50mm...a sad admission

back alley

back alley

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i cannot make the 50mm lens work for me.

try as i might, i can't seem to get really comfortable with the 50mm field of view.
today, i went out with my fastest lens for the saturday shoot out. that lens happens to be the zm 50/1.5 sonnar, a lens that i love the look of the images it produces.
but as i was shooting i realized that i am never in the right place for the shot i want to take. too close usually, i have to always take a step or 2 back. no matter what i do, the 50 fov is not my normal fov, not how i see things.

there are absolutely no plans to rid myself of the sonnar but i think i need to accept that for me it will be my short tele and used for portraits or shots from across the street.

the 35 is my normal and the 25 is my wide. and the rest? i just don't know...

joe
 
I came to the same conclusion some time ago.
40mm seems to be right.

Isn't that odd? Not a huge difference between 40 and 50.
 
I've thought about selling mine more than once... but I never gathered the nerve because my 'cron 50 is the only Leica item I purchased brand new. I force myself to use it from time to time, but it's just a small telephoto to me.

Shame? Not at all, just a very wide, open mentality. :)
 
It is funny how I used a 50 for my only lens on my AE-1 SLR for something like 10 years before I bought a zoom, but I usually use the CL or Canon QL17 with a 40 when I pick up one of the rangefinders. Also, when I used to use my 35 to 105 zoom on my SLR, I was usually using it at 35 70 or 105, hardly ever at 50.

50 now seems odd to me. It's too short for a portrait lens, and to long for landscape or street shots. But I'm keeping my Hexanon anyway...
 
In the same boa here. I only held on to my Summicron 50 because for the longest time it was the only Leica lens I owned. Now I have a 40 I use all the time and a 90 that I've only shot one frame with!
I will keep the 50 because sometimes I just like to stick it on the M4 and see what happens. But 35 is what I use 85% of the time.
Strangely, when I use my SLR my Nikkor 50 1.4 sees the most use of any of my SLR lenses!
 
back alley said:
i am never in the right place for the shot i want to take.
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i wonder if you might not open that up as a viable theme for your photography? maybe this will just sound stupid, but seen from different angles, both the photog's and the object of the photog's gaze, it might make an interesting series in the zen of position..."never in the right place"...at the very least it could minimize the sense of frustration and replace it with a positive project that accepts those moments and turns them into something else creative. maybe when you start trying to actually do that intentionally and creatively it will become something totally different?

back alley said:
for me it will be my short tele and used for portraits or shots from across the street.

the 35 is my normal and the 25 is my wide.joe
Click to expand...

Duh, I realize as I'm reading that you have put your finger on what I've been doing, even though I did not exactly realize it. :eek: Great post, Joe! The kind that keeps me, for one, coming back here!

Because I use the 50 for portraits, I'm sorely tempted by the ZM C-Sonnar as an addition to my ZM Planar 50. :bang: But I've only begun to explore the limits of the planar...
 
I am the opposite.

In my SLR shooting, I have come back to the 50mm focal length and I find I can get a lot out of it. When shooting with my M3 it's either the 50 Collapsable 'cron or the 50 f1.4 canon. The 35mm Skopar only goes on occasionally.
 
photogdave said:
Strangely, when I use my SLR my Nikkor 50 1.4 sees the most use of any of my SLR lenses!
Click to expand...
I think seeing/composing with an SLR vs an RF is so fundamentally different; this is an observation that I have made and I think it is really important. At least for me.

The 50 in an SLR viewfinder gives an immediacy that can surpasses the RF viewfinder. The same seems even more evident for the 90 or 100, for obvious reasons, i.e., the reduced image area described by the frame lines in an RF for a short tele.

Shooting with the M3/50 DR I achieved some really nice images, but as I recall I also found myself moving back more often. The nearly 1:1 view of the M3 made it more like an SLR, but still it wasn't quite the same. I'm wondering, Joe, if the magnification of the ZI isn't part of the issue here?

Still and all, the 40 or 42 is the BEST focal length for general RF work, IMNSHO. I'm glad so many here have finally recognized my wisdom. :D :angel:
 
With 0.72 cameras, it's easy not to like the 50mm FL because you always see in 35mm view, no matter how much you concentrate on the 50 framelines. But if you shoot a M3, then the 50 FL becomes the only possibility and composing shots is much easier with no 35mm possibility interfering. That's why I think everyone should own a M3.
 
NB23 said:
With 0.72 cameras, it's easy not to like the 50mm FL because you always see in 35mm view, no matter how much you concentrate on the 50 framelines. But if you shoot a M3, then the 50 FL becomes the only possibility and composing shots is much easier with no 35mm possibility interfering. That's why I think everyone should own a M3.
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Very astute comment ... seeing outside of your chosen focal length is all very well but as you say may detract from the intention of your composition! :)
 
As an airplane enthusiast I have been frequently frustrated by the need to move back with a 50 in order to frame the subject. I put a Jupiter 12 35mm on my Leica IIIf and found what I had been looking for. I like a 50 on my SLR, but the 35 is frequently the best choice on my RF.

Jim N.
 
On a humorous note, I received five 50mm lenses in the mail this week. One Summicron to clean for a friend, and bought three Sonnar's that need a CLA and a J-3 in Contax Mount. Last week, I got an I-50 Rigid in a trade. Cleaned and Lubed it.
 
I often walk about with just a 50 on my Leica/ZI/Contax.. mostly because it's the lens I started with and it seems to be a 'do all' lens that can get kind of wide but also will allow you to get in tighter when the situation requires

unfortunately, I admit that at least half the time it seems like a compromise lens.. doing all things fairly well but excelling at nothing.. and since I tend to be a specialist with everything I own (snow tires for winter and high performance radials for summer, for example) it does sometimes strike me as odd that I use the 50mm so much

on the other hand, I think that for many people, myself included, having many lenses requires more calculation.. and sometimes it's best to KISS (keep it simple, stoopid).. I get more good shots that way compared to swapping lenses back and forth

pick the lens that works best for the majority of your photography and give the ZM 50 to me, joe.. your ex-ZI probably misses it, anyway
 
try using your 28mm more. you might find it replaces your 35mm and 25mm. it's certainly my "get everything you see from where you're currently standing" lens.
 
I used my 50 for over 10 years because thats the only lens I owned. Now I own many and havent used the 50 in the longest time. I put it on my camera last week to see what happens and I ended up shooting one of my favorite pictures in years with it.
So I'm going to go out with just that lens again and see what happens.
 
on an slr i used to love the 85/100 lenses, no doubt.

the 28 seems like a compromise ever since i got a 25, i love the 25 fov.

ned, i have not shot 25 or 50 rolls with the 50 but i have often taken it out as my only lens and have honestly given it a fair chance. i like the need to be closer with a 35 or even the 25. i think i could easily live with that combo.

joe
 
35 provides the field I always wanted. I know that 50 is supposed to provide the same fov as the eye, but 35 just seemed more fluid and correctly inclusive.

And then, sometimes it's 28.

I have and use 45-50 fixed lens vintage RFs with sharp glass, however; the quality often allows for cropping into details to mimic 75-90!
 
Joe,

why is this a sad admission?
You found your sweet spot with the 25 & 35.
No need to be comfortable with what others are comfortable with ;-)

Ciao

joerg
who has more 50mm lenses than he likes, but heh some of them are classics...;-)
 
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