live with just one focal length! There are times where I find the 35 a tad too wide and myself unable to get closer, so I might just have to go with the 50.

 

[sniki]

35mm. - IMHO definitely no contest; albeit...
;-))

 

[jawarden]

My only lenses are a 35 and 50 so it's tough for me to choose. It would be a sad day if I had too leave one behind! Today I would keep the 35, but that's just today

 

[efix]

One more vote for the 40.

 

[sebastel]

i am quite happy about being able to change the lens. so my reply is a clear "yes!"

 

[mijosc]

35 if I had to choose, but the 40 on my CLE is perfect. I wish Ms had frame lines for the 40.

 

[bhop73]

I chose 50, but lately i've been using just my x100, which is 35 equivalent and am almost fine with it.. so my mind is a little blown..

 

[al1966]

I would say it depends on what I am shooting, but I am forever coming back to the 50mm or equivalent. I would prefer to have the choice of the two along with a short tele with me, but if just one it will most probably be a 50mm.

 

[efix]

al1966, I really like your signature!

 

[EdwardKaraa]

I voted 35, but I actually consider both FL to be indispensable. I can actually do all of my photography with these 2 lenses, and effectively, I rarely use anything else.

 

[HuubL]

I use 35 the most, but wouldn't want to miss the 50s