21mm or 25mm?

[lawnpotter]

I will probably buy a bessa L and I want only one lens on it. I take pictures of lanscapes and enviromental portraits close up of people. Which one should I choose. Thanks

[rogue_designer]

I think both are too wide (for my preference).

For environmental portraits I usually work in the 28-35mm range.

[Kim Coxon]

For your use, I would go for the 25. The clicks on the focus scale make it a perfect match for the L. The 21 one is more difficult to use. It also depends if you are thinking of adding another lens. 21/28 makes a good combo as does 25/35.

Kim

[BillBlackwell]

I think both are too wide (for my preference). For environmental portraits I usually work in the 28-35mm range.

I would have to agree. No one is more a wide-angle freak than I, but based on your criteria I would say your options a too wide.

[Al Kaplan]

Getting anything wider than a 24 or 25 is going into some very strange territory. If you just "need the coverage" then the 21 will give it to you, but in order to use it effectively you need to be able to "see wide", even "think wide". You have to learn to deal with the strange perspectives. Circles, yes, even peoples' heads, near the corner of the frame get strangely distorted and look egg shaped.

Directional light might be striking subjects from a different angle from one side of the frame to another. Things near the camera look disproportionately large in relation to those in the background. Some people never learn to deal with these issues while others find them a joy and an inspiration. It's probably best to try and borrow an ultra wide angle lens and "play" with it for a week or two. Actually make prints. Don't just make your judgement based on the viewfinder image.

For about 30 years I had a 19mm LTM Canon and loved it. For the last few years I've been shooting with a 15mm VC Heliar and find myself carrying it with me everyplace. Many weeks I shoot with nothing else but the 15 on my Bessa L. Good luck.

[lawnpotter]

I like taking pictures of nice landscapes or scenes of interest with people in the foreground off to the side. I thought 21mm or 25mm wold be perfect for this. Maybe i used the wrong term "enviromental portraits"

[sepiareverb]

25 is as wide as I'd go, and even then you may get some distortion to people too near the corners. 28 controls this distortion better, 21 would be a stretch. :D

[lawnpotter]

I just read your reply after I did my last post. I actually own the ricoh grd2 28mm and am starting to use it more. But I really do want a film small camera and I am attracted to the bessa L .I only wanted one lens, so based on what you said Maybe for my pupuses as stated above, the 25mm might be better than the 21mm. I dont want to go to 35mm or more on the bessa cause i think the 25mm would be faster to shoot and more acurate focus with less thinking, Do you agree ? I also like the small size of the 25mm

[BillBlackwell]

For about 30 years I had a 19mm LTM Canon and loved it. For the last few years I've been shooting with a 15mm VC Heliar and find myself carrying it with me everyplace. Many weeks I shoot with nothing else but the 15 on my Bessa L. Good luck.

Well, well....

Great to see you spreading your pearls of wisdom here in this forum, Al.

I haven't seen your name in quite some time. Hope all is going well for you these days.

Kindest regards, Bill

[thomasw_]

can you see yourself getting both a 25 and 50? it is a great combination, as the 50 can do the close portraits in a jiffy :) The 25 FL is viewable by using the entire VF to approximate the fov; this method works perfectly on a ,58 magnification VF.

[lawnpotter]

I dont mind when people are a bit exagerated or distoted,I think it looks cool, but the problem is I found when I photograhed female freinds and I loved the pictures, 2 woman on different ocaisons said "I look fat, I dont like it" I never even thought of that. That is the problem with digital your subjects get to see the picture afterwards.I here the words "delete it" to often. Its fun though

[Al Kaplan]

Bill, fear not, you'll be seeing a lot more of me and what you so kindly refer to as my "pearls of wisdom" now that I've decided that if the swine don't want me around their place I'll cast my pearls elswhere.

I haven't used the 25mm VC lens myself, but at various times I've owned and used a 25mm Zeiss Jena Flektagon and a 24mm Vivitar, both on SLR's. I was happy with the results, wide enough to be w-i-d-e but not too much distortion to contend with. That VC lens is scale focus only so the lack of a rangefinder is no big deal. Depth of field is so great that you don't need to do any critical refocussing shot to shot. I always just guessed about where to set the 19mm Canon and my 15 spends so much time set at one meter that the mount has become stiff! The photos look nice and sharp, though. Here's a recent 15mm shot at f/8 with the focus at one meter:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_b7J54W1JOoc/R5Khg3tnYzI/AAAAAAAAAzE/31z35KbkkQc/s1600-h/1.jpg

[whitecat]

I would go the 25mm. I have both, and while a fine lens, the 21 is harder to use.

[BillBlackwell]

Bill, fear not, you'll be seeing a lot more of me and what you so kindly refer to as my "pearls of wisdom" now that I've decided that if the swine don't want me around their place I'll cast my pearls elsewhere.

I believe you'll find yourself quite welcome here.

They seem to put up with me just fine and you have so much more to offer.

There isn't much happening in that "other" forum these days anyway.

[lawnpotter]

that picture of yours is the style of portraits I like to take, usually I have the people looking towards me though. I like your picture, but 15mm may be a bit radical if I only want one lens on the Bessa L. So based on the feed back here, the 25mm could be the right lens for me and the Bessa L. Thanks everyone

[Al Kaplan]

Lawnpotter, that photo of the crazy looking guy with the shaggy mop of hair is an "environmental self-portrait", holding the camera in one hand or the other, composing me with the background after a quick glance over my shoulder, and assuming a pose and facial expression that I think might work. No mirror involved! There are a lot more of them on my blog, along with some other stuff, and the blog has links to some portfolios that include still more of them. I really should try a different lens for a week or so, maybe find myself a pretty girl to photograph, and stay out of my pix for awhile...
http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com/

[bigdog]

If I had to choose just one lens leaning to the wide end, then 28mm would be my choice.

The 20mm should really be thought of as a "close-up" lens. You really need something of interest shot up close in the front of the frame or something visually leading near to far in the image, because everything gets small in the image when you go that wide. I think the 20mm is really more of a specialty lens.

I do think the 24mm is the perfect landscape lens and would get more use than the 20mm, but if you had to choose just one lens for wide angle then 28mm would probably be the most versatile. I think either lens stopped down a few stops will give you plenty of depth of field. The lens that I have parked on my R2a for now is a 35mm Ultron 1.7 and even that focal length gives me plenty of room for accurate focus at moderate apertures.

[lawnpotter]

that self portrait of you is great. If however you want a pretty girl to photograph you can do what I did. I rent out 2 of my rooms to ESL students usually from Korea or Japan. Right now I have two woman in there late 20s. I take them sight seeing and the Korean girl loves to be photographed, she likes to borrow my digital cause its fast, I get my camera back and shes taken 10 pictures of herself.

[Al Kaplan]

Lawnpotter, that sounds great! I'm living all alone in a three bedroom house within a mile or two of four colleges and universities. I even have a working B&W darkroom. I'd love to be renting out a room to an ESL student or any other kind. How do you find them?

[lawnpotter]

I sent you a message with info but I dont no if it worked, let me know if you didnt get it. Thanks

[Al Kaplan]

Lawnpotter ~ So far no message arrived. email me: preacherpop42 (at) aol (dot) com

[lawnpotter]

I emailed you.

[Al Kaplan]

Got it. Thanks.

[lawnpotter]

dont tell me the 25mm is great lens and then show me an awsome picture taken with the 21mm, thats not fair, have you seen my bank acount? However you are right, there is no best lens. I am thinking now the 25mm is the one I want now. however, it seems hard to find new. I found a silver one, but I prefer black cameras generally. I may hold off and see if I can find a Black one. As a side thought, I read here someone thought silver cameras are less intimidating for street shooting. I always thought it would be the other way around. Thanks for the reply

[elude]

I think Sieff's prouved everything can be done with a 21. Be creative and follow your guts! I'm going for a 21 myself, mostly for indoor portraits. I have a 50 for all I seek outdoors :)