So, what lenses do you own and why?

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

Just thought I would start this thread with regards to what lenses everyone is using, I seem to have started a small collection already of lenses ranging from a 44mm Helios M42 lens to a 300mm Tair lens lol I thought I would start this thread as I know there are a few pro photographers on here and indeed other rather clued up individuals who have a nice collection of lenses at home.

I thought that this would be a good thread to have a discussion around what lenses you normally use, for what photo opportunity and why you chose that lens. Simply due to the fact that someone might say: "I use this lens because xxxxxxx, its not a very common lens but its amazing" and there might be someone else on here who might not have heard of a certain lens that might be perfect for them.

I have just watched a youtube video about a semi pro photographer who has basically switched to vintage lenses on his DSLR on photo shoots as back in the 70s and 80s lenses were made properly and were made to last. These lenses can still be used fine on modern DSLRs (oh no! You can't use the auto setting!)

I was personally wondering if there are any lenses I should aim to perhaps get my hands on at some point, I have a crop sensor DSLR so I guess I need a 35mm lens to then own a '50mm prime' lens due to the crop. I might still change to a full frame at some point but I have a selection of 35mm SLRs now which I can use with what I deem 'proper' lenses that are fully manual and don't have any witchcraft inside them to move stuff electronically lol its the person behind the camera who is the most important, so I would want to be in control of everything in the image myself so manual is the way to go

Slight tangent there lol but back to the topic! What lenses do you own and why? Also are there any lenses that you have heard of that others may not have?

 

[Larry Bolch]

During film days, after the day's work was done, I and pretty much every other shooter I knew, carried a compact rangefinder camera everywhere. They usually had a fast, wide-normal lens built in. The Fuji X100 with its 35mm f/2.0 lens fills that role today. The 35mm is a wide-normal and perhaps the most versatile focal length of all.

The classic photojournalist's kit was a 28mm (generally, though a 24mm or 35mm might be substituted), a 50mm normal and a 90mm short telephoto. The normal lens most closely matches the perspective of the human eye, while the wide-angle exaggerates perspective and the longer lens compresses it. Of course, the wide-angle lens also covers a wider selection of content, making it possible to relate a subject to their environment. The 90mm lens allows a pleasant perspective for head-shots without being so long that there is a feeling of detachment. Fujifilm understood this and these were the lenses they initially offered with the X-Pro1.

My traveling kit with the full-frame D700 is based upon being able to react to the unexpected and having to change lenses as infrequently as possible. The go-to lens is a 28-300mm zoom with a range of view from 8° to 74°. The second lens, 14-24mm extends this to 84° to 114°. While the 28-300mm covers most subjects more than adequately, the 14-24mm is great with architecture—specially interiors—and subjects where I want to emphasize the vastness of the scene. These two lenses are both big and heavy, as is the D700 body. I generally carry Nikon’s f/1.8 50mm prime lens which is very sharp and does the same job on the Nikon as the normal does on the XP1 as a walkin’-’round lens.

I also have a number of Nikon lenses left over from the film era. My 28mm f/4.0 PC-Nikkor is a perspective control lens that shifts off centre in any direction. It was great for keeping vertical lines straight when photographing buildings, able to crop out distracting foregrounds or backgrounds, and very good for environmental portraiture. My 55mm f/2.8 MicroNikkor is a superb normal lens, with the ability to focus to 1:1 for extreme close ups, while maintaining the highest possible corrections. There is also a Spiratone f/4.0 100mm soft-focus lens. It is a simple one-element lens in a focusing mount with about every aberration known to optics. The images it produces have a look that could only be called “unique”.

My f/1.8 105mm Nikkor was primarily purchased for concert photography for record companies. I have since found its great sharpness and focal length very useful for shooting series of exposures that are then stitched together for highly detailed panoramas. I have an f/3.0 200mm Vivitar Series I lens that was also used for concert photography. Finally, I have a 600mm f/8.0 (t/11.0) mirror lens made by Perkin Elmer—who made the Hubble Space Telescope—purchased for a single assignment. It is capable of greatly compressing perspective, and the assignment was to get shots of signs in Las Vegas, as though they were nearly all on the same plane. I have used it a bit for wildlife and street photography as well.

These are all usable for digital and film photography. I also have quite a bit of medium-format film equipment, and similar lenses purchased for similar purposes. No idea how many lenses are in the arsenal in total.

 

[David Mitchell]

Thanks Larry for your indepth chat through your lenses, it seems you have massed a good collection there, I guess with a crop sensor DSLR having a wide angle lens would be rather expensive due to the crop factor. I would need an 18mm lens to get the same view as a 28mm lens on your D700 which I am guessing is rather expensive lol. Ah! I have just realised something, my kit lens that came with my camera is a 18-55mm, although its a DX lens, hmm I guess they were going for a suitible wide lens to just longer than a standard prime lens.

That single lens Spiratone sounds interesting, I guess its the same as some of my older cameras with a single lens which I guess gives a certain distinctive look to a photo.

I have just taken my Fujica ST605N out over the weekend to take some shots on a walk, its a 50mm and due to it being a 'full frame' ie 35mm camera, it was really useful to get some nice shots of landscapes. Im not really into street photography but more about larger photos and landscapes it seems. I did screw on some macro lens adaptors onto my Nikon E series lens which was a 75mm equivilent on my D3100, such a shallow depth of field but highly magnified lol

 

[Larry Bolch]

Thanks Larry for your indepth chat through your lenses, it seems you have massed a good collection there, I guess with a crop sensor DSLR having a wide angle lens would be rather expensive due to the crop factor. I would need an 18mm lens to get the same view as a 28mm lens on your D700 which I am guessing is rather expensive lol. Ah! I have just realised something, my kit lens that came with my camera is a 18-55mm, although its a DX lens, hmm I guess they were going for a suitible wide lens to just longer than a standard prime lens.

In the initial offering by Fuji, the 18mm f/2.0 and 35mm f/1.4 were both about $600 Cdn., while the 60mm f/2.4 macro was $650. The 18mm is very useful, but I have found myself wanting a shorter lens on many shots. Within a month and a half, there will be a 14mm Fujinon f/2.8 for $900 (21mm equivalent), but Zeiss has promised a 12mm f/2.8 (18mm equ.) and Fuji has a f/4.0 10-24mm zoom (15-36mm) in the works for next year. While I do not like the bulk and weight of my f/2.8 14-24mm lens on the D700, I do greatly love the extreme wide angle capability.

I may hang back a bit and not immediately go for the 14mm Fujinon, considering the other two as well. The Zeiss will probably be way above $1,000, but I really like the 18mm focal length and my medium format Zeiss lenses have always impressed me. On the other hand, the 10-24mm will cover a very useful range and be far smaller and lighter than the Nikon zoom. The loss of 1.0EV (f/4.0 vs f/2.8) is of no consequence, considering the superb high-ISO performance of the camera. Before someone starts chanting "Bokeh, Bokeh, Bokeh!" at 10mm depth of field is nearly infinite even when wide-open.

 

[Pete Askew]

I own far more lenses than I could list (and probably some I've forgotten) that cover everything from 35mm range finders up to 10x8 and larger cameras. However, over the last year or two there are a few that seem to get used more than most. For example, my normal lens on the Leica is a 35mm Summilux f1:1.4 (although I made extensive use of a Zeiss 18mm in Venice recently). On the Nikon DSLRs the Nikkor 24-70 is often the lens of choice along with the 85mm f1:1.4. On MF (Hasselblad V) I guess the 60mm has seen most action and on 5x4" my favourite lens is, without doubt, the Cooke Soft Focus lens. That is all for personal work. For technical images it is a quite different selection and depends on the various requirements.

 

[Andy Boardman]

I have narrowed my lot down to a 28-105mm canon USM, a 35-135mm USM 17-40mm L a 35-350mm L & latest is a 18-200m IS for the 40D & just added a Nikon Manual 55mm F2.8 macro lens to have a play with on the Canon bodies as got an adapter ring, so going to hunt round for some older Nikkors now as built like a B S H & all very sharp to boot.

 

[Darren Turner]

I Use Canon 7D & Canon 40D

I currently own
Canon 18-55mm (Original Kit lens)
Canon 24-70mm F2.8 L Use this generally as my kit lens / everyday walk about lens LOVE IT
Canon 70-200mm F2.8 IS L For when I need a bit more reach LOVE IT
Sigma 10-20mm For times when my 24-70 just aint wide enough

I have also owned
Canon 17-85mm IS Use this as my kit lens but It eventually Broke
Canon 70-300mm IS Couldn’t afford L version, great lens, eventually upgraded to
Sigma 150-500mm Wanted Longer couldn't afford L version, very heavy and crap quality IMO so upgraded to
Canon 100-400mm IS L Could eventually afford L version awesome lens but 2 years later it never left house so I sold it


not sure i have the need for any other lens my current gear more that suits my need.

Daz

 

[Pete Askew]

I have narrowed my lot down to a 28-105mm canon USM, a 35-135mm USM 17-40mm L a 35-350mm L & latest is a 18-200m IS for the 40D & just added a Nikon Manual 55mm F2.8 macro lens to have a play with on the Canon bodies as got an adapter ring, so going to hunt round for some older Nikkors now as built like a B S H & all very sharp to boot.

The old Nikkor 135mm is a wonderful lump of glass. It has a real 'look' to it,

135mm f2.8 Nikkor-Q Auto & 135mm f3.5 Nikkor-Q Auto