How and Why you use a 24mm / Aov 90 lens?

[bene]

I am thinking of a 24mm zeiss zm but I just wonder what kinds of photos do you use it for. I am refering to the angle of view base on full frame so M8 users with 18mm lenses can help me out too =)

 

[Hephaestus]

The 25mm Zeiss Biogon is a great piece of glass but I never much liked the focal length until I got a 24mm Summilux. For me, it is almost an ideal lens for indoor portraits from a cross a table. This lens offers the ability to both shoot in low light up close and also gives enough depth of field in these conditions to get the focus right most of the time.

I liked the 25mm Biogon for contextual outdoor portraits and as a "from the hip" street lens, but I'd rather have a 35mm or a 21mm in most cases. That said, one of the great things about the 24mm/25mm focal lens on a film M is that it basically captures whatever you see through the 0.72x viewfinder. It's as wide as many people are comfortable getting without going to external finders.

Ryan

 

[Doug]

Agree with Ryan, and it urges you to get close and intimate with your subject, giving a different feel to it. FWIW, the Zeiss is a 25mm with 82° angle of view.

Here are a few sample shots with this field of view...
The first in Granada, Spain, in tight quarters where the wide lens is necessary. Bessa-L with 25 Snapshot Skopar

Second at the farmers' market, where moving in close gives a more intimate sense. Minolta CLE with 25 Biogon ZM

Third, the wide lens has uses in landscape, where there's a strong foreground element to put in context. Leica M8 with 18mm Distagon.

 

[bene]

Max I can see is 35mm as I wear glasses. I found the 24mm lux very exotic and "cool" but I want to make sure I like the focal length before I committ to it so I am getting the zeiss + vf to "test". If I like it I will then get the lux for 'available darkness' photography.

 

[rxmd]

I use a 24 as my primary lens currently:

You can do a lot with it, even portraits if you don't get your subject to the edge of the frame too much. It's comfortable indoors, giving you lots of room. Outdoors, the more landscape you have in the picture, the more you need a balancing foreground element; the harbour shot is already a bit lacking in this regard. It also lends itself well to diagonal composition.

 

[VinceC]

Environmental portraits. You get a little more of the scene than with a 28mm, but you don't have nearly as much distortion compared to a 21mm. In nearly all cases, the 24/25mm keeps people's heads shaped about right even when near the outer part of the frame. A 21mm can make them look weird and unnatural.

 

[Hephaestus]

One of the things that I like about the 24mm focal length is that I think it is a natural step from the 35mm: 28mm is too close to be relevant for me. If you can afford it, I think that just about an ideal Leica kit would be a WATE, 24mm Lux, 35mm Lux, and 75mm Lux.

 

[bene]

One of the things that I like about the 24mm focal length is that I think it is a natural step from the 35mm: 28mm is too close to be relevant for me. If you can afford it, I think that just about an ideal Leica kit would be a WATE, 24mm Lux, 35mm Lux, and 75mm Lux.

I find the 28 difficult to use well. I plan to go wider as a challenge in terms of composition. It means getting real close =)
I feel your ideal kit is really heavy! Thats why my ideal line up have a fast and slow lens of each FL =) I would add the summarit line in =)

Anyone have links of photos of 24mm?

 

[oftheherd]

I don't use a 24mm on any RF I have, but I do have a near to it with a 50mm on my Mamiya Press 23. I have a 24mm for SLR use. I use it as I do any other lens; it gives me the shot I want. I don't use most lenses as a "way of seeing" as much as a way to get the photo I want. But there are times when I want a wide look. Then I choose the lens that gives the wide look I want.

 

[uhligfd]

This one is for "bene" whose field of view is restricted to 35mm through his/her glasses (small frames). I do like and always get glasses with big lenses. Not hilariously big, but through my frames I can see about as wide as a full frame 21mm lens can see in horizontal orientation.

That of course opens me up to use those wide lenses. Try this with your next frame. Plastic lenses can now be found scratch resistant and so light, ...

 

[peter_n]

When you need a really wide view and either want to shoot a very close subject with lots of context, or you have an excellent sky or ground/water that you want to emphasize, or even architecture. I use my 24 with either a 24, 35, 75 or 24, 35, 50, 90 kit. I was going to buy the Summilux but after seeing lots of examples from the lens decided to stay with the Elmarit. Love the focal length.

 

[tightsqueez]

The 24 has been my one my most used lenses, first with the Elmarit and now with the Summilux. Key to using it is to "square up" with your subject and keep things level. There have been many times that I have had a hard time distinguishing a 24mm image from a 35mm image, especially if used with the above suggestion. Unlike the 21mm, a 24mm is a bit easier to tame. With the .58 viewfinder I simply put a piece of electrical tape over the illumination window. This offers the whole window as the frame (uncluttered without other frame lines) and can be focused without the need of an accessory viewfinder. In situations where there is a lot of action (combat, protests, etc.) the accessory viewfinder gives you freedom to anticipate.

Here are a few examples, as requested for links.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70355737@N00/3021604862/in/set-72157608856065753/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70355737@N00/332987279/in/set-72157608856065753/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70355737@N00/3489675427/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70355737@N00/3489675165/in/set-72157615180784231/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70355737@N00/3490490820/in/set-72157615180784231/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70355737@N00/3490074068/in/set-72157615180784231/

 

[bene]

The 24 has been my one my most used lenses, first with the Elmarit and now with the Summilux. Key to using it is to "square up" with your subject and keep things level. There have been many times that I have had a hard time distinguishing a 24mm image from a 35mm image, especially if used with the above suggestion. Unlike the 21mm, a 24mm is a bit easier to tame. With the .58 viewfinder I simply put a piece of electrical tape over the illumination window. This offers the whole window as the frame (uncluttered without other frame lines) and can be focused without the need of an accessory viewfinder. In situations where there is a lot of action (combat, protests, etc.) the accessory viewfinder gives you freedom to anticipate.

Thank you your pictures gives me a better idea of what 24mm can be applied to my photography.