If you could choose only one lens.....

[caila77]

Depending: for my nikon slr I prefer my nikon 50/2 HC for example, but in absolute I prefer canon 35/2 ltm (very compact and capable of great performance)

 

[existrandom]

i can't resist this thread title as well

i must say i agree w/ egpj....

it is always the next one;
or perhaps for the more sentimental folks, the last one that is gone?

at this juncture, i am happy with my canon 35/1.8... but in low light wide open, it fails, or it is my handshake that fails me;

a couple weeks later i will say it is the hexanon 50/2 i just got the day before yesterday

the trouble remains that, 95% of the time only the very discerning ones can tell the differeneces we crazes about, ummm...

cheers!

 

[kubilai]

half way or not

half way or not

To choose only one lens, I think there are two possibilities :

- a compromise, in my mind it is 50mm. I let you choose yours (light or lightweight, there no bad ones.

- no compromise, choose firmly what is your trend. For me it is wide angle,

Now I have another problem : 24 or 28 ?

- 24 is for me the perfect lens (21 too wide for general work)
- but Summicron 28 is f/2 AND small, (some will add : and maybe good standard lens for future digital)

My final choice is 24mm (today...)

This question is useful, even if you have enough money to fill your chests with cameras and lenses, at the moment when you shoot you only have one within your hands.

 

[smiling gecko]

...if i could chose only lens, hmm...my fave lens i have has become my mamiya 75mm for my mamiay6 < hello fantasy time : my fave might have been a 60mm - IF mamiya had made one for the mamiay6 before they gave up on the m6 for the m7/7II. oh well...

hasta la vista, adieu, dasvidanya ,fino al prossimo tempo, auf wiedersehen, and later y’all
____________________________________

"...patience and shuffle the cards" miguel cervantes
"nothing can be learned" herman hesse
"everybody knows everything" jack kerouac
"some memories are realities and better than anything" willa cather
" doo-wacka doo, wacka doo" roger miller
"we have met the enemy and they is us !" pogo
______________________________________________________________

 

[35mmdelux]

50mmCron & Lux & Nokton- okay outside, not effective indoors. - sold them.
35mmCron- shot 10 years worth w/ 1972 version - sold it.
35mm1.7mm VC Aspheric - I like it. Sharp glass. Great price. Great indoors. Keep it.
28mmElmarit - Wow, clearly awesome, distinctive. Keep it.

While I believe the 28mmElmarit is awesome, I would have to go w/ the 35mm1.7mm VC Aspheric for its available light ability.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I can't agree with the Nokton not being effective indoors. There are tons of photos on the web that contradict that statement.

As for the Elmarit...I'd take one of those for a spin. 😉

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I'm faced with this question every time I grab a camera to take out, and don't feel like carrying a big bag.

Most of the time I just grab the big bag.

 

[dexdog]

First choice: Contax II with Zeiss-Opton 35/2.8
Second choice: Canon P with Canon 35/2.

 

[back alley]

First choice: Contax II with Zeiss-Opton 35/2.8
Second choice: Canon P with Canon 35/2.

you must be dyslexic, ya got those backwards...😉

 

[dexdog]

You could be right, backalley! Just wait a few months and I will probably change.

I tend to swing like a pendulum between the Contax and Canon systems. Please accept my apologies for any hurt feelings.

On my last vacation (Ecuador/Galapagos), I took a Contax II and a 21mm Biogon. Got some great shots of a market (admitedly touristy) and lave fields on some of the isdlands. For my upcoming vacation to Hawaii, I am thinking of taking my Canon L1 and 35/2. I might even bring the 28/2.8. Great lens, but I don't "see" well in 28.

dexdog

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

This is a very difficult question to answer. So I'm going to limit myself to what I have available to me, not what I would think I would want.

50mm Summilux-M pre-asph (E46). And if I were absolutely broke, then the 50mm Summitar f/2.

 

[ray_g]

Some months ago, I'd have said my 50mm rigid summicron.

I will have to say, 35/2 ASPH.

Small enough, fast enough, and more than sharp enough. I like shooting quickly, usually with zone / touch focus, and for me, this lens just handles so naturally with the M.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

4-1/4cm f/2 Biotar; it's fast enough, splits the difference between my two favorite focal lengths, and I like it 🙂 .

 

[xayraa33]

the black, no tab, made in germany 50mm Summicron ( I don't know what generation number to give it , or care to give it)... from the mid to late 1970s.... simply the best.

 

[ErnestoJL]

For the cameras I have, there is no choice, allways 45 or 50 mm (many are fixed lens).
But if I can buy what I been looking for for many years, it´s either a CZ Opton Sonnar 50/1.5 or a CZ Sonnar 50/1.5 for my Contax II and Kiev4.

 

[haroldjr33]

35 Lux or 50 Lux, according to surroundings.

______________________

Haroldjr33

 

[sf]

My RF645's 45mm F4. because I used it almost exclusively on my trip to Europe, for two weeks, shooting everything from people to animals to architecture and street shots of random varieties, and I never felt the need to grab the 65mm. And, it is remarkably sharp, has great DOF, and just looks so good.

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

50 lux (E43)

 

[Rich Silfver]

Out of the lenses I have I would pick my '64 50/2 Summicron rigid 1st version lens.

I am however tempted to get a 50/2 DR Summicron

 

[aizan]

i demand both 28mm and 50mm. don't say "go with a 35", because this focal length is kinda infuriating.