My lens collection is almost like a living organism. Some stuff wanders in from the street and makes itself comfortable in the gear drawers, some succumb to ennui and slowly vanish while some eventually are injured and die. Zooms seem more susceptible to transitioning in and out than single focal length lenses but I guess that's the nature of this particular life form.
I have a little flock of zoom lenses that, I must admit, I'm looking to change around a bit. But I'm not sure where it will all end up. But here's where we are today. This is what my choices are when I need to stock up my camera bag and go out for fun or profit:
1. Panasonic 24-105mm f4.0. My all around, most leaned on, extended normal lens. It covers everything. If I were a rational human I'd just own this lens and the next one on my list and I'd get back to my job as a statistician who enjoys the benefits of a calm cup of decaf....
2. Panasonic 70-200mm f4.0. As above. This is a wonderful longer zoom and it has no discernible personality. It's totally transparent, just does its job and goes home to watch the weather channel. I love it for its high performance but dislike it for its lack of drama and excitement.
3. Panasonic 20-60mm f3.5-5.6. This lens makes me feel like I have the wider focal lengths adequately covered. I owned a 20mm Art lens that weighed three times as much and cost me twice as much but I never, ever used it on a job. With this little, cheap, plastic lens I feel as though I've given the concept of very wide angle focal lengths the attention I believe they deserve.
4. Leica R 28-70mm f3.5-f5.6. I had very low expectations for this one because it was cheap and a little beat up but have come to like it more than all the rest because it has....personality. It can be really sharp. The colors can be very deep and accurate. But sometimes it flares and usually the corners are...whimsical. The built in lens hood has lost its grip so I've lashed it into its fully extended position with ample helpings of black gaffer's tape. The first R to L adapter I used on the lens was a bit loose so the lens vacillated between focusing on infinity and just pretending to focus on infinity, which made for a bit of healthy user friction. But every once in a while the camera and this lens really bang out some nice images and it's the most fun to use.
I like all the lenses but I like the little, cheap, used Leica zoom the same way I like a clumsy puppy. It's adorable and has potential.
What am I saving up all my discretionary cash in order to buy next?
I think I would really love to play with the Leica 24-90mm f2.8-4.0 SL lens. It's supposed to be really sharp and contrasty and it covers my favorite focal lengths well. It's big, fat, heavy and ponderous but we'll keep the smaller Leica zoom I talked about just above.
I turned in all my post production, etc. this morning. I delivered it to the client on a 1 terabyte HD. I'm happy with how smoothly the whole process went. Ready for the next round.
7 comments:
Whimsical corners!
Re: Leica 24-90: I suggest you rent the lens before making a purchase decision. I had the lens on a Leica SL. It was a heavy duo. No need to lift weights to build arm strength.
This has nothing to do with zoom lens. Just made a 13x19 enlargement of an iphone photo that was run through enhance in Adobe Raw.
Everyone should try it. I was amazed.
Adobe just enhanced my Panny FZ2500 1" 20mp to 80mp.
"Panasonic 24-105mm f4.0. My all around, most leaned on, extended normal lens. It covers everything. If I were a rational human I'd just own this lens and the next one on my list"
Yep. With modern FF mirrorless a 24-105 and 70-200 f4 pair of lenses can do most things that most photographers need. I have the Canon RF 24-105 and am amazed at how much better it is compared to similar previous standard zooms. I plan to add the 70-200 f4 soon and will try to add little else if possible. I only wish the price of these type of lenses had not gone up so much in recent years. It used to be the f4 zooms were for the poor guy who couldn't afford the f2.8 versions, but now are priced like the f2.8 lenses of just a few years ago. Money aside I don't want to carry the extra weight of the f2.8s even if they costs the same. That 20-60 looks pretty interesting too. I wish Canon made something like that or someone made a small 20mm prime but that seems out of style for some reason.
My only zoom is the Fuji 16-80mm f4.0. I may never need another.
I remember the “slow” 17-40mm Canon zoom that I owned many years ago. I always felt it was lacking, because all the talk online suggested it was slow, thus a weakling compared to its 16-35 2.8 or 24-70 Canon siblings. And yet, when I view some of my favorite pictures I made back in 2007 most all of them were made with the 17-40mm. Hmm, what would be such a lens in the L mount world today?
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