Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ruralmopics@aol.com wrote: > > I must admit I'm always a little baffled (maybe slightly impressed) when I > see folks discuss these super fast lenses. I shoot for a monthly publication > and end up in a lot of diverse situations (though not nearly as many as in my > newspaper days) still I rarely find the need for extremely fast lenses. I've > just started in Leica photography but my Nikon kit contains no lenses faster > than f2. Besides rarely needing anything faster I just can't imagine what the > results would look like shooting a 50mm at 1.4. Depth of field would of > course be very limited and it seems (to me anyway) inappropriate for the > field of view you would get with a 50mm at normal working distance. A 180mm > wide open I can understand but a 50mm f 1.4 just doesn't register in my mind. > Perhaps I need to try it and see (I think we have a Nikkor 1.4 around here > somewhere . . . ) > > Bob McEowen > Speed/fastness/big fat aperture is a real issue in SLR photography where a brighter groundglass which pops in and out of focus quickly is an issue of function. I think when we switch to Rangefinder that without that issue there is much less need for that speed. That is what I found. None of the higher speed lenses yet in my kit! I don't miss them yet and it's been six and a half years. Mark Rabiner