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Wingsdomain Art and Photography

8 Years Ago

What Do You Shoot At 35mm? Aka Function Following Form!

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So my wallet was making a hole in my pant pocket this week, so I thought I'd go out and downsize my wallet by buying a(nother) 35mm lens. Not to mention the year is almost over and I need more tax write-offs. I had a Sony Zeiss 24-70mm f/4 on my Sony a7r until I decided that was not long enough and then got a 24-240mm which has been my workhorse until now. When I first got my Sony a7r, I was hoping to keep it compact and light, the 24-240mm defeated that purpose but it's been and will remain a great walkaround lens. And that brings me to my current purchase of the Sony Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 ZA lens. It's a perfect match to the light and compact Sony a7r, it looks more like what a camera used to look like back in the days (and what they should look like!), and it's got this tiny non-traditional hood that has a rectangular center opening, making it look much like a point+shoot digicam lens. And so with the "Form" part of this topic out of the way, the question is, what will the "Function" of a 35mm prime lens be? What subjects and scenes are suited for shooting at 35mm? Please tell me your experience with 35mm on a full-frame camera (or 22mm on a 1.6x crop cam). If you have images, please give a link (link only) to the image. I am very interested to see what "function" I can get with my 35mm.

-W


NOTE TO ABBIE OR JC: If you think posting images in this discussion is okay, please let us know, since I'd rather see the images here as well.

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Edward Fielding

8 Years Ago

Photography Prints

35 mm on my Canon 6D is my go to lens. Perfect length for story telling images. Just a bit wider than normal which would be 43 mm. Being a prime you get all the sharpness of a lens maximized for a single focal length.

 

Thanks Edward. 35mm is what I've used for car shows on my Canon gear for the past 6 years, it captures pretty much a full 3/4 angle shot of the entire car at close quarters. I'm hoping to do alot more with this new 35mm for my sony, maybe keeping it on the camera 90% of the time. I hear 35mm is perfect for environmental shots which is similar to your "story telling images". -W

 

Edward Fielding

8 Years Ago

Its the classic choice of photo journalists and street photographers. Wide enough to show the subject in its environment.

 

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