nonsense!

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as my grumpy step father used to tell me...'you don't even make non-sense!' i seem to have no trouble in holding on to too many camera bodies but too many lenses bothers the crap out of me. and the number of too many lenses changes by my mood...maybe it's more that lenses i don't care for bother me by being in my camera bag.
i'm talking about the fuji 35/2...a very nice lens by all accounts but that fov just does nothing for me. yesterday i put the long unused 23 on an xe1 body and immediately felt the connection that the 35 lacks for me.
for the past week i have lingered and thought about selling the 35...maybe even a trade for something fuji...but have held off...it's like i should keep the lens because it's good (better than i am) and so many others love the damn thing.
maybe i'll buy a fountain pen and start writing poetry again!
 
No point in keeping it if it does nothing for you. And who cares how others rave about it, it's you that counts, and time is getting too short!
Either sell it, or hide it for a week, and discover it to find again that it does nothing for you.
 
Can you articulate why you prefer 23 over 35? It's always hard for me to understand this. After all, the world is happening around us equally at every distance and in every direction. It's not like there's inherently more of interest at one focal length than at another. The odds of a good photo manifesting at any moment and at any distance are exactly equal. Maybe it's more that we've habituated ourselves to view the world in a certain way. I don't know. But I wonder....

John
 
johnwolf said:
Can you articulate why you prefer 23 over 35? It's always hard for me to understand this. After all, the world is happening around us equally at every distance and in every direction. It's not like there's inherently more of interest at one focal length than at another. The odds of a good photo manifesting at any moment and at any distance are exactly equal. Maybe it's more that we've habituated ourselves to view the world in a certain way. I don't know. But I wonder....

John
Click to expand...

being neurotic i don't normally try to make too much sense of these things...
 
Focal length choice is not about how far a subject is from the camera (unless we're talking sports or wildlife where there is no option to get closer), it's more about perspective and size relationships between foreground and background elements.
 
It's all psychology. It depends on how you feel, and what you have used recently. I have many cameras and lenses, and I just find myself rotating all this stuff periodically according to how I feel and what I want to shoot. There is value in diversity.
 
mfogiel said:
It's all psychology. It depends on how you feel, and what you have used recently. I have many cameras and lenses, and I just find myself rotating all this stuff periodically according to how I feel and what I want to shoot. There is value in diversity.
Click to expand...

very true...for me, it's also the size...when i used the rd1 i preferred the smallest cv lenses...with the fuji, i actually like the bigger lenses better, i like to hold on to the lens instead of the body when walking around.
 
I might be missing the point here as I'm not sure you are talking 35mm (as 35mm film equivalent) or 35mm on a crop sensor camera.

As for a 35mm lens on a 35mm film body or FF digital, I have to agree with your early statement, for the longest time 35mm did nothing for me. My normal lens was a 50mm and I felt very comfortable with that. And when I wanted wide, I went with 28mm and felt very comfortable with that.

Five years ago I bought a 35mm Summicron because everyone raved that it was "the" Leica rangefinder lens. It just never worked for me, so it got sold. I had a 35mm AF-D Nikkor, and again, rarely used it so it got sold.

Had my street/documentary portfolio reviewed from someone who's work I really respect, back in February. He told me, "Shoot this type of work with nothing but a 35mm lens for the next year." I thought, "Oh no, now I'm sunk." But you know what, I'm actually really enjoying it. It has replaced my 50mm and has led me to get much closer and much more involved in the subjects I am photographing.

So maybe someday, that 35mm will be something you might want to reach for. And if you can afford to keep it, well, just saying'.
 
Timmyjoe said:
I might be missing the point here as I'm not sure you are talking 35mm (as 35mm film equivalent) or 35mm on a crop sensor camera.

As for a 35mm lens on a 35mm film body or FF digital, I have to agree with your early statement, for the longest time 35mm did nothing for me. My normal lens was a 50mm and I felt very comfortable with that. And when I wanted wide, I went with 28mm and felt very comfortable with that.

Five years ago I bought a 35mm Summicron because everyone raved that it was "the" Leica rangefinder lens. It just never worked for me, so it got sold. I had a 35mm AF-D Nikkor, and again, rarely used it so it got sold.

Had my street/documentary portfolio reviewed from someone who's work I really respect, back in February. He told me, "Shoot this type of work with nothing but a 35mm lens for the next year." I thought, "Oh no, now I'm sunk." But you know what, I'm actually really enjoying it. It has replaced my 50mm and has led me to get much closer and much more involved in the subjects I am photographing.

So maybe someday, that 35mm will be something you might want to reach for. And if you can afford to keep it, well, just saying'.
Click to expand...

35 as in 50 in full frame.
23 as in 35 in full frame.
 
I've mainly been using the 18/2 in the street and it is comfortable. Earlier today I swapped it for a Zuiko 35/2.8, partly to force myself to isolate shots and use hyperfocal distance and anticipate the moment to expose.

But I have to say that I am anxious to see the Fuji 23/2 released. For years I **** 35mm on film, I think I got used to seeing with it.
 
I never felt at home with a 50mm. Got one for my now ex-wife, she never used it and I used it less. Got a 55/3.5 macro and used it twice or three times. Not sure if it was because of the guidance I got from my Dad or what. I got a couple during my brief trip down the FSU rabbit-hole, but never excited me. Never carried them. But then I got a Nikon S2 with a 50 Nikkor on it.

Dang it just felt right for that camera.

For me different focal lengths just feel right for different cameras. While I love the way my old 85/2 Nikkor paints, my 85/1.8 on my Nikkormat or Nikon just feel better. I never got the same feeling from my 24/2.8 Nikkor that I did from my 25 CV Snap-Shot on a Bessa L. Or for that matter the 25 on any of my Ms.

If you are crazy, please let me know where I can report to as I may be the same.

B2 (;->
 
Keep the lens, Joe, just ban it from your bag. Then when it comes time to sell your current camera body for a newer one (and you know you will the next cycle), it can go with that as a selling point.

PF
 
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