2213 - Framed

2012-11-07

In a way it always surprises me how much I like fixed longer focal lengths. It surprised me with the Sigma 70/2.8 on the Nikon D300, it surprised me with the Olympus 45/1.8, and it surprises me now with the Olympus 75/1.8. Somehow I always expect to have a problem with the narrow field of view, but really the opposite is true: I greatly enjoy walking around, seeing through this small frame, cutting details out of a big scene.

Apart from this simple pleasure, this image is also a good example for the fantastic image stabilization of the OM-D: I wanted some depth of field, thus I’ve stopped down to f8. Doing that on a gloomy day either forces ISO up or shutter speed unreasonably down. I chose the latter, and at an equivalent focal length of 150 mm, I happily held 1/13s and got a perfectly sharp image. Scary, huh?

The Song of the Day is “Framed” by Los Lobos, taken from the soundtrack of “La Bamba”. Hear it on YouTube.

There are 2 comments

Joe Jarosak   (2012-11-11)

I've always been a fan of prime lenses. When I first started using a 35mm camera in the 70's zoom lenses were not all that great for image quality. They are much better today but I've always gravitated back to primes. My all time favorite lens for my 5DMKII is my Zeiss Distagon 35mm, I don't even mind the manual focus. My next lens for my GX1 is going to be the Oly 45.

💬 Reply 💬

andreas   (2012-11-22)

I also prefer primes. Not strongly, but I do. My reason is not necessarily quality though, it's mostly the bigger aperture. The fastest zooms are normally constant f2.8, FT has some constant f2.0 lenses for insane prices, but just look at my current setup for MFT: 12/2.0, 45/1.8, 75/1.8, and all three together weigh around 500g. That's nothing, and at the same time they are faster than all zooms on the market. And it's not only that. I like the contemplative aspect of zooming with your feet. Interestingly I also like changing lenses. With the small size and light weight of MFT you can do that without setting down one of the two lenses. It's perfectly (no, actually reasonably) safe and I can do it while walking.

💬 Reply 💬