oben_c Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Hi all, Just wondering whether any one else has noticed any change in their focal length preferences since shooting a 1.6x camera. I was always a 40-50mm person on 35mm film not straying for too long from the standard lens 90% of the time. Since I've been using a 20D, I first noticed that I was using the 40mm end of the 17-40mm pretty consistently. Then I got a 50mm f1.4 which relegated the 17-40mm to the storage crate. And now an 85mm f1.2 has dominated the time. I still like the view between 50mm and 85mm on the 20D. When I returned to some film shooting this weekend I found that 50mm was like a wide angle! I quickly put on a 90mm f2 macro and felt really comfortable with the field of view. It was almost standard for me. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it temporary? I really seem to have developed an internal 1.6x factor which I am trying to match in 35mm film. Weird. Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuppyDigs Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Nah, it's just old age reaing its ugly head. Your peripheral vision gradually decreases as you drag yo' butt down life's dirt road. Sounds like you're getting tunnel vision. Most younglings crave for wider lenses with a 1.6x crop factor, not the other way around. Sometimes the light’s all shining on me. Other times I can barely see. - Robert Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oben_c Posted February 26, 2005 Author Share Posted February 26, 2005 I suspect that while aging may be a component, my changing tastes in photography are playing a bigger part. I used to use a 21mm and 24mm shift lens quite frequently for landscape and architectural photography on film. The 20D made me a people photographer and I enjoy close face portraits etc. I think that single factor has changed me more than the 1.6x crop factor. Nevertheless before the rapid feedback loop the 20D gives I was never a big people photographer as you never knew what you had captured - blink, strange expressions etc. The focal length choice probably just reflects my changed preference to see closeups of heads etc. Thanks for the thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_unsworth1 Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Oddly enough I was thinking exactly the same thing myself. Since I started using a Canon 300D I've found that I've been using my Leica 50mm lens more than before when shooting with my M6. I still use the 35mm more, but the 50mm use has been creeping up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_man Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Being a dedicated 35mm user to date, this is exactly what I'm afraid of! 50mm like a wide angle - heresy! I love shooting at 20mm, so I would either have to "change my photographic eye" or invest in EF-S lenses which I couldn't then use on my 35mm bodies. Bring on affordable full frame digital... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzlymarmot Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 Sometimes I think the digital photography world view is closer to the video (as in TV) world view than the traditional 35mm film world view. For example on the television screen you often cut the top of someone's head off when recording video. Wide angle view is simulated with a panning action etc. Of course the other issue is one of optical perspective. The 17mm lens is just as unflattering to the human face on a full frame camera as it is on a 1.6 crop factor - thus if your "eye" likes a certain perspective it will like to use the same lenses no matter what the crop factor is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_larson1 Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 OH CRUD. I already like telephotos. Does that mean a 400/2.8 is in my near future? Gah. Time to remortgage the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitmstr Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 It didn't change anything for me. Though, I did feel a little claustrophobic going from my EOS3s/1vs to the 10D at first. But, after about a week or so I got used to the new viewfinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oben_c Posted February 26, 2005 Author Share Posted February 26, 2005 Hi Giampero, It's not the transition from 35mm film full frame to 20D that was disturbing. It was trying to go back! Try that some time after using the 10D and you may see what I mean. I find I'm liking tighter views and compositions. Like someone noted above I have plenty of photos with cropped tops of heads etc which have become oddly pleasing! I'm now finding that I want to get the same look shooting on film thus longer focal lengths than what I once used on film! Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbq Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 You just realized that covering a narrower angle of view gives many more possibilities from a single viewpoint, and makes it easier to keep things out of the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darklights Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Yup, changed mine. Old age has this habbit of fuzzing our vision, so we over compensate by using the lenses that get us "closer and clearer" views of what we used to see just fine as youngsters. Hmmm, come to think of it , maybe cornea transplants are comparable in cost to Canons' "L" lenses. LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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