Thought I would start up a bit of a discussion if anyone is interested in the topic of Lens Focal Length.

Lens focal lengths fall into three general and very broad categories:

Standard - Human eye equivalent, or 'center field'. For a 35mm focal format camera that is 50mm lens

Wide Angle - These are lenses with shorter focal lengths and a wider angle of view. Anything that has 35mm focal length or less falls into this category.

Long (telephoto) - Lenses that have a narrower field of view and a longer photo length are known as telephotos.

I have been practicing photography on an amateur level since my second year of Fine Arts and Visual Communications in college (almost five years now I think), and during this time I have used exclusively 35mm format so I can't really discuss any other format with any confidence. However I just wanted to get everyone's take on the subject of focal lengths and more importantly preferred lens for their type of photography.

I personally prefer the wider angle shots and use 28-50mm most often, but this is largely due to the subjects of my photographs being landscapes or architecture.

What do you guys prefer, or what are you most comfortable with?

I would like to get into some fine art portraiture so I imagine my preferences will change to that of 80-120mm lens but that wont be for a bit yet. (must find willing and free models for now)

I prefer my telephoto lenses for just about everything. The lense I use most is my Nikkor 24-120 but most of the time I have it at 90+ (I really recommend this lense to any Nikon user, it's versatility is unparalleled.)

I really like my 80-200 Nikkor, but for alot of the things I like to shoot I find it too short. I can't afford a 400mm/2.8 at the moment ($10K) and building a darkroom is more important to me right now anyway, so I got a 2X teleconverter.

I really need a 200mm for my Pentax 67, the 90mm is good, but I think I'd get a better portrait from the 200. Medium format is an incredibly different perspective, and I'm having some trouble adjusting. The 67 format is not only bigger, but it seems I'm shooting with a longer focal length lense than the comperable 35mm....What I'm trying to get at is my 90mm 67 lense shoots like it has a longer focal length than my Nikkor lenses at 90mm.

Anyway...telephoto is the lense for me.

I've only used the standard 35mm that comes with my old Nikon FE. I'm, as everyone knows, on the look out for a good deal on an F80 body, which is why I like the idea of this thread as I'll be able to get a better idea of which lenses to purcahse when I finally get the F80. I like the idea of using telephoto lenses because I plan to go to the local zoo on a nice day and get some nice framed close up of exotic animals (I can't exactly afford a safari!) especially big cats.

I recently read up on people using there telescopes with their cameras. Camera stores now sell converters that allow you to hook up most SLRs to your telescopes. A decent telescope is the equivalent to a 2000mm lense, as I'm told. These converters are around $50 I think...

I'd love to get into landscape photography as well, so wide angles will definitely be an investment I make in the future. It won't be for a while though, till I get back to Canada, the landscape here in the U.K are boring, except maybe way up north.

Most of my photos are taken with a 55mm f1.8 (all fixed lenses). Next most used is a 200mm f4 sometimes with a 2x teleconverter for those telephoto shots. Lastly would be my 28mm f2.8.

I would say 65% of my shots are taken with the 55mm, 30% with the 200mm and 5% with the 28mm (a least so far).

I use the 55mm with extension tubes for close-up shots. The 55mm is also a very fast lens (f1.8) so it's good in low light.

The 200mm is good for candid shots of people or animals and cropping disruptive elements out of shots.

My camera is so old they don't make a useful zoom lens for it so I can't comment on them.

Originally posted by deep_thought

I'd love to get into landscape photography as well; so wide angles will definitely be an investment I make in the future. It won't be for a while though, till I get back to Canada, the landscape here in the U.K are boring, except maybe way up north.

Landscapes in the UK boring? Where are you living man!
I grew up in Cornwall and the southwest and visited Scotland a couple of times when I was little and there are lots of kick ass landscapes. You got moors with neat bracken & old mine buildings; stone circles and what not, then there are seaside cliffs and old villages. Stuff you would either never find here in Canada or only on the east coast (which ironically is one of the only parts of Canada which I haven’t been to). You may not think much of the UK scenery but consider it a challenge.:) (Sorry about the rant, just dying to get back over there with my wife who has never been anywhere)
:)


freakyclean

Haha, no problem. I think it was more of a rant on my behalf. I lived in the Fraser Valley for over 10 years, so I'm used to mountains, forests, moutain lions and racoons eating your garbage at night, white water rapids, etc

I miss it so much, that I take it out on this country I think. I live in the south west right now, bout 10 minutes from the coast, which is another first, never swam in saltwater before, used to fresh water rapids.

Anyways, back to the lense discussion ;)

I also like to use 'macro' features of my zoom on occasion however I havent been doing too much of that lately.

Yeah, from having a Sigma 28-80 f3.5 general purpose lens I would say that most of the time i have the lens wide open (28mm) and try to go for more panoramic shots.

While i was on St. Johns Is i decided to invest in a Tokina 20-35mm with the intention of using it for pulling the side focus into the picture in order to push the center of the photo further away but increase interest in the item being photographed (man i suck at explaining whats in my head).

So most of my photography is done in the 20-45mm range depending on the occasion.
I have a 50mm f1.4 prime for when i do work with concerts and bands.
I also have a 135mm f1.8 prime for portraits when i get the time, this is currently in for repair.
Both of them are Nikon.

I do mostly architechtural photography, but also some abstract and general interest.