Changing lenses

[Godfrey]

The average lens I choose most hasn't changed much in many years ... typically about a 40mm FoV on 35mm format, and about a 55-60 FoV on APS-C format. The same focal length works well for both (40mm), so maybe it's that I like the focal length and just work with whatever the cameras do in cropping it.

I do go through periods of using longer and shorter lenses. But it seems to always cycle back to that 40mm in the end.

[sepiareverb]

I shot with a 28 by far the most for a long time (20 years almost), but find a 35 on my camera about equally often these days.

[Morry Katz]

What an interesting thread. My favourite lens used to be the 90 'cron. Now it's the 50 and a 35mm Biogon. Strange how vision changes as you get older. (I'm 79 and have just had cataract surgery! Fantastic results.
Cheers!

[mdarnton]

For years all I needed was a 28 and a 50. Within the last few months a 24 has taken over from the 28, and sometimes I carry a 35 instead of a 50.

[hausen]

I have always been a 50 guy but bought a 28 Summicron over the weekend and went out walking with it for a few hours and was stunned how we just clicked. Everything I saw seemed to fit between the framelines. Was almost surreal experience. Maybe 28mm is now my 'go to' focal length?

[AndySig]

I simply couldn't see the point of wide angle lenses when I first started taking an interest in photography. Now my number one lens is my 35 mm Summaron. It suits most of the things I want to take pictures of. However, I find that the intensive or predominant use of one lens tends to help precisely define when another lens is a must, so I find that the 35mm lens is followed (in order) by 50 mm and 19 mm. It is only on rare occasions that I use the 90mm. If I needed anything longer, I would be reaching for my SLR (and I don't think I've taken a picture with that for about 4 years now).

The whole process of arriving at a predominantly used lens perhaps represents a journey to the destination of how we each see things as individuals as opposed to wanting to mimic the (often dramatic and extreme) shots of others which we get to see in magazines like National Geographic.

[kanzlr]

I went with wider lenses over the years, now preferring a 28 or 35mm lens (or a 28mm on APS-C) most of the time.

Except on RFs where I can shoot 50ies. Must be because you see outside the frame with them.

[Paul Jenkin]

As most of my photography used to be landscapes, I was always a wide angle shooter. However, the older I get, the more convinced I am that wide angle lenses are more use when it comes to intimate street shooting and interiors as, on my Hasselblad 500c/m, I use my 80mm and 150mm lenses as much as I use my 40mm CF FLE.

I've still got wide angles for my 35mm rigs (though nothing wider than a 24mm) but my rangefinder "daily" kit tends to be my M6TTL (or M4-P) and 28mm f2.8 Elmarit-M and 50mm f2 Summicron-M.

I have a Canon 35mm f2.8 LTM and Leica 9cm f4 Elmar but these tend to sit in the cupboard - only coming out when I don't want to leave any shots to chance. If I could only have one lens, I would go for a 35mm f2 Summicron-M as it's a great all-rounder, wide - but not too wide. As it is, I'm perfectly happy with my ligtweight 2 lens set up.

[cjbecker]

For me it has really always been a 50 in 35 and 80 in 6x6. I have tried to use a 35 (35) or 50 (6x6) as my normal lens but it just does not work out. I also never use anything longer then a normal lens though.

[FrankS]

The older I get, the wider I get.

[Dirk]

I used to be a wide angle guy (mostly 20, 24 and 28). Now almost all I do is 50mm. Which is great, as there so many wonderful and cheap 50's out there.