Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/04/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 8:12 PM -0500 4/30/00, Robert Meier wrote: >>In the end, for architecture and general shooting this is still the PC lens >>that gets used the most due to it's focal length. 28 is quite useable, but >>35mm is only marginally useful. > >This is an absurd statement: which focal length is most useful depends >entirely on the height of the building to be photographed and the distance >one can photograph from. A 35mm PC lens is perfect for a 3-5 story building >from across the street. A 24mm lens in that situation would be unusable. Gee... so sorry, so sorry, I abase myself! ;-) This was based on my experience, and certainly the 35 has its uses. It's just that in many years of architectural photography, I've generally use the wider lenses more. As for this theoretical 3-5 storey building; it would also depend on how wide it is, what the foreground is and what the width of the street is. A 35 might easily not be wide enough. If it is wide enough, you can usually still use a 24 (admittedly not in every instance). If it is safe to go stand in the middle of the street for a half minute, it would also be possible to fill the frame with the building elevation in that manner. On the other hand, if the distance across the road is too close to be able to get everything in that you want to, you just can't do it with a 35. Also, the 24 is useable with the 1.4 and 2x converters from Canon, so you can have a 34 or 48mm lens with even better shift characteristics than any 35PC with quite good quality, although not as good as the best 35 on its own. On the sum of these points, the 24 still is the most useful lens. I have (and use) the 24TS, the two Nikon PC's and an older 35TS. The 24 and the 28 get used the most, and are the lenses that have taken the shots that have made the most money for me in 35mm. The 35TS will probably go, if I can find a buyer for it. Optically, its the best PC lens I have. * Henning J. Wulff /|\ Wulff Photography & Design /###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com |[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com