50mm & 28mm vs 35mm

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Nebular89

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I currently only have a 50mm equivalent. I like the results but it’s a little tight for indoors or some outdoor photos.
I can only afford one after I’ve shifted some other gear so I could either get a second hand Ricoh gr with the 28mm equivalent to carry around whilst I keep the 50mm on my main camera or get a 35mm to put on my camera and use it for everything. I really don’t really like zoom lenses or switching lenses.
This would be for candid family photos
 
Anyway you can try a 28 out ? It suits some people but others find a 35 a good all rounder.

28 or near used to be common in older single lens iphones and many others - you might be able to try that FoV on your or a friends phone ?

Personally, I like 28/50 or even 24/40 combos.
 
piper said:
Anyway you can try a 28 out ? It suits some people but others find a 35 a good all rounder.

28 or near used to be common in older single lens iphones and many others - you might be able to try that FoV on your or a friends phone ?

Personally, I like 28/50 or even 24/40 combos.
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I didn’t think of the phone, I have the SE so it should be about 28mm.

I did have the 35mm before, I used it for a trip to Disney land. I thought about the 28mm and the 50mm because I sold the 35mm but I wasn’t as much into the environmental style portraits then as I was now, I missed the 50mm.
I’d never considered the 28mm too much until I recently watched a Jim Marshall documentary, I really liked his 28mm photos. He carried 3 Leicas with a 28mm, 35mm and a 50mm. I’m not that rich sadly
 
You need to think of sensor sizes too (possibly) as well as focal length.

Is the Ricoh M43? Or crop? Or 1"?

And I'm presuming you have 50mm on a crop at present?
 
LeeRatters said:
You need to think of sensor sizes too (possibly) as well as focal length.

Is the Ricoh M43? Or crop? Or 1"?

And I'm presuming you have 50mm on a crop at present?
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It’s a 50mm equivalent, it’s the 35mm on a Fuji xt2. The Ricoh is an 18mm lens which works out to be 28mm.
 
I think I’ve answered my own question. I looked back at my favourite photos I’ve taken and they’ve been with either a 35mm or a 50mm (equivalents). I think my use for the 28mm would be too rare, as much as I’d like one
 
I'd go 28mm, you can always crop in but you can't "crop out" and increase your angle of view. I've always liked both but if I only had the choice of one it would always be a 28mm.
 
Nebular89 said:
I didn’t think of the phone, I have the SE so it should be about 28mm.

I did have the 35mm before, I used it for a trip to Disney land. I thought about the 28mm and the 50mm because I sold the 35mm but I wasn’t as much into the environmental style portraits then as I was now, I missed the 50mm.
I’d never considered the 28mm too much until I recently watched a Jim Marshall documentary, I really liked his 28mm photos. He carried 3 Leicas with a 28mm, 35mm and a 50mm. I’m not that rich sadly
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Se 1st gen 29mm 2nd and 3rd gen 28mm. All 3:2 frame ( I think )
 
Nebular89 said:
It’s a 50mm equivalent, it’s the 35mm on a Fuji xt2. The Ricoh is an 18mm lens which works out to be 28mm.
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Cool (y) I wasn't quite sure.

Personally I think I'd go for the Ricoh at 28mm to go with the 50mm FOV of the Fuji if you enjoy that length that much :) 28mm and 50mm is a nice pairing together.
 
LeeRatters said:
Cool (y) I wasn't quite sure.

Personally I think I'd go for the Ricoh at 28mm to go with the 50mm FOV of the Fuji if you enjoy that length that much :) 28mm and 50mm is a nice pairing together.
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I’ll have to take some more photos with my iPhone to get a better feel for the 28mm.
I’m torn really. I like the 35mm focal length too but being able to take out the Ricoh for the 28mm and the 50mm at the same time without having to change lenses would be good.

I did visit a waterfall on Cornwall a couple of years ago with some slide film. I ended up using both a 28mm and a 50mm, I don’t think I ever felt the need for a in between length like the 35mm
 
Nebular89 said:
I did visit a waterfall on Cornwall a couple of years ago with some slide film. I ended up using both a 28mm and a 50mm, I don’t think I ever felt the need for a in between length like the 35mm
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If I was restricted to one focal length it would be 35mm. Given two it would be 50mm and 28mm. But that might be because those were the only two lenses I had from 1979 to 1990, so got used to the combo.
 
Ed Sutton said:
If I was restricted to one focal length it would be 35mm. Given two it would be 50mm and 28mm. But that might be because those were the only two lenses I had from 1979 to 1990, so got used to the combo.
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That’s the dilemma. If I go with a 35mm then I would only take out that lens. But with the 28mm Id like to give the Ricoh a try and be able to switch between focal lengths without change cameras.
I have had a 35mm before so it might be time to try out a 28 and 50 combo. Im going to use my phone for a while in place of the Ricoh with my 50mm and see how it goes. Using my phone to take “proper” photos just feels a bit odd!
 
Nebular89 said:
That’s the dilemma. If I go with a 35mm then I would only take out that lens. But with the 28mm Id like to give the Ricoh a try and be able to switch between focal lengths without change cameras.
I have had a 35mm before so it might be time to try out a 28 and 50 combo. Im going to use my phone for a while in place of the Ricoh with my 50mm and see how it goes. Using my phone to take “proper” photos just feels a bit odd!
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Many years ago I shot FF Canon at 28mm, 50mm & 135mm with 50mm being my most used by far.

About 7-8 years ago I swapped over to Sony & soon settled on 40mm. I'm still at 40mm sometimes but have switched more to the AF of my 35GM lens. If I go out with just one lens, it's typically 35mm (or 40mm depending if I can MF) I bought an A7Riii earlier this year and kept my A7 which I usually pair with my 85/1.8 or Tamron 70-180/2.8.

The ease of having two bodies with different focal length prime lenses is such a dream imo especially for how I like to shoot.
 
Nebular89 said:
Using my phone to take “proper” photos just feels a bit odd!
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You get used to it! In spite of the naff ergos- the worse UI and that “AI” feel - it is like a drug - soon it will be only thing you take pictures with if you don’t watch out ! That’s what happened to me. :)
 
Throats w
LeeRatters said:
Many years ago I shot FF Canon at 28mm, 50mm & 135mm with 50mm being my most used by far.

About 7-8 years ago I swapped over to Sony & soon settled on 40mm. I'm still at 40mm sometimes but have switched more to the AF of my 35GM lens. If I go out with just one lens, it's typically 35mm (or 40mm depending if I can MF) I bought an A7Riii earlier this year and kept my A7 which I usually pair with my 85/1.8 or Tamron 70-180/2.8.

The ease of having two bodies with different focal length prime lenses is such a dream imo especially for how I like to shoot.
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That’s what I’m hoping will happen if I decide on the 28mm. The big upside of the ricoh is it being pocketable, don’t need to have 2 cameras hanging off you
 
Ed Sutton said:
If I was restricted to one focal length it would be 35mm. Given two it would be 50mm and 28mm. But that might be because those were the only two lenses I had from 1979 to 1990, so got used to the combo.
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Same here, I've had a few cameras that I used a 28mm/50mm set up and then picked up an RX1R with a fixed 35mm lens. Initially I wasn't keen on it as it's harder to get everything in than a 28mm but after some time with it I would also go with it if I had to stick with a single lens. The loss of a bit of wide angle is worth it to get tighter shots with cropping whereas I found 28mm just needed too much cropping when I needed a closer FOV.
 
I just bought a used 28mm f1.8 and I like it; as others have said, I found the 50mm just not quite right. I could see how it matched what my eye saw in perspective but not what my eye saw on the periphery and while the 28mm loses a bit in perspective, it really gains for matching what my eye actually takes in. I have had a 35mm in the past but found it neither here nor there when comparing to a 50mm. For the moment, with my present predilection for stately home interiors, I take the 28 and tuck a 14-24mm zoom in the car for those hard to get-it-all-in-because-the-room-is-so-small moments. For everything else, it's the Sigma 60-600mm as it covers all other bases.
 
I think the phone is the missing part of your thinking.
Current camera with a 50mm equivalent, new camera w 35 and phone for 28mm.

Truly for ‘environmental portraits’ anything wider than 35mm has to be used very carefully. I used to regularly shoot weddings, and the wide angle was only ever used for large group shots, everything else was 35mm and up.
 
Not a bad shout tbh. I took some with my phone today and the quality is actually not too bad. I used the Lightroom app to shoot in raw and edit it, came out ok
 
I'm another who likes 28 and 50mm lenses as a pair. My most used these days is 35mm.

One thing to watch for with 28mm is you can get more easily into the territory of perspective distortion if you are a bit close, but that can work for you.
 
Another vote for the 28/50 combo but if I could only have one it would be 35.

I did buy a GR3 the other week, and it's a great camera. Snap focus, very intuitive UI, and with a 2.8 lens, excellent image stabilisation and pretty good ISO performance, can be used happily at night hand held. I'm similar to you in not being a fan of swapping or taking multiple lenses with me. When I was looking at this, it was a choice between the Fuji X70, XF10, or the Ricoh GR as there was no real 35mm option I could find. I really wanted an X100 for the versatility of a fixed 35mm lens, but it's only pocketable if you're wearing a big coat and/or cargo shorts/pants and isn't really a "go anywhere" camera for me.

The GR3 I have is a great candid family shot/street photography/documentary camera that easily fits in the pocket, and takes great pictures. I wouldn't use it for portraits, it's too wide, but environmental stuff with people in them is fine. I can go out taking photos with another camera with a different lens (or format) and just stick this in my pocket for grab stuff.
 
I’ve made my mind up. Having used the 50mm on my camera and the 28 on my phone when I was away I found the 28 too wide for a lot of things and the 50 a little too tight for others. I’ll be getting the 35mm for my camera, using my phone for the 28 on the occasions I want it and I’ll probably trade in my 50 and get the kit zoom lens for landscapes and so I have the 50mm when I want it
 
That sounds like a good plan - the Fuji kit lens is actually pretty decent and will allow you to try the various focal lengths too.

For one lens, it would be 35mm equivalent for me, I used to pretty much always have the 23f2 on my X-T2, to the point I just bought an X100V. However, for two primes it would be 50mm and 24mm equivalents. The Fuji 35f1.4 is a really special lens, which I got to replace the 23f2, as there was no point in keeping it alongside the X100V. I find that 28mm is not wide enough for my liking.
 
Craikeybaby said:
That sounds like a good plan - the Fuji kit lens is actually pretty decent and will allow you to try the various focal lengths too.

For one lens, it would be 35mm equivalent for me, I used to pretty much always have the 23f2 on my X-T2, to the point I just bought an X100V. However, for two primes it would be 50mm and 24mm equivalents. The Fuji 35f1.4 is a really special lens, which I got to replace the 23f2, as there was no point in keeping it alongside the X100V. I find that 28mm is not wide enough for my liking.
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I really wanted the 35 1.4 but its just too tight for me now. I had a 50mm 1.4 on a 35mm film camera for a while and it scratched the itch for me
 
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