Old question, new angle: 35mm v 50mm

[Juan Valdenebro]

When I look at reality, and then take a camera to my eye and look through a 50, I feel most of what I had seen is lost out of the frame... A tele feeling... Not that it can't be used (I've even been out with a 300 only...) but a 50 is narrow for sure. A 20 can be wide, but a 35 is not wide at all... It's normal... Curious how personal this is... Maybe people liking a 50 prefer not being close, and that's why they feel normal lenses are wide because they stay away... Now, a 50 is better for portraiture, but inferior for street... I prefer the visual sensation of being there...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[corot]

As Juan said, it is very personal, depending a lot on your temperament as well as what you like to photograph. For my first five years with a camera I had only one lens, a 50mm, and I was perfectly happy with that. At that time I was more interested in details of things rather than in a larger view with people, and 50mm was just right.

 

[Mcary]

When I look at reality, and then take a camera to my eye and look through a 50, I feel most of what I had seen is lost out of the frame... A tele feeling... Not that it can't be used (I've even been out with a 300 only...) but a 50 is narrow for sure. A 20 can be wide, but a 35 is not wide at all... It's normal... Curious how personal this is... Maybe people liking a 50 prefer not being close, and that's why they feel normal lenses are wide because they stay away... Now, a 50 is better for portraiture, but inferior for street... I prefer the visual sensation of being there...

Cheers,

Juan

Agree!

OK I know this is probably going to get me burned at the stake as a heretic But I find the 2/3 format of 35mm to be my least favorite format and much prefer the 1x1 format of 6x6 or the close to 3/4 format of 645. As I've found that they allow a greater freedom to included both vertical and horizontal elements within an image. In fact even for street my M6 might every so often find itself left at home as I head out the door with my GS645.

 

[andredossantos]

Over the past 6 months or so I have fallen head over heals for the 50mm focal length (or thereabouts--I include my 75mm Rolleiflex when I speak of 50mm's). So I'd choose the 50mm for sure.

Even though it is probably "easier" to shoot street with a wide angle lens (prefocusing, appearing to be shooting behind people, etc), I feel that a lot of wide angle street shots are extremely boring. While a wide angle will show more real estate, it is sometimes at the cost of pushing the people away and making them simply elements in the frame instead of the focal point. If you are willing to get right up in people's faces, you can mitigate this. With a 50mm you do not have to get so close and the photos seem more intimate and close without distortion. Just my opinion of course.