Rudolphono
Member
Hi.
Whats the best focal length and the best lens for every day and every condition shots up to 1000-1300$.
The lens with the biggest range of use.
It should be fast, light and available.
Range of use: street/city shots, landscapes, architecture,
indoor, mountainbike-action shots, party
The perfect snapshot lens.
Ralle
Whats the best focal length and the best lens for every day and every condition shots up to 1000-1300$.
The lens with the biggest range of use.
It should be fast, light and available.
Range of use: street/city shots, landscapes, architecture,
indoor, mountainbike-action shots, party
The perfect snapshot lens.
Ralle
capitalK
Warrior Poet :P
I wish there was such a "magic bullet" lens.
funkaoshi
Well-known
You probably want a 35mm lens. And for 1000-1300$ you can buy a 35mm Summicron and call it a day.
FPjohn
Well-known
50mm or 35mm Summicron. IMHO.
yours
FPJ
yours
FPJ
mfogiel
Veteran
Probably the summilux 35 ASPH (beyond your budget) or Nokton 35/1.4 come close. If you don't mind the size, this lens is the Nokton 35/1.2, if you can live with f2.0 max aperture then the Biogon 35/2.0 or one of the Summicrons 35/2.0 are great.
Keeping in mind instructions for this forum, "This is NOT the place to discuss a specific lens or lens line...", and to generalize across film formats, I'll advocate a versatile angle of view: 60°-63° is so broadly useful that's all (61°) I brought on my current vacation.
This is about 24mm for a 1.55x "crop" digital, 35-38mm for 135 film, and 75mm for 6x7cm format for instance.
More speed is always useful but balance that against optical excellence and size. I like optics well-corrected for curvilinear distortions and flatness of field, and that comes easier with more modest maximum apertures. One can't really correct later for barrel or pincushion distortion with traditional analog methods, and I don't much like having to correct it digitally in software. Better to start with a better corrected lens... But other attributes like speed and moving elements for close-focus performance are great too.
It's easier to find higher speed with lenses for smaller-formats, and I think here one has to balance lens speed and film speed. With medium format you don't get the graininess with high speed films, but lenses are slower. If you want to do indoor environmental portraits, for instance, are you better off with fast film, medium format, and an f4 lens... or with a slow film, small format, and f1.4 lens?
In the context of a 35mm film rangefinder camera, I'd like a fast compact 35 or 40mm f1.4 or f2 lens of quality design and construction, maybe a Biogon or Planar-derived model. Ultimately, if this is to be your major do-most-everything lens, then certainly get the best one you can afford, as you'll be using it a lot.
This is about 24mm for a 1.55x "crop" digital, 35-38mm for 135 film, and 75mm for 6x7cm format for instance.
More speed is always useful but balance that against optical excellence and size. I like optics well-corrected for curvilinear distortions and flatness of field, and that comes easier with more modest maximum apertures. One can't really correct later for barrel or pincushion distortion with traditional analog methods, and I don't much like having to correct it digitally in software. Better to start with a better corrected lens... But other attributes like speed and moving elements for close-focus performance are great too.
It's easier to find higher speed with lenses for smaller-formats, and I think here one has to balance lens speed and film speed. With medium format you don't get the graininess with high speed films, but lenses are slower. If you want to do indoor environmental portraits, for instance, are you better off with fast film, medium format, and an f4 lens... or with a slow film, small format, and f1.4 lens?
In the context of a 35mm film rangefinder camera, I'd like a fast compact 35 or 40mm f1.4 or f2 lens of quality design and construction, maybe a Biogon or Planar-derived model. Ultimately, if this is to be your major do-most-everything lens, then certainly get the best one you can afford, as you'll be using it a lot.
FrankS
Registered User
I suggest the CV40mm f1.4. $400
Buy lots of film with the extra.
Buy lots of film with the extra.
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__hh
Well-known
Another vote for the 35mm lens - be it summicron, nokton, or biogon.... you'll love it/them all
maddoc
... likes film again.
35mm Summilux pre-ASPH. 
infrequent
Well-known
if 35mm, get the uc-hex and call it a night. for 50mm, i won't mind a noctilux having seen what maddoc does with it.
clayne
shoot film or die
24mm, 35mm, and 50mm from any manufacturer.
It's all a matter of what specifically you might be shooting, but I feel a 35mm is ideal for most anything.
It's all a matter of what specifically you might be shooting, but I feel a 35mm is ideal for most anything.
thomasw_
Well-known
35 mm or 50 mm focal length. In your budget, I would source a 2nd or 3rd version of the Summilux 50/1,4 or a 3rd version summicron 35/2. Two great lenses with a beautiful gloss on the world ;P
Murray Kelly
Well-known
Snapshot Scopar 25/4 took it thru Europe and never regretted leaving all the other leneses at home.