change to primes??

[arthurking83]

I get ya .. I promise I do!

Technically speaking tho, field of view is not directly related to focal length.

It is in the way we usually think of the topic, as we tend to stick to a single format size.

But if the FOV is what you dislike, then the focal length is basically irrelevant.

ie. 35mm will give you the same FOV on an APS-C camera as a 50mm does on a full frame camera, so 50mm on a crop camera is basically an 85mm like viewpoint(but with greater DOF).

I generally tend to choose lenses on some intricate quality more so that simply the focal length or the FOV it may provide. If the way it draws bokeh is well repsected than I'm immediately interested(read that as a lusting for a 58/1.2 Noct!!) .. and if it can focus extremely closely, then this is a bonus .. if it has a very l;arge aperture and long focal length, again I become interested .. and so forth.

There are a few more 50-ish mm lenses I'm particularly interested in .. one in particular(the 58mm) is at the unobtainable end of the spectrum, and another is a macro lens from many years back waiting for a good copy at a decent price.
I have two 50's already and 3 other lenses that also do 50mm or so at a pinch, and I'm not trying to sell anyone on the 50mm focal length either, but there's more to focal length than just the FOV aspect.
I'm curious if it's the close up FOV or at infinity(or both) that you particularly dislike?

I get ya completely when you say that you find the 50mm focal length FOV on a 35mm frame to be boring, but does this mean that if you end up on a deserted island with a 50mm f/1.2 and a 7D body to survive with, that you won't be totally unhappy?

[Xenedis]

Technically speaking tho, field of view is not directly related to focal length.

Relative to the focal plane size, it is.

The focal length of a 'standard' lens is somewhat close to the diagonal dimension of the focal plane.

On a 135-format camera system (36 x 24mm), the diagonal dimension is 43.3mm. A 50mm lens in that format is considered 'standard'.

On a 6x6 medium-format system, an 80mm lens is a standard lens, and much like I find 50mm in 135-format utterly boring, I'd be as equally displeased with an 80mm lens on a Rolleiflex TLR, as it gives me the framing I can see naturally with my own eyes, and considering that I'm boxed into the dimensions of the focal plane, it's a view I don't want to emulate with a camera.

It if the FOV is what you dislike, then the focal length is basically irrelevant.

The FOV I dislike on my 135-format camera is what the 50mm focal length gives me, so the focal length is definitely relevant in so far as my desire to avoid it. :-)

ie. 35mm will give you the same FOV on an APS-C camera as a 50mm does on a full frame camera, so 50mm on a crop camera is basically an 85mm like viewpoint(but with greater DOF).

I probably should have mentioned earlier that I'm using a so-called 'full-frame' DSLR, so the FOV for a given focal length is what it was designed to be; ie, I'm not getting a cropped FOV using a 135-format lens on an APS-C camera.

I generally tend to choose lenses on some intricate quality more so that simply the focal length or the FOV it may provide.

To me that seems like an odd way to choose a lens. I'd have thought that most people would choose a lens based on 'how much stuff' you can see in the frame; ie, the framing.

For me, having an aperture of f/1.4 on a 24mm lens isn't much good if the framing provided by that lens isn't suitable or desirable. That's why I don't have that lens; the focal length isn't particularly useful to me.

Similarly, having a 600mm lens would be useless if I didn't shoot subject matter which requires that kind of focal length.

If the way it draws bokeh is well repsected than I'm immediately interested(read that as a lusting for a 58/1.2 Noct!!) .. and if it can focus extremely closely, then this is a bonus .. if it has a very l;arge aperture and long focal length, again I become interested .. and so forth.

Okay, so you and I think fundamentally differently when it comes to lens choice.

I have an 85mm f/1.2 lens. Let me tell you that f/1.2 is great, but it wouldn't be useful if the focal length itself was not useful.

I use that lens mostly for portraiture, and 85mm (in 135-format, which I've been using digitally since 2006) is ideal for portraiture.

I get ya completely when you say that you find the 50mm focal length FOV on a 35mm frame to be boring, but does this mean that if you end up on a deserted island with a 50mm f/1.2 and a 7D body to survive with, that you won't be totally unhappy?

Well, I wouldn't buy a 7D or a 50mm lens, and frankly, if I were stuck on a deserted island, I'd be more interested in food and water than a boring focal length on a camera that comes with a partial sensor. :-)

[Rattus79]

I love my 50 ...

and my crop sensor ....