Help me learn to love my 35mm lens?

I use a Robot 3.5/30 Xanagon on my Sony Nex 3n. It is a Tessar design and most likely will not cover a 35mm frame.
 
Yes, but you can crop from a 35 in case of need (I know for many this is a blasphemy, sorry). You cannot add something to a photo taken with a 50 ...

Just kidding, do not take it seriously :)

Last week I shot a roll with my 50 Heliar after almost an year shooting only 35 and 28 and I found it so difficult...such a small view in it !

robert

PS: want to love a lens? Shoot, shoot and than shoot again !

I know what you mean, Robert. My daily set of lenses are now the 16/8 on M9 and a 50/1.4 which shows the view of a 100mm lens on the M 4/3.
camera. Two lenses that are very different,
 
There must be a reason for all those different focal lengths beyond keeping lens junkies happy.

If you want to learn to like the 35 you have to use the 35. How long have you used a 50? Use the 35 at least as long. But there really is no need to feel ashamed that you prefer the longer focal length. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

BTW, that Biogon 35/2 ZM is fine lens.

Personally (for what it is worth) if I carry more than one lens around with me (unusual since I greatly prefer to keep my kit compact) then it is almost always an 85/90 to accompany my 50. But, there are times when something wider is needed. In that case a 35/30 (see Pentax 31mm LTD) or 28 can also be useful.

Once in awhile a zoom (gasp) can even be helpful. Use what you need. Pictures would be awfully boring if we all had to use the same focal length.

But I will always rely on my 50mm. I guess that is why I have such a huge collection of them. :D
 
There must be a reason for all those different focal lengths beyond keeping lens junkies happy.. . .

No, no, no. It's all marketing. A 105mm lens on 6x9 cm is all you need. Any other focal length on any other format shows that you lack moral fibre.

Cheers,

R.
 
I seem to be the outlier again finding the differences in focal lengths to be the perspective and not what fills the frame. I can control what fills the frame by stepping forward or backward but perspective is what it is.

If you don't see the differences in perspective, step forward and shoot a head and shoulders portrait with a 21mm lens. Or, step back and shoot a casual randomly positioned group of 4 or 5 people with a 90mm lens.

FWIW, I just returned from 2 weeks in Ireland carrying only a 35mm lens. I made it do all the time from landscapes to interior pub shots to a once in a lifetime portrait of my Irish niece, her Irish mother who raised her from 10 days old, and her biological mother, my American sister who gave birth to her in an Irish home for unwed mothers 55 years ago.
 
2 weeks in Ireland with 1 lens. You definitely do not lack moral fiber!

I just am not a lens changer as all of my photo ops disappear in much less time than it takes to change a lens. I think the only two lenses I have used for the last few years are a 35 and a 21 even though I own a bunch of others. So basically, all I did was leave the 21mm at home.
 
What I'm about to say has probably been said; there's just too much to read above, sorry.

The 35mm, and wider if you wish, allows scale focusing much easier. Set to f8 and adjust the focus to accommodate the DoF within the boundaries. Or if light prevails f11 or f16.

A lot of people including myself like to shoot wide open, with limited DoF. For street photography it is better to use the RF as a point and shoot camera. It's the quickest street machine going.
 
Why force yourself to love a focal length?

You should use whatever focal length comes natural to you.

I've gone from 50 to 35 to 50 again.

My philosophy on why I went back to 50 from 35 is that I want to take things out from the frame more often than include things in the frame. So I felt it would be better to opt for a more narrow view.
 
When I was about 14, I started using my parent's Minolta SR-1. They had one lens for it - a 50. I don't think they even considered the possibility that the lens could be removed and another one attached in its place. So I was raised that way. It was a revelation when I discovered other focal lengths!

Minolta xg-1 here and 45mm lens
 
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