35 or 50?

[Shade]

50 will always be my first pick of focal length regardless of the system. 35 comes very close second.

 

[Keith]

A 50mm is my favourite lens but if it had to be one lens it would be a 35mm due to the versatility of that focal length ... something the 50mm lacks IMO!

 

[damien.murphy]

50 for me, but there are plenty of times I would wish for a 35 also. 50 is my general lens though, and 35 is more a specialised lens for me, usually for street and event shots, and when I need something wider.

40 would be ideal for me, and if I ever found a camera that was as suited to the 40, as my M3 is to my 50, it would sorely tempt me. I cannot ever imagine giving up the sublime viewfinder of the M3 though.

 

[Keith]

I always find that I can get closer with a 35mm if need be ... albeit at the cost of a little distortion if you're shooting a person ... but I often find myself trying to back away with the 50mm and often there just isn't the room to do so!

 

[Doug]

I'll join the 35mm group with a friendly nod to 40mm, as my preference is somewhere between. That is given with a 24mm on (1.53x) APS-C, 28mm on M8, and 75mm on 6x7. My most used lens for my CLE has been the 40 Rokkor that came with it, while the favorite lens on the M2 is the 35 Summicron I got with it. This is a very comfortable FL area for me; easy to visualize the framing. I can see getting used to a 50 too, or better a bit longer as well, and surprised how I like the 50 on the M8 crop.

 

[oftheherd]

I won't be in a have to, but if I were choosing for some reason, it would be the 50. 35 isn't wide enough to be wide for me, and 50 is just "natural" for me.

 

[bastian a.]

I like both FLs but would prefer 35mm if I had to choose only one.

 

[ChrisN]

50 had an early lead but 35 is catching up!

 

[pzeco]

35, no question about it.

 

[sazerac]

50 works best for me, but 35 is nice sometimes. why choose just one? 😉

 

[Lflex]

Wides forces you to move closer which results in more intimate pictures. 35 wins.

 

[Keith]

So no poll option for a zoom then? 😀

 

[ChrisN]

So no poll option for a zoom then? 😀

Heathen - this is the rangefinder forum after all! 😀

 

[E.M]

35 for sure .

http://www.etiennemichiels.com

 

[Livesteamer]

Before my daughter was born it was a 35 most of the time. Now, with a seven year old it's a 50 most of the time. But that's just me. Joe

 

[colyn]

35 is my pick...........

 

[Rayt]

The ideal choice is 35mm but very often I don't have the courage to get close enough so in practice the 50mm is more useful.

 

[jsrockit]

35mm for sure... though I love 50mm and switch between the two all the time.

 

[ChrisN]

35 takes the lead!

I recently spent ten days (on a trip away) with just the 35 attached to the camera. I do like using a single lens - after a little while the field of view is engraved on my eyeballs and framing a shot is easy before lifting the camera.

I'm using 50 more lately - with 35 a bad composition is really obvious, whereas with the 50 the subject itself is larger in the frame and tends to disguise a less-satisfactory composition to some extent. 🙂

So I think my question was prompted by wondering if I could live with just the 50. No reason to of course, and I'll certainly keep my set of lenses (21, 35, 50, 90), but I do my best work when I'm not constantly swapping lenses.

 

[ssmc]

I voted 35mm but could happily live with either!

How's that for indecisive? Or just easily pleased 😉


Scott