what goes into deciding which is a favourite lens?

[back alley]

most of us can easily tell others which lens is our favourite...

but how did you come to that conclusion?
what factors went into your decision?

since i currently shoot fuji bodies and lenses exclusively my fav is the fuji 16.
the only downside is the size...not really gigantic but it is large...otherwise i love it's sharpness, it's close focusing ability, the fov...often i will see an image that strikes me and then it turns out to from the fuji 16!

what criteria do you use to determine a favourite?

 

[f16sunshine]

Good question.
It seems like one of the things that goes into my favorite lenses is selling them 😱
My favorite M Rokkor f2/40mm and ltm Nikkor f2.5/35mm are both long gone.

The current favorite on rangefinder bodies is the Color Skopar f2.5/50mm.
It's flaws make it a favorite. It's a bit squirly wide open and up close. Renders with medium contrast (some would say high contrast).
I tested a bunch of 50's over the years. The Skopar is the perfect balance of performance and imperfections.... I don't like "clinical" apparently.

Another favorite is the Xenotar f2.8/80mm on the Rolleiflex.
It's so sharp and clean at the point of focus.
Gives a beautiful atmosphere in out of focus areas.
I'll post a couple usual suspects below.

Skopar... sharp at focus and wild behind!
Hickory and Willow by Adnan, on Flickr

Xenotar ... sharp at focus point soft kind of dreamy outside.
Lonely toys by Adnan, on Flickr

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

It should be, first, the type of photography the lens will do.
Not the best idea trying to have the same lens for sharp landscapes at infinity, beautiful defocusing for portraits, small size for street stopping down, and snapshots in low light.
Then, at least a few favorite lenses (and cameras) can be considered just the basic tools.
In my case, after considering lens use, I prefer small lenses with no distortion, and mechanical film cameras.
Only for portraits I use big lenses. And only for low light in color I use digital.

 

[AlexBG]

My favourite is my jupiter 8, I only like photos of my family and love the softness and glow of it. Most of my 5 start lightroom photos are with that lens so scientific as well!!!

 

[p.giannakis]

Good question.
I would say the final outcome in terms of sharpness (or lack of it), tone reproduction, out of focus reproduction and ergonomics.

My personal favorite has been the Silvernosed Zuiko 50 f/1.4 - i love it on b&w film.

 

[Carey M]

Good haptics and compact size are pretty important criteria for me. I'm a fan of focus tabs and full-stop aperture clicks.

Still, my favourite lens is a vintage Sonnar with a clickless aperture ring (that simply never stays in place) and no focus appendage of any kind. The way it draws is just right up my alley. Sharp in just the right way, with a sort of an old timey look. Nice out of focus areas. I also like that I can use it without a hood in most situations.

 

[airfrogusmc]

For me it's what best matches the way I see. I tend to see at a 35mm focal length FoV on FF camera so that is my favorite because it matches the way I see. I think that the 35 Summilux FLE really helps me in achieving the look that I desire at the F/L I see at so that is my favorite lens.

 

[zuiko85]

Favorite lens?
...................Favorite lens.......What a strange concept.
Is it the one I use the most currently? Or the one I look at the negs and say "Wow!". Or the one I salvaged off of a 80 year old Kodak folder and say "Well how about that! It did cover 4X5 with much less fall off than I thought it would have. Purdy doggone sharp too."

 

[Huss]

Good question.
I would say the final outcome in terms of sharpness (or lack of it), tone reproduction, out of focus reproduction and ergonomics.

My personal favorite has been the Silvernosed Zuiko 50 f/1.4 - i love it on b&w film.

I can see why, lovely image.

 

[mpaniagua]

My favorite(s) len(s) are those that suit the mood I like (not too soft, not to sharp) and ergonomics. I love how the Summilux 50 renders but hate its ergonomics (really cant get used how it tilts the camera forward) so as much I like it, is not my favorite. Summilux 35, on the other hand, is my favorite. Collapsible Summicron and Summitar likewise.

Regards

Marcelo

 

[Spanik]

When it gives the impression of how I saw the scene. Don't care about the rest.

 

[daveleo]

My favorite lens (I have maybe 25 ? ) changes from day to day - it's a "mood thing" with me. I tend to favor lenses that do not make coldly, clinically perfect images.

My favorite today is an SLR Magik 23mm that I just bought (got it yesterday) here from forum member rhl-oregon. Let's see how long before I switch my opinion to another favorite.

 

[adamr1699]

I definitely don't have a single favorite lens. They all have different characteristics that make them great to me. For example I love the colors and the rendering of the Nikkor 28mm f/2 pre-ai, and the Rollei Sonnar 40mm 2.8 M lens is one of the best handling lenses ive every used, not to mention the great OOF quality, and the Nikkor 105 f/2.5 ltm or f mount is an amazing portrait lens.....

 

[narsuitus]

what goes into deciding which is a favourite lens?"

Early in my career, I decided that the 35mm focal length on a 35mm camera was my favorite. With it, I could capture about 50% of the images I needed to capture.

In addition to the 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor on my Nikon SLR and the 35mm f/1.4 Zeiss on my Leitz 35mm rangefinder, I also use the 23mm f/1.4 on my Fuji APS-C mirrorless digital.


favorite lenses by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Summarit-M 35 2.5. Rendering on film and digital, bw and color; size and handling.

 

[icebear]

Until recently my 2/75 'cron was my least used lens.

About 2 month ago I got into a situation where a 50 was recommended but I switched my 75. The ability to fill the frame w/o getting too close to the subject paired with pretty spectacular results when printing BIG (24x36 ...inches😉) from full frame MM files, has this lens kind of stuck on my camera ever since. I still hate the 75mm frame "lines", corners that is.🙄

 

[maddoc]

40mm f/2.0 Summicron-C. Perfect combination of size, handling and performance. All my others lenses excel in the one or other way but the Summicron-C has become my to-go lens for me.

 

[michaelwj]

Easy, just compute the favorite factor (F);

F = 2E x R

where E = enjoyment of use, R equals quality of results.

(the factor of 2 (2E) is because the enjoyment of use is twice as important as the quality of results - almost all lenses deliver quality results)

 

[Dogman]

Joe's question, "What criteria do you use to determine a favorite (lens)?"

Utility and focal length are at the top of my list. Focal length is self explanatory. Utility is subjective. For me, utility involves handling, mechanical/electronic functioning, size, weight and optical characteristics.

My favorite focal lengths are 35mm and 50mm equivalents--I use these focal lengths about 50/50 so I can't really decide one is more favorite over the other. Optically, both the Fujinon 23/1.4 and 35/1.4 have the most pleasing results to my eyes. But both the Fujinon 23/2 and 35/2 are better handling and have better autofocus. And then there's the 23mm lens on the X100 series--it has to be considered one of the 35mm equivalent favorites.

 

[charjohncarter]

I find emotional attachment is big on my list. My Elmar f3.5 50mm I've had for 53years just always feels right with great results. The same goes for my Pentax f1.4 50mm (owned for 48 years). Even though I have a wonderful in everyway that I like a f2.0 35mm Pentax FA (6-7 years), it wouldn't call it a 'favorite.'