street with a 50...aarrrrrghhhh!

[vladhed]

I find a good number of my frames have people with missing feet, tops of heads, half bodies, etc

Todd! You make it sound like a bad thing!

 

[cp_ste.croix]

*doing jedi mind trick wave*

you all hate the 50mm focal length for at least another two months; you will give up on the contest and not even enter.....



I personally love the 50 and 75 and find 35 and wider a bit hard to deal with, especially with the long minimum focusing distances of RF's...I know that once accustomed you will continue to rock the Casbah...

 

[goo0h]

Some great (and funny) photos here. Enjoying this thread.... Oh, and I'm appreciative of the links posted earlier....

 

[Bertram2]

I can understand the difficulties if youre not use to a certain focal lenght.
Tja .... each to his own.

My experience tells me that it is not good to get too much used to any focal length if one does not shoot one single object only all you life ( nudes in the studio or so).But who of us is such a monomaniac ?

Nothing is normal just because of a personal preference, excepted the case above.
The process of adaption makes you get used to almost everything. And at the end you really manage to shoot 50mm pics with a 28mm. Sometimes, but mostly you fail and ask yourself what was wrong.

Looking through a finder the wider lens looks "easier" , that's all. It isn't easier tho. I do NOT mean anybody personally here, excepted myself, right ? :angel: But all this " including the environment" cliche is obviously very often misunderstood .

Too many photos i've seen from passionated "wide guys" included junk only and the actual photo was about 25% of the frame.

How to isolate and to concentrate on the essential content is something a 50mm can teach you much better than a wide.

And so I'd consider the 50mm spec to be an interesting experiment for ALL "wide guys". For the masters and the not-yet-masters 😉

best.
bertram

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I don't see a problem with sticking to one focal length as long as it works for you. Everyone has different styles...it's up to the individual what they use. This is why there are so many different photographic mediums out there.

 

[sirius]

I wonder if there is a connection between someone's sense of personal space and focal length? Individuals and cultures have different boundaries of comfort for personal space. 50mm, which has a very close feeling to me, is supposed to be the most normal focal length according to how our eyes work. So maybe the photos taken with it speak about that personal space between the viewer and the subject? I find 28mm encompasses more of my field of view with peripheral vision. The cropping of the lenses as they move up has a quality of focusing in on what I am looking at. In a way, it increasingly concentrates upon what I am interested in. Pictures taken with portrait lenses have a different feeling about them as if I can sense the distance from the subject.

 

[FrankS]

I wonder if there is a connection between someone's sense of personal space and /preferred/ focal length?

I believe there is some truth in your wondering, sirius.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

50mm has always just been *there* for me. It is what rocks my socks. It's why I have three of them and plan to get another three within the next six months (if I can find all of them at good prices, anyway). It is comfortable and seems to show exactly what I want the viewer of my photos to see. I don't think I really need anything else.

I did, however, get a 35 and an 85. Whether or not they will see much use remains to be seen.

 

[vincentbenoit]

[...] it feels like I'm looking at the world through a toilet paper tube

A few years ago when 50mm was my favorite focal length I would have sneered at such a comment, but now that 35mm has grown on me I find the toilet paper tube analogy quite fitting...

 

[Bertram2]

I wonder if there is a connection between someone's sense of personal space and focal length? .

Sirius,
now my limited knowledge of the English langauage is letting me down:
What do you understand as someones "sense of personal space" ?

Thanks,
Bertram

 

[ch1]

Sirius,
now my limited knowledge of the English langauage is letting me down:
What do you understand as someones "sense of personal space" ?

Thanks,
Bertram

"Personal space" is generally consider in the context of how close (or far away) you want other people (particularly strangers) to be from your physical body.

It can change by circumstance. For instance, walking down the street I might get "uncomfortable" is someone is closer than 3 feet from me. On a crowded subway car I might be comfortable even if someone is pressed up against me and touching me.

So what sirius is saying it that perhaps our focal length preference arises from our own individual "personal space". Presumably, someone who prefers "wides" wants a greater amount of personal space than someone who likes normal or telephoto lenses.

Put another way - perhaps introverts and shy folk like wides and extroverts like telephotos?

 

[vincentbenoit]

Put another way - perhaps introverts and shy folk like wides and extroverts like telephotos?

Or the other way round...

 

[ch1]

Or the other way round...

I was thinking about that. It would seem to me that since a wide covers more area it serves as a "distancing" mechanizm whereas a telephoto brings far away things into your space.

But then again - maybe it is the other way around?

 

[fgianni]

So I must be an introvert and an extrovert at the same time, I am uncomfortable with 50mm beause I find its perspective too bland, but I am very happy with both the extremes, 35 or less, and 75 or more.
I find the 50mm ok on my RD-1, but not on the M4-P, and is the opposite for the 35mm.

 

[FrankS]

fgianni, I think your condition would be termed bi-polar. 🙂

 

[Bertram2]

"Personal space" is generally consider in the context of how close (or far away) you want other people (particularly strangers) to be from your physical body.

It can change by circumstance.
Put another way - perhaps introverts and shy folk like wides and extroverts like telephotos?

Thanks for explaining, I see what is meant tho I would think the man with the longer lens is the one who needs more distance ?

Well, it changes indeed by circumstance , man, women, younger women, attractive young women, that's how the lenses get shorter and shorter 😉

And if Joe one day tells us he bought a 12mm this proves that a very young, very attractive, very greeneyed redhead has moved in somewhere in his neighbourship ! 😀 😀
bertram

 

[ch1]

Thanks for explaining, I see what is meant tho I would think the man with the longer lens is the one who needs more distance ?

Well, it changes indeed by circumstance , man, women, younger women, attractive young women, that's how the lenses get shorter and shorter 😉

And if Joe one day tells us he bought a 12mm this proves that a very young, very attractive, very greeneyed redhead has moved in somewhere in his neighbourship ! 😀 😀
bertram

Yes, agreed. I think I had my focal lengths reversed in making the analogy. The wide allows many to come close - the telephoto says "stay back".

However, with the a female green-eyed, red head I would probably be looking for another object to be extended in order to get close! 😀

 

[back alley]

'And if Joe one day tells us he bought a 12mm this proves that a very young, very attractive, very greeneyed redhead has moved in somewhere in his neighbourship !'

binoculars more likely!

😉

 

[Bertram2]

Yes, agreed. I think I had my focal lengths reversed in making the analogy. The wide allows many to come close - the telephoto says "stay back".

However, with the a female green-eyed, red head I would probably be looking for another object to be extended in order to get close! 😀

More "zoom-ish" I suppose ? :angel: Oh oh, one more of this kinda blow and we both get fired here !! 😉

 

[Bertram2]

'And if Joe one day tells us he bought a 12mm this proves that a very young, very attractive, very greeneyed redhead has moved in somewhere in his neighbourship !'

binoculars more likely!

😉

What kinda attacking strategy shall THIS be, with binoculars? Do you intent to keep it reverse ? 😀 😀