We Need To Talk About Your Lens Choices

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Information We Need To Talk About Your Lens Choices

Title	:	We Need To Talk About Your Lens Choices
Lasting	:	9.02
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Views	:	53 rb

Thank you Absolutely agree, that the most important thing about a picture is to touch viewers feeling And using a right lens is just a part it I like the variety of your photo examples very much
Comment from : @Stories-in-Black-and-White

I don't like analysing things too much TBH, as I feel that it detracts from the fun and the ' mystique ' of photography, but for me a 35mm lens whether for my Leica M cameras or Nikon DSLRs is how I see the world around me in one glance I can work with 50, but I feel that I am always pushing myself with it, and I also use longer FLs if and when needed to suit the composition, but I don't walk around the streets with a 75mm or 85mm lens attached The funny thing is that with MF cameras I lean mor etowards the longer 100mm FL
Comment from : @lensman5762

What you say in this YouTube video - is so important! Indeed, on my travels to, particularly, camera clubs delivering my talks - I try to encourage photographers to just go out in the world with a lens that conveys ‘your vision’ But with a Prime Lens - NOT a zoom lens! Not one taker or tryout my challenge!brbrToday, very few photographers will venture out to the wide world with One Prime Lens, One Camera! I was lucky, from back in the day (80s) to start from this point! Basically, developing a vision and ‘seeing’ the landscape perspective through the chosen lens In my case it was the 21 mm followed by (when I could afford it) 135 mm lens! Such a valuable grounding to what followed in my ‘photographic career’!brbrExcellent suit of videos! Look forward to more ‘talking points’!
Comment from : @HJ-nh1wl

Thanks for the video As usual, you have given me information to think about One thing though, I don't have a personality
Comment from : @kenharnish5778

What about Stanley Kubrick my friend?
Comment from : @jackbarron8880

35mm or 28mm
Comment from : @jackbarron8880

I feel this is overthinking it f someone says 'meh' when we show them a photo the chances are that the composition, colour harmony (if in colour), light, expression, timing and so on are much bigger issues than the choice of focal length
Comment from : @xcx8646

This all seems to be under the assumption that photographers only use one single prime lens Nowadays, this is not the case There is of course one exception - 24mm on smartphones
Comment from : @simonpayne7994

Something I've noticed as I've become a better photographer (I'm never there btw) I've changed I was such an introvert and so uncertain, so I would use a telephoto (135mm) to isolate and simplify brbrI've gotten more confident, I've trained my mind to build a story around it I can widen out, and now, a 35mm rarely leaves my Xpro1
Comment from : @andychandler3992

Lot's of interesting thoughts but the "photograph" on the cover of the Frames magazine does nothing for me sorry
Comment from : @crissignori7482

Who's the photographer who made the photo in the thumbnail? Is it a Leica? 28mm?
Comment from : @DDZ516

35mm for intimate portraits
Comment from : @jackofblades6736

The black and whites of flowers are great!
Comment from : @marcjones7486

As your video alluded to at the start, much depends on what you are going to photograph I predominantly shoot wildlife and for that some distance is almost inevitable: either because moving to get up close and personal might frighten off the subject, or it might attack you - for example, shooting grizzly bears, moose or wolves that are among my favourite subjectsbrOn that theme another reason for choosing the right tool for the job, especially when shooting wild animals is the danger it puts the photographer in Years ago, I was travelling through the Canadian Trans Canada highway and came across a bunch of cars pulled off to the side of the road That meant that there was some wildlife in view When I investigated I saw a black bear with four cubs, which immediately suggested that she had two orphans as bears rarely give birth to more than two offspring They were browsing about 120m away from the road and a woman was throwing food to them to get them to come closer so she could get them on her cellphone She was encouraged by another couple using a camera with a pretty short FL lens The bears came within 10m of them while I was protesting at their behaviour They rejoined that they wanted to get a good shot to postbrThe problem is one cannot outrun a bear and even a black bear is dangerous and often fatal if it feels its cubs are in any way in danger I got back in the car just before a ranger pulled up When she saw what was going on she stopped that behaviour immediately, pulled out a shotgun and shot the female - with special soft pellets that would sting but not harm the bear The bears took off, and as she gave the offenders a citation for over $1,000, she explained that bating a bear would likely end badly for the bear and/or the human as bears would quickly associate humans with food She hated doing that to the bear - it was not its fault, but she had to make it avoid humansbrI have also seen people with the lenses that are not long enough getting very close to grizzlies, and they WILL eat you, or certainly tear you apart if startled or feel threatened My point is the lens is a tool that is specific to the job While it may be great to get intimate with human subjects, don't ever try it with wild animals
Comment from : @trevor9934

Yeah A good and an interesting approach I will change the lens on one of my DSLR's to wide angle but still shoot the same subjects that now use an 85mm on
Comment from : @geoffreylee6871

I don't believe that I ever saw one of Roger Deacon's films, but that 2 minute clip was gold!
Comment from : @noam65

If I had to choose and could only take one lens it would be a 40 mm 2 or the 28mm 28 Those are my mostly used lenses on 35mm photography as well for analog as well as digital brFor portraits and on the beach for people I like the 90mm 2 and for animals the 135mm 28 brI actually preferred the 50mm over the years but now I like the 40mm much morebrThe 35 mm is - when I shoot with two cameras - the lens on the one that doesn’t carry the 40mmbrOn Medium-Format I actually do mostly use the 85mm … brAlways good light!
Comment from : @jensruckert4763

Brilliant! Thank you!
Comment from : @michaelajoseph6856

I got a 60mm FF macro a while back and it's my favorite for both macro and general nature brbrNow I'm moving to micro four thirds and plan to limit myself to 3 primes My 60mm (120 effective) macro, a wide 12mm (24 effective), and now I'm angsting about what my middle lens should be
Comment from : @jayspeidell

I bought Canon, I don't have lens choices There are like 3 semi decent lenses under 1500$ in Canon RF system
Comment from : @dimakor5914

This is just so much arty blah blah What does a sports photographer need? Right A nature photographer? Someone who photographs tiny insects or flowers? A portaitist? A concert photographer? An industrial site photographer? Etc etc You don't chose the lens The situation does
Comment from : @stavrosk2868

No we don’t!
Comment from : @josdenis3684

40mm still my favorite since I bought a Nikkor 43-86 for Nikon FM2 in 1990 Soooo many good things that rock about 40mm
Comment from : @paulroyle-grimes

Thanks for your work, Alex, and thanks youtube for give us the opportunity to learn from you and to enjoy your thoughts You remind me my teacher 25 years ago at the Photo School I follow some photographc channels, most of them about gear and reviewes of gear, cameras, lenses but at the end, your channel is the one I really enjoy Keep om going!brBtw: My favourite lens (nowadays, at list) 23mm (35mm FF equivalent) The perfect mix between being close but with a wide perspective of the scene
Comment from : @nachogoytre

Roger Deakins, as an example, worked with one thing that most street photographers don't Permission to record somebody's image To quote a recent experience of mine "You take my photo with that thing and I'll shove it up your nose!" And that was by a guy also carrying a camera
Comment from : @jeffkogler1170

So, it seems like the lens choice comes down to the desired separation of the subject from the background
Comment from : @ChadWilson

I'm glad you changed the clickbait titles and thumbnails This is much better Your content is also presented a bit better, you've made changes I enjoy the different photographers sections, although I miss how your voice changes when you quote somebody :Dbr I was a regular but at some point got repetitive and clickbait Your videos even stopped popping up Now they did show again I guess positive change makes a difference Please make many more insightful and relatable content as you do! Cheers!
Comment from : @MartinBaltuhin

I am shooting street and cityscapes After many years of experimentation I ended up with one and only lens: TTArtisan 23mm f/14 (APS-C) The 35mm equivalent is the best “one lens for everything” choice And one thing I learned is: don’t waste money for unnecessary things I had numerous L or GM lenses in the past but I was never satisfied The AF lenses are only for fast situations and are always hit or miss To the contrary, I spend my money on three MF vintage style lenses that costs way less and are better (on build and image quality): TTArtisan is the one I am using 80 of the time, the Voigtländer 35mm f/14 classic and the Meyer Optik Trioplan 35mm f/28 II for artistic purposes The experience of manual aperture and MF lenses is unmatchable!
Comment from : @forneverarrow

Street photography is the best way to learn about your camera lenses composition and yourself What focal length? Any As long as it’s a prime and you take only one lens out with you The one you enjoy shooting with the most And every time use a different focal length Normally it’s a 35mm However I’ve taken some of my favourite street shots with my 135mm
Comment from : @snowwalker9999

Not complicated What I could afford that still works
Comment from : @john-lenin

I like to use vintage lenses on my Sony a6000 I like the character or personality I get from the lenses
Comment from : @robertmeyerson1618

the boring nifty fifty gives great results, the 135 mmf 2 is never boring, the results look stunning The 50mm is also great for street photo's (not too close)
Comment from : @tomdewittefoto6701

Lens choice is a lot more than just focal length though When I go out with my camera I don't just think about focal length but the character of a lens I might consider taking one of my vintage lenses because it's not just a prime lens of a certain length, but also because the character of that particular lens is something I want to work with Modern lenses are so clinically perfect and lacking in character There's really nothing to tell a Nikon apart from a Canon or Sony lens, or any other brand No individual personality
Comment from : @roseatkinson1990

I only use a 50mm lens I do this to challenge myself and to stop myself spending too much money on camera gear! 😆
Comment from : @markko0313

I use the usual lens, all good for shooting higher end corporate branding jobs, but I build extra time to use my Zeiss 85mm manual focus to get a possible extra magical shotits like driving a Ferrari down a dead end street, risky but exhilarating
Comment from : @bassmonk2920

24-105 sigma, art series Built like a Ukrainian tank and sharp as I want front to back
Comment from : @lukerabin5079

Which lens is better for the portrait and fashion photography that I can both take full body photos and portrait and street photography as well
Comment from : @dontstobit1674

My lens of choice is a Sigma 100mm-400mm I enjoy keeping a distance, and yes—I do wait for the subject to look at me before taking the photo—they can either allow me to take the photo or say no—no harm, no foul
Comment from : @ratgirl13

I will add this I shoot food, eateries etc I was asked by someone coming up if they could join me as an assistant I asked people if I could do this when I started and was told no thanks I saw this a chance to do for someone what I wished someone did for me After all the food was set out etc, they asked me what what angle I was going use I said two angles One from the height an average persons head would be at walking towards the table, the other from their head height when seated Their next question was about aperture and depth I asked them to take a close up selfie with the phone light and HDR turned off Look at your own eye What aperture is your pupil within your iris? It looks to be about F28-3ish They had never heard of this before The more I asked others if this is what they did, the more I realised that no one did this To me it made sense I know the convention is to choose what will get what you want in focus, but my approach is that this is a very human scene We are the only animal that eats this way I'm just showing it how a human would reasonably see it Brighter places get smaller aperture, darker places get more Its just how the eye works
Comment from : @lefthandright01

Seen this on You Tube claims he is repairing a former film camera of Ansell Adams a Pentax MX (I think)br35mm SLR Just saying
Comment from : @philhodgkinson1460

My current favourite lens (I'm doing a portrait project) is my Z85mm f/18 I love the way it renders the image and the immediacy it bringsbrBTW - thanks for the Roger Deakins images I've never seen his stills Surprise, surprise - they're REALLY good!
Comment from : @ShaneBaker

I use a fixed 28mm camera for street and walk around stuff Otherwise I use 50mm equiv for most stuff
Comment from : @KarySchump

very good video, thank you for the content :)
Comment from : @svtk5104

I found a 28-280 (35 mm equivalent) for my Panasonic and that is my personality My wide angle and my 50mm prime ( for low light) challenge me I like the mixture
Comment from : @conchscooter

I think we all were there and thought, we need more, expensive and of course, only Prime Lenses brAfter many Years, and serval old and New Glasses for my beloved GX80, I have found "my" Lens, so to speakbrAn 30 mm (60 mm Full frame) Macro Not only it feels exactly like you said, as an extension of may own Vision, but it's also a Lens I can get really close to Thinks I'm curious aboutbrIn short, it's a Lens I'm enjoying
Comment from : @DengekiGamer

On the Frames cover, I disagree some with you on it being flat With the slight diagonal line in the image, it seems to draw the eye up and out and, for me, gives a feeling of depthbrbrI am struggling right now over my choice of a single lens for my X-Pro2 in my retirement I have for literally decades used fast zooms for both work and some pleasure Right now I have a single prime lens on the camera but am toying with renting the 18-135mm lens to see if I like it For a while I used a 18-200mm zoom on my digital Nikons for street/travel shooting and really got a sense of enjoyment out of being able to see photographically from wide to tele images I might just rent one and see if I like it
Comment from : @richardowen4558

I always love your insight!!
Comment from : @ihknilsen

I think we often transport the feelings/memories WE had when taking a photo of a certain place or whatever and that's why we believe some of our own pics are so incredibly good while others who have not been there at the same time do not have those memories and because of that they judge our pics by what they are as a photo so the greatness is often lost If we fail to transport in the picture (and not in our memory) what made that moment special we are left with maybe nice but not great photos, IMO
Comment from : @Martin_Siegel

18, 24, 35, 150mm (ff equivalent) All fixed focal lengths, all for my PEN-F Geared towards wide angle, with the telelens for specials Moving away from zoomlenses was the best thing ever
Comment from : @Cracker9876

love watching your videosbrbrMy lens is a paintbrush Lot of what I am learning isn't in art, but learning how to see
Comment from : @brianmeyer8229

The emotional distance is always a consideration, as well as what the lens adds or subtracts to the intent Showing every pore on a face might be needed for a dermatology image, but for a portrait a 3 element Cooke lens that adds softness might be preferred
Comment from : @Kitsaplorax

I like to fill the frame I like prime lenses and prefer 50mm, 90mm, 150mm I like to step back and observe from afar
Comment from : @petermcginty3636

If you stick to the lens rules you kill your own creativitybrPortraits can be shot with an 28mm but you have to take distortion in consideration so you have to pay extra notion to how to align your subject/model to the lensbrBy trail and error you master more than watching these so called tutorial videos pushing you to what they find comfortable cause they have no urge to be creative themselvesbrAnd at 7:05, who cares, you should always shoot for yourself, the power of the shot resembles what you have experienced on that moment, when people don't see that, it's their loss not yours
Comment from : @RS-Amsterdam

…do you think the choice of camera has the same (or similar) impact in taking photos? Great video, once again, thank you!
Comment from : @Disidoo

Thank you for bringing back your beautiful background music
Comment from : @ShaunVanDerVywer

400mm minium, but if im feeling extra shy i put on my 800mm Dont see others doing it down the Barbican and Oxford St so I must be unique
Comment from : @davecarrera

Sony 55mm all day it’s super sharp in photo and video
Comment from : @darrenridsdale8121

I’m lame and typically use a standard zoom because I like having access to 35, 50 and 75 in the same lens But if I am using a prime I almost always gravitate toward a 50 or 75 This is a big change for me since Covid hit Prior to Covid I was all about wide angle shallow depth of field for street However, people in the US have been getting beyond grumpy if they catch me snapping a picture with them in it, so I’d rather not deal with that and tend to keep my distance now As it turns out though, since I have really been leaning into a more telephoto style of shooting, I actually think I like having the greater compositional control 50 and 75 afford for both street and landscape over using wider angle lenses Sometimes forced change opens up new possibilities 🤷‍♂️
Comment from : @AnthonyJGianotti

Make sure to listen to the team deakins podcast!
Comment from : @thebladex

At one time, 50mm on full frame was my favorite lens I find now that I shoot with a 28mm more often than not
Comment from : @jjd139

I saved up for a used Nikon 24-70 g lens I generally keep it at 45-50mm, but I like having the option to go a little wider or a little tele
Comment from : @Daniel_Zalman

Nice
Comment from : @dk1394

When I made the jump from a point-and-shoot to a Nikon DSLR, the seller threw in a 70-300mm zoom, which was OK enought I went out with a friend who shoots with a very similar model camera and he had a lovely Nikkor 35mm prime on his We swapped cameras for a chunk of the afternoon and I knew after half a dozen frames that the 35mm had to go on my shopping list brbrFive years later, I still shoot 90 of my stuff with the 35mm It just feels how I see
Comment from : @lisajoseph5817

Thank you All the best 👍📷😎
Comment from : @Rob1340

FUJIFILM 35mm14 is my most used lens The XF18mmf2 is the character lens and my XF55-200mm has made me the best prints I'd love a manual 35mm for my Fujifilm and so far the 7artisans 35mm12 mark2 is my favourite of the bunch
Comment from : @Swingkid14

I believe the first lens you pick sticks with you For example, my 1st lens was 50mm on APSC camera Hence, 80 85mm sticked with me; I keep getting back to 85 for everything even landscape, street, portrait
Comment from : @nenmeet

I have worked in the industry for almost 20 years Deakins isn't criminally underrated, he's revered as a cinematic god I'd call him the Michael Jordan of Cinematography, but he's not retired Maybe he's the Lebron haha
Comment from : @WodiesDad

Thank you for mentioning Roger Deakins I think he changed how we look at motion picture, and therefore photography, more than we know To me he put a human factor in lenses He took picking a lens for capturing to picking the lens that captivates so to speak
Comment from : @Woedans

I migrated gradually from 85 and 50 mm crop sensor equivalents to 35 and now a 28mm on a full frame Though the 35 is probably the sweet spot for street photography My 28 mm is a better and lighter lens (crucial when your lugging around a DSLR) and I love the compositional challenge of the 28
Comment from : @jamesgamer4753

Trying to use tpe10 for read frames and it doesn’t work
Comment from : @jammer777

To be honest, I haven't heard of Roger Deakins, but when looking at his IMDB page, I was surprised which movies with him as cinematographer I have seen I notice a pattern here: All of which I saw I remember the feel about how good the cinematography was: Skyfall, No country for old men, Blade Runner 2049, A beautiful mind, The Shawshank Redemption and many more
Comment from : @Sven-R

I ended up with a 40mm almost by accident When I bought my first mirrorless camera, I wanted a manual 35mm lens At the time, Voigtlander only had a 35mm f14 that didn’t get great reviews and their 40mm f12 was the lens people were excited about I ended up with the 40mm simply for the better rendering and now it is my favourite street photography lens and focal length Easy to get more depth of field than a 50mm but can also easily create more of a shallow depth like a 50mm if I want Great for zone focusing also
Comment from : @creative_cozmic

Sometimes it seems like telepathy I shoot Nikon and Olympus and, recently, have been getting a great deal of enjoyment from my Olympus Pen-F with a Panasonic Leica 15mm f/17 prime The lens is sharp as heck, the 'package' with the Pen-F is lightweight and nimble and is yielding some delightful images I have a trip to NYC coming up and I'm leaning strongly to the M43 system although I might use my OM-1 instead of the Pen-F because of its terrific low light capabilities Thank you for yet another great dose of inspiration and instruction, Alex Cheers!
Comment from : @alanmacrae

I have 3 primes, but without a very specific purpose in mind, zoom lens I am a walkabout photographer I see something interesting, I frame/compose the shot by zooming in/out and click
Comment from : @ZappaBlues

My favorite is 18mm on my Canon M50 which is 28mm in full frame
Comment from : @workingwiththelight3119

I like 30-40mm primes 50mm seems a bit too narrow, even though lots of people really like them
Comment from : @boredboiseboy

Congratulations on being named as a staff member of Frames Magazine I saw it in the newsletter last week I am eager to read your comments in the future issues
Comment from : @davettbr6425

Great video but I don't think the 3 films shown when introducing Roger Deakins had different cinematographers I think the first film is 'There will be Blood', with cinematography being done by Robert Elswit, The second I would guess is 'The Grand Budapest hotel', with cinematographer Robert Yeoman and the last is 'Mad Max Fury Road' with the cinematography being done by John SealebrbrRoger Deakins is of course a legend and certainly ranks amongst the greatest cinematographer in historybrbrPersonally, I choose the lens I am going to use by what I want from an image I love certain lenses but if that lens doesn't suit the looking that I am going for, I generally won't use it
Comment from : @MichaelLaing71

To me personally, the best vessel through which I can channel my creativity in order to create the photography which currently grabs my attention the most is the 50mm lens It is not per sé better than any other lens, it’s just what works best for me and to be quite frank it’s what’s worked best for me for quite some time now I don’t really even think about focal length anymore I just grab either one of two cameras fitted with a 50 and this allows my to think about the photo instead of the gear Very important to me
Comment from : @TheFilmFellow

Recently I got 70-200 gm2, it’s a beast and you can contain more foreground in your frame or different composition which is awesome with 35mm 14 gm and 50mm 14 sigma added ,it’s a great portrait combo for my family , I also have Sony 85mm 18 for street photography practice to improve my skill I am very pleased with those lens so far !
Comment from : @kevinle6490

It's an interesting thought I've found that my favorite lens is my cheap 24mm Canon f/28 EF-S lens I love how it "feels" on the eyes I find I use it for everything
Comment from : @stinkyfj60

There are a lot of different grey shades between failure and success
Comment from : @ephajanke3242

28mm 17 on my Leica is the most fun I’ve ever had, I think my images on a 35 and 50 were better but I used those for such a long time I’m still perfecting the 28 and can’t see that I’ll go back
Comment from : @pixelambience1767

Great subject Alex Roger Deakins is spot on when it comes to the perspective of what the photographer's minds eye sees through the lens
Comment from : @tedbrown7908