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Post your favorite lens and and why, Photos Please!

Will Thompson

Well-known member
Please post your favorite lens and and why, and Photo Examples Please!

My favorite was the:

Canon EF 85mm f1.2L USM Prime at f1.2
Will_Thompson_C_2006_VX8Ydogs02.jpg


Until i got the:

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L USM Prime at f4.0
Will_Thompson_C_2010_012K2503.jpg


The focal length of the 85mm was just a little too long for every day use but outstanding for low light stage work.

It seems that 50mm is what I now use more than any other lens.

The close runners up are the:

Canon EF 200mm f1.8L USM Prime at f1.8
Will_Thompson_C_2011_VX8Y6388PSCSac.jpg


Which I have upgraded with the:

Canon EF 200mm f2.0L IS USM Prime at f4.0
Will_Thompson_C_2011_012K1736.jpg
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
Hi Will..

With the Nikon, almost all of my posts ( since aug 2010 ) here on OPF have used one or two of 4 lenses..

All portraits ( well 98% then ! ) Zeiss 100mm f/2 Makro Planar

All the Turkey series; Zeiss 35mm f/2 Distagon

All The Nepal series; Zeiss 35mm f/2 and Zeiss Makro 100mm f/2

All the Alsace, Hungary series; Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar

All the Switzerland, Czech series; Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

That's all I use for Nikon.

Never carry more than one lens. 2 max.

The Everest series I have added the M8 and the D-lux 4

Summicron 28mm asph; summilux 50mm asph. Two lenses and a P&S for the mountains ( Ayesha )
She uses the D-lux 4 exclusively.


p.s a photo..

p652675250.jpg

Alsace..D700 + Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar.
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Will,

My overall favorite, because of its "jack of all trades" capability, is my Canon EF 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6. It is the lens I normally keep on my Canon EOS 40D.

This is from this past New Year's Eve:

Landon_F23638-01R.jpg

Douglas A. Kerr: Landon: "Yeah, you!"

Best regards,

Doug
 
Favorite lens

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro

Possibly the sharpest lens I've ever owned.

IMG_0064.jpg


This is about the 700th picture I've taken of this instrument over the years I've had it.
 
A Glass and TC combination that I deeply regret not to have at my disposal anymore, despite being such a monster:

Zuiko 90-250mm F2.8 plus TC 2.0

Here at full whack, the equivalent of 1,000mm:

ovs_opf_XI-29.jpg

and at 250mm

ovs_opf_XI-28.jpg
 

charlie chipman

New member
My favorite is the lens that is best for the task at hand of course, no single favorite per se.
If I could only have 1 lens it would be the 24-70 for its quality and versatility, luckily that is not a reality.
To often the 24-70 is to large for comfort so I use the 35mm or 50mm 1.4 lenses, both great in their own right.
But we have all seen examples from those lenses so for the sake of variety I will show something perhaps a little less common.
The Nikkor AI 20mm f/3.5 with the very thin K-1 extension ring attached.
This combination can give excellent quality close ups with a very dramatic perspective.

Diffraction be damned. Set it to f22, put the sun in the frame, and move in close.

PageImage-486589-1921351-thesunandtheeyef.jpg


PageImage-486589-1904101-mornings.jpg
 

Rick Otto

New member
Certainly not my most expensive lens, (about $450) but my Sigma 10-20mm has rapidly become my fav..

Picture isn't very interesting, but I love what this lens can do..

Rick

5349238346_d9f7a4c651_b.jpg
 

Will Thompson

Well-known member
I would like to thank all who have posted so far.

There are lots of cool photos and lenses posted.

Again thank you for your input.
 

Mark Hampton

New member
Will,

Nice idea for a thread - when I bought my camera it was with a lens in mind - 90mm Canon tilt shift - I got rid of the 24/105 and just use the tilt shift and a *2 converter. I wont get another lens (unless this breaks) for digital work..


heeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrsssssssss___sandy.jpg
]​




cheers for looking
 
My favorite lense so far has been my Tokina at-x pro d 100mm f2.8 macro.

5389252871_fc7493eea3_b.jpg


D90
1/800
f3


5264281954_c693a33ef3_b.jpg


D90
1/60
f3​


but I can't forget my nikon 35mm f1.8g...

5263670273_90e433f019_b.jpg


D90
1/40
f1.8

5263669607_9d2b2b9163_b.jpg


D90
1/50
f1.8​


I think I love any lense put on my camera indeed...
 
then theres the nikon 50mm f1.8, I can't forget about this lens...

4951719243_ce60082d77_b.jpg


D90
1/50
f4​


i love every lens I put on this camera thing....
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
If I had to choose one lens only; it would be my Zeiss ZF 35/2 Distagon..

I can do environmental portraits with it..

p138188218.jpg

I could take it into the rice fields at sunset..

p477367681-4.jpg

Or to a fisherman's village..

p961272901.jpg

Do extreme close-ups with it..

p558797180.jpg

It handles all this without breaking a sweat. And at f/2 with a D700, night is just funtime for it.

Regards.
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Fahim,

If I had to choose one lens only; it would be my Zeiss ZF 35/2 Distagon..
Well, you certainty do some very nice things with it.

I can do environmental portraits with it..

p138188218.jpg
Precious! And the shot, too!

It might be that you have used "HDR" tools here, but the (maybe) slightly bigger than life contrast and saturation are just fabulous. (After all, that's what we used to have Kodachrome for!)

Best regards,

Doug
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
Hi Doug, Thank you for your kind response.

I do love that lens ( if such a thing is possible! ). Could be more than adequate as my only lens.

No HDR Doug. I tried 3 different versions ( contrast and saturation ) and went with this one.

Yes, I do miss my Chromes. Pity. Though I reserve film for mostly BW nowadays.

Best regards.
 

Jim Galli

Member
LaSalle711_2s.jpg

nicolas walker

Hard for me to pick a single favorite but I'll admit to having an unusual number of successful photographs with my Wollensak 18" f4 Verito, 7X11" format
 
Currently for me, it's the Olympus OM Zuiko 250mm f/2.0:

cheetah___glow_by_philosomatographer-d3b42gb.jpg

(250mm @ f/2.0, OM-3Ti, Iford Pan F+)

ready_to_stab_by_philosomatographer-d3b429m.jpg

(250mm @ f/2.0, OM-3Ti, Iford Pan F+)

conspicuous_consumption_by_philosomatographer-d313c55.jpg

(250mm @ f/2.0, OM-1n, Iford FP4+)
 
David, that last is spectacular if you let it speak to you about privilege and desire. All are beautiful.

Thank you so much Jim! It's titled "Conspicuous Consumption" so you nailed the intention of the image when you meantioned priviledge an desire. In South Africa, we have probably the biggest gap between the poor and the wealthy imaginable.

I guess the fact that I (by no means wealthy, it was very difficult for me to acquire when the rare opportunity presented itself, they are simply never offered for sale anywhere) took this image with a 250/2 lens, fewer of which were made than the exotic sports car by a factor of ten or so, adds to the irony and the divide!. If somebody could have photographed me photographing this scene, it could have been even more powerful as social commentary, maybe.

Have fun,
Dawid
 
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