Neglected Focal Length and Then WOW

[ktmrider]

Do you have a focal length or a couple different focal lengths that you have just never connected with and then suddenly BANG and you wonder why it took you so long to start using? I am not talking about exotic lengths like 10, 15 or 300mm but say lenses from 21 to 135 (the traditional Leica range).

Back in my Nikon SLR days when I was shooting for a living, it was 28, 35 and 50. I did not get why so many people liked those particular focal lengths. I carried two Nikon F's with 24f2.8 and 85f1.8 almost permanently mounted.

Now, I cannot decide if the 35 or 50 is my favorite. I don't shoot with a 28 much at all (own one for R6.2 but have not used it in years). However, I have an X70 and its lens is a 28 equivalent and the X70 is becoming one of my favorite cameras.

I am thinking of adding a 28 to the Leica arsenal primarily as I want something wider then 35 but don't want to use an external viewfinder.

Has this happened to anyone else and was there an "ah ha" moment when you realized one of the focal lengths you neglected was "great"?

 

[Dogman]

Back when I was working, I had a Nikkor 28/3.5 but I never used it. I think someone gave it to me. Instead, I used 24mm. A lot.

Over the years since then I've owned a couple of 28mm lenses but never really liked the focal length that much. Then I got a Ricoh GRII and started using it quite a bit and discovered I kinda liked 28mm. Now I seem to keep a 28mm equivalent on one of my cameras all the time and it sees a considerable amount of use.

Another neglected focal length for me has been 75mm. I never really saw the utility of a lens that fell between 50mm and 85/90mm. Then I came upon a great deal on a barely used Fuji 50mm f/2. The first time I used it I fell in love with it. I find it more useful than the 85/90mm range and that "little bit longer than 50mm" sometimes seems just right.

 

[presspass]

Yes, and also with the 28. I had one for years and never used it much - 2.8 Elmarit M. Then I took it on a two-week trip to Prague, teamed with a 50 Summicron and a 90 Tele-Elmarit. For that trip, it was perfect. Then I came home and it went back in the drawer. Recently started to reconnect with that focal length and wonder what else I've been missing over the years.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I spent years shooting 28mm & 50mm. Had someone suggest to me that I spend a year shooting only a 35mm, a focal length I just never clicked with. Tried it, and BAM, use it all the time now.

Also have had some fun with a 20mm, which felt much wider than the 28mm. So those have been fun.

And finally, picked up a legendary 105mm Nikkor, which I had never tried before, and find it great for portraits.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Out to Lunch]

The Biogon 2.8/28 has been my favorite lens for years...and I've overcome the infamous 'wobble' problems, I hope. My previously neglected lens is the Fuji 1.2/56: sharp and no distortion.

 

[ktmrider]

I don't specifically mean the 28 but that would still probably be my best example. I am just wondering if others here have my experience of finding that a focal length long ignored is suddenly a favorite lens.

 

[Godfrey]

I don't think I've ever actually avoided a particular focal length, but I've tended to like some more than others. 28s have always been in the "not particularly my favorite" class, but when I had a Ricoh GR1, I had no problems enjoying it and made a lot of nice photos with its 28mm lens.

Basically, I use whatever is at hand and get the WOW from learning how to see*with it, no matter what the lens might be.

G