Excellent analysis and presentation Roman. I have a question about your personal preference of focal lengths. You spoke about changing your favorite lens from 50 to now the 35, but you made no mention of a 40mm until much later in the video when you were commenting on old vs new. I see on your website you show the 27mm f2.8 WR as your everyday carry lens with the XT5. What are your thoughts on this midway length between scene and subject considerations? Thanks and keep up the great work.
Where do you feel 40mm stands in all this? I've never tried 35 but 40 to me feels like the easiest focal length for focussing on a subject and their wider environment. It never feels too restrictive like 50mm can be and I feel like i virtually never have to crop the photos i capture with it.
So as a Fuji X system user, do I need to convert everything you're talking about to a focal length other than what you're saying? When you say "35mm" are you not actually talking about a 35mm Fuji lens? This conversion business is so confusing. Why can't we just say "this is a Fuji X lens and it's a 35mm"?
Another thing you can do, not as a primary job or something, but as sort of residual passive income, is to post a bunch of stuff to various stock photo sites. People do pay for that stuff, and with enough "surface", it can become a non-zero source.
Thank you very much for this Video. Your thoughts on cropping vs. walking vs. Zoomibgwas simply amazing. Thx a lot for this. It opened my eyes a little bit more!
Great overview of what to lens to buy as a beginner. I would add a beginner shouldn't buy another lens until they have better understanding of the shots they are struggling with and what lens will help them get those shots if it is something a different lens will solve.
I use all of the PSAM modes, sometimes changing between them rapidly, depending on what comes up. I'll never understand why anyone defaults to Av mode. Why not use P as your default? With program shift, you can prioritise aperture or shutter speed, in either direction. It is like a joint Av and Tv mode. AEL then becomes a thing you use. I'll use Av when appropriate, but for walking around, anything could happen, photography, P is by far the better default.
I think the important part is just getting out and shooting... it does not matter the genre, just start taking a camera wherever you go - and from there you expand into what you like...
To me, it's an awkward size. People say it's pocketable, but really it's only pocketable if you have a large jacket pocket. Personally I either want something that fits in a jeans pocketlike a Rikoh, or sony RX, or would go slightly larger and better IQ with a Leica Q3.
Thank you for your video. Clearly explained. It is exactly what I needed. I have an XT30II with this lens XF18-55MMF 2.8-4 and am learning to take pictures with it.
Great video. My name is Keith and I have a problem !! I am addicted to stupidly wide angle lenses. I always fall foul of distortion but persist in my addiction . Thanks for this post and hope it will aid my recovery . I often use 24mm ( equiv) on a variety of cameras and a variety of lens and will plumb the depths of 14mm equiv. Thanks ! :-)
great video! love the comments about the end that resonated with me. I have a bag full of f1.2 prime lens and one of the latest canon mirrorless cameras, but i didn't find them fun to use for my daily life and family photos. I got a smaller crop camera and some f2 lens and i really enjoying shooting again. size matters to me, thanks for this video! great examples at the different focal lengths
Started off with the fuji kit lense (18-55mm) and bought the voitlander 27mm lens as an alternative for it being both a prime and manual focus. I then used Lightroom to determine what focal lengths most of my images were and found that when using the zoom i often was taking images at the 55mm and in some cases was cropping in to get "closer" to the subject. That led me to purchase the 70-300mm. its great for most of what i do which involves wildlife, nature and the occasional friend group photography. Also, don't limit yourself to the standard and typical typle lenses, for instance i purchases the Kek Oreo, a recycled disposable camera lens packaged into an Orea shape for the fuji x mount, great fun for a casual point and shoot with character (cheap too).
Hi Roman. Do you know the H1? I bought a T5 since than. Now what ? Keep H1, buy another T5, an H2, an H2s? I am not professional but ambitious . I am convinced that I will go to a worldwide photo shooting trip this year. Scotland or Island or Normandie. Sell all of this and get a Sony or a Nikon. Costs don’t matter. WHAT WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU?
Would’ve been nice of you to refer to the Fuji lenses somewhere in between. Just to let you know that we support you for being our favourite Fuji photographer 😅
I got the 18-50 f2.8 zoom as my first lens and while it is on paper very good and definitely the best general purpose zoom for Fuji considering a mix of size, price and performance, I still don't 100% vibe with the "general purpose zoom" lens. First, the zoom distracts me from anything else. Whenever I see something, my mind has to think about which focal length, which is a big task for a beginner. Everything else, even aperture, gets pushed to the side and is often forgotten. And the second flaw is a psychological one, our brains love extremes. So I find myself shooting mostly at 18mm and 50mm because whenever I want the tele look, the 50 looks more dramatic than the 35, and whenever I want to catch a scene, the 18 looks more dramatic than the 23, and so on. You could just decide "ok now I shoot 23" but in practice it rarely wins over the extreme looks at first sight. You also just don't move because the zoom does it for you, so the compositions can feel flat and uninspiring, you snapshot things until the zoom makes them fit the frame, rather than thinking about compositions. I now got the 23 f1.4 and will pair it with a 56 1.4, that does most of what the zoom did previously. When it comes to the 18-50, I will probably sell it and rather get a 10-18 f2.8, which gives me a more versatile wide angle look, while the primes do the job for normal focal lengths.
Good overview of some general focal lengths, and how you utilise them! In addition to the 35mm being a solid starter lens, as it has versatility, I would also say that a 40mm is a nice option - personally one I ended up preferring over 35mm in the long run - as I it can somewhat cover the strengths of both the 35mm and the 50mm (although not necessarily excel in either), making it a good every-day lens. There are far less 40mm options than 35mm options out there though, as the popularity of the 40mm has waned in favour of the 35mm, but it could be a solid alternative if available. Which focal length one ends up preferring is ultimately a very personal thing, but I would agree that a 35mm or 50mm is a solid starter.
Thank you so much Roman. As always a very useful video. My current street photography combo is FujiFilm X-T5 with 33mm F1.4 + Leica Q2 Monochrom (28mm F1.7). I find the 50mm and 28mm are very useful focal lengths for street photography. However as you said, If I want to grab a one camera one lens combo then it could be the 35mm.
For shooting models I'm a big fan of the Fuji 16-55 2.8. Sharp all the way through...but heavy. I want lighter for travel, but I need range. I use a Fuji 18-135-it is light and sharp. I know the 16-55 is sharper, but who notices? It still does a great job. These two do the bulk of my work, I do carry a Zeiss 12mm Touit for when I need it, I just love Zeiss color. If I was cut down to one lens only for ever it would be a Fuji zoom, likely the 16-55. But a zoom for sure.
Your description of 35mm/scenes and 50mm/subjects is something that has taken me several years to nail down. Your description is right on point IMO. I also like the suggestion of a normal-ish zoom and a fast prime. This is something that I have also realized over the years. I have just ordered the new Fuji 16-50 WR to pair with the 23mm f/1.4 R LM WR for most of my travel and walkabout with my XT5. I really think this will be a perfect setup for most of my photo-graphy (27 and 70-300 for special circumstances). Thanks for the excellent video.
If you get a chance, please let us know what the quality of the new zoom is like in comparison to the 23mm. The 23 is my favorite lens on the xt5 but I would love a zoom for travel. The 16-55 is equal in quality to the 23 but had to sell it as it was too heavy.
