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What is Your Favorite or Most Used Focal Length?


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7 hours ago, Matt Ashmore said:

90% of the time, I have my AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR on my camera... a cheap lens which I believe was sold as a kit lens with some Nikon models but it's what I can afford and it does the job. Occasionally it gets swapped out for my nifty-fifty but as many of the photos I take are opportunistic as I am walking around somewhere, having the zoom over the prime lens is helpful.

I used that for a long time - a great lens.

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My standard wandering-around setup is two cameras, one with a 10-24mm, the other 18-200. 
That really means I don't have to change lenses at all.

The first is used mostly at 10mm.

 

I have recently acquired a 50mm f1.4 for when the light is low. It is VERY odd using a fixed focus lens after geting so used to zooms.

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9 hours ago, wiskerke said:

I don't keep track of the lens on my camera. However I do keep track of the cameras, lenses and focal length of the images that have sold.

Last week I added up what my RX100 I and II had earned me on Alamy. (Because of a very steep repair estimate of the II.) 

Really useful exercise: 5155 gross so far. Net is less than half because of some distribution and the money that gets lost in translation.

 

wim

 

Wim, my guess is because that RX100 is always with you?  That's why I like the small Fujis.  One tends to take more images if one has a camera available. :P  My little, old Fuji X-E2 is always with me in the car.  My Nikon D500 is not, so I tend to shoot more with the Fuji.

 

Rick

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2 hours ago, Phil Robinson said:

My standard wandering-around setup is two cameras, one with a 10-24mm, the other 18-200. 
That really means I don't have to change lenses at all.

The first is used mostly at 10mm.

 

I have recently acquired a 50mm f1.4 for when the light is low. It is VERY odd using a fixed focus lens after geting so used to zooms.

 

Phil, it does feel odd, doesn't it.  I have shot zooms for over 40 years and never quite liked shooting with primes.  I've never enjoyed changing lenses.  In the film days it was constant worry about light leak and now it is dust and grime on the sensor.

 

A while back we took a short 3 day vacation to the beach, Destin Florida, and I rented a 24mm f1.8G Nikkor to go on my D500, giving me a 35mm (equiv) lens.  That was all I took, on purpose.  I wanted to challenge myself.  It was refreshing to have such a small lens on the camera.  I had a great time with it and got some really nice shots.  It was limiting in some ways, but in other ways it sort of freed me up to force myself into a "creativity" mode.  Some of the images have made it into my port here.

 

I think to shoot for stock, as a business, I would always have to go with my 18-55mm f2.8-4 OIS but for fun I would like to try the just one prime again.

 

Rick 

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6 minutes ago, Rick Lewis said:

 

Wim, my guess is because that RX100 is always with you?  That's why I like the small Fujis.  One tends to take more images if one has a camera available. :P  My little, old Fuji X-E2 is always with me in the car.  My Nikon D500 is not, so I tend to shoot more with the Fuji.

 

Rick

 

That was my first thought as well.

I have to do a count by image yet.

 

I only have done a count by $$:

Half the amount was using the RX in a way that my other cameras cannot.

Then a quarter was using it inconspicuously in a place where a full size camera was either forbidden or would have attracted unwanted attention.

The rest is the always with you factor. However a couple of times it was deliberate to test out if it was at all do-able to go say to Paris for a couple of days without a full kit.

 

wim

 

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My favorite glass and the one that I make 80% of my money on, now that I am doing corporate photography is my

70-200 NIKKOR f4 VR on full frame NIKON bodies.  I used my 80-200 f2.8 for decades, it was heavy and outdated.  The new (new to me) f4 is

light and sharp and with digital the loss of a stop is no big deal.  I will also add that the TOKINA 16-28 f2.8 is a nice piece of glass for the money. 

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Got it, at last. Blame it on old age.

 

Most uses reads as follows  for all images on Alamy.

 

24mm = 332

10.4mm = 288

105mm = 236

200mm = 194

 

Don't know where the 10.4 comes from??******

 

******Found it!  The wide end of the built in zoom on my Sony RX100.

 

Allan

 

 

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On a full frame Canon 5DS 50 megapixel in order of use.

 

(1) Prime 28mm F2
(2) Zoom 70-200mm F4 zoomed to 200MM
(3) Prime 50MM F2 macro, for general photography, but not in macro mode.

1,2,3 are my basic walk around kit for general photography, about 90% of the time.

 

I will occasionally add to that kit, depending on expectations, with:

(4) Prime 17mm for big city downtown canyons, or big sky country. Often I will use 28mm in panorama mode instead of 17mm.
(5) Prime 100MM macro for actual macro photography, sometimes I will use 200MM zoom with extension tubes instead. I always carry extension tubes in basic kit because they are lightweight.
(6) Prime 400MM that I use about once a year, and would not replace if I lost it.

 

Most of my shots are setups, so I do not feel the need for zooms, although the 70-200 zoom is useful for the occasional wider than 200mm shot. I can also crop the primes to intermediate focal lengths or extent the 200mm to 300mm and still maintain a 20 megapixel file size out of the original 50 megapixel file size.

 

The prime 28MM F2 and 50MM F2 macro combined weigh slightly less, and take up less space, than that great heavy honking 24-70mm F2.8 I used to use.

 

If I had unlimited funds I might buy a 24mm tilt shift lens, but I have no trouble working around that function using photoshop. I probably would not carry it around anyway.

 

Lenses 2, 5, 6 are autofocus. I miss autofocus on the primes, which are not.

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Following on from the above (and not wishing to steal the thread) I did another check on how many camera bodies I have used since starting with Alamy in late 2008. Not in chronological order they are as follows.

 

Canon EOS 20D              At the time it was necessary to uprez files from this camera to meet Alamy requirements. Hence my only being a one star general.

Canon EOS 5D mk 2      This camera seems to have been used the most as it shows more images on Alamy than any other.

Canon EOS 50D              Used to give perceived increase in focal length of lenses used on 5D.

Canon EOS 60D              Upgrade for 50D. Why? I can't remember.

Canon Powershot G1X  My first so called pocket camera. Not used that much.

Olympus E-P2                  Hated the micro 4/3rds from the start.

Sony RX10 mk1               Bought on a whim. (NOT wim). Not happy with size and weight and small V/Finder.

Fuji X-T1  (Two bodies)  A different lens on each body as almost permanent fixtures. Lot of grief with QC and Fuji over these.

Fuji X-E3                           And subsequently-------.

Fuji X100T                       -----as replacement. Rather liked the 100T but that flippin' sensor again.

Leica M9                          WOW!  Unfortunately it was not used sufficiently to warrant keeping it.

Sony RX100                     Great camera. Still use it to this day.

Nikon D750                      Another great camera but after a couple of years lugging the heavy kit around and age creeping on traded in for lighter kit.

Sony RX100  mk3           Bought it to complement original mk1 and because Sony had improved the processing algorithm and I wanted an eye level V/Finder too.

Sony a6000 (Two bodies) A lens permanently attached to each body giving wide 10mm through 70mm. (FF 15 - 105) as walk about kit when I did not wish to be burdened with heavier kit.

Sony a7 mk2                    Latest and last acquisition.

 

Obviously I have not kept all these bodies and most were sold or traded in. That's a lot of kit in 9 years. I must have GAS.:)

 

Allan

 

 

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My most frequently used lens is the 24-105mm lens on the full frame Canon 5D3 - I would guess that the vast majority of the images are taken at the wide angle end

 

Kumar (the Doc one)

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I often look at which lens(s) are used most and  LightRoom gives you a good guide - especially if you are looking at upgrades and replacements

 

Looking over the past two years it is a rough even spread between 24 - 70 mm, 70 - 200 mm and the 200 - 400 mm and in that order on Nikon D3

 

 

 

 

 

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@Betty LaRue, do you find much use for the Fuji 56mm f1.2 lens in your stock work?  My favorite focal length is right around 35mm, or 24mm on a crop sensor camera, but after looking at all the images from 2017 I noticed a large number were at the 85mm, or 55mm on a crop sensor camera.

 

So, without realizing it, I am finding a use for that focal length.  I've read some very good things about the Fuji 56mm lens and would not mind keeping it on a second body with me.  That 18-55mm kit lens is hard to beat for stock and would stay on another body.  

 

If you do use it, what generally are you using it for?  Close up work, or street scenes, or creative set ups etc...?  I would be very interested to hear your experience with it.

 

Rick

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Canon 5D classic - dust magnet, kept me almost permanently in the "sin bin" - traded for....

Canon 5D2 - love it. 10 years old and still use it a lot.

Panasonic GX1 - now being used by my teen daughter. Responsible for 50% of my total sales.

Fuji X-E1 and subsequently Fuji X-T1 - tried to love them but failed. 

Leica M240 - from my dead cold hands...... 

Sony RX1004 - never leave the house without it. 

Sony A7r 36mp. Second hand. New to me, best $500 I've ever spent. 

 

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Broadening this to cameras used since joining Alamy

 

Canon 20D sold and Canon (dust magnet) used 5D bought, sold and used  5D II bought. Still like and use it, but far too heavy for carting around. Built like a tank.

 

Used Canon 450D bought to make use of 20D lenses, but hardly used, stupid purchase!

 

Sony NEX6 worked to death, replaced by Sony A6500.

 

Change lenses after virtually every shot, very little problem with dust on Sony sensor.

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7 hours ago, ReeRay said:

Canon 5D classic - dust magnet, kept me almost permanently in the "sin bin" - traded for....

Canon 5D2 - love it. 10 years old and still use it a lot.

Panasonic GX1 - now being used by my teen daughter. Responsible for 50% of my total sales.

Fuji X-E1 and subsequently Fuji X-T1 - tried to love them but failed. 

Leica M240 - from my dead cold hands...... 

Sony RX1004 - never leave the house without it. 

Sony A7r 36mp. Second hand. New to me, best $500 I've ever spent. 

 

 

I've gone a similar route.

 

Canon 5D - great camera, traded in for a

Canon 5d MK II - still got it over 10 years later, used as back up

Canon 5d MK III - second hand, current, very good 

Fuji X-T1 - tried to love it but failed too, sold

Sony RX100 Mk II - fantastic carry around camera

 

John.

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11 hours ago, Rick Lewis said:

@Betty LaRue, do you find much use for the Fuji 56mm f1.2 lens in your stock work?  My favorite focal length is right around 35mm, or 24mm on a crop sensor camera, but after looking at all the images from 2017 I noticed a large number were at the 85mm, or 55mm on a crop sensor camera.

 

So, without realizing it, I am finding a use for that focal length.  I've read some very good things about the Fuji 56mm lens and would not mind keeping it on a second body with me.  That 18-55mm kit lens is hard to beat for stock and would stay on another body.  

 

If you do use it, what generally are you using it for?  Close up work, or street scenes, or creative set ups etc...?  I would be very interested to hear your experience with it.

 

Rick

I do love the 56, Rick, but my use of it is largely confined to portraits or general people shots indoors because of separation and speed. Second has been tabletop,  with a lot of those food.

I did take it out for outdoors once, but those were largely shooting people doing things near water. It has always performed well at anything I ask, but shines with people. While it’s not my most used for stock, (18-135 is) I would never in a million years sell it.

Betty

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Shooting birds was a big thing for me, and my 100-400 Nikor didn’t have the reach as it did with a crop camera.

Landscapes aren’t really my thing because my countryside isn’t very pretty, so I didn’t need the resolution.

36 mp is unforgiving, and I prefer to hand hold.  Camera shake, even the tiniest bit, was magnified. My bad.

I had more failures with that camera. I take that back, my D7000 rendered softer images and I tried to push through marginal images that caused failures, my bad. So those two were a draw.

There was something about the color rendering that I didn’t like, whereas when I got the D7000 I instantly loved the color rendering. I’m big on color rendering where some might not be.

The camera was heavy and it was necessary to have it on my monopod a lot because the weight hurt my hands. See preferring to hand hold. :)

My X-T2 has 24mp, perfect. Room to crop but not so much a hard drive hog.

The T2, even with my 100-400, I can hand hold. It’s so much lighter, or seems so.

I love the color rendering of Fuji.

The Fuji lenses are excellent, although my 105 Nikor was my favorite all-time lens. My 24-70 Nikor froze up after the warranty expired.

 

As you see, probably most of my nits were my fault, but not the color rendering or lack of reach for my particular kind of shooting. Each photographer has their own agenda, so what is important to me, may not be for someone else. I have seen the posts of those who love the D800. 

To me, it is a man’s camera, not so much a woman’s. I’m sure some women love it, but weight is an issue. At least for me.

Betty

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