This week I thought I'd see which kind of lenses you find yourself using most frequently. A lot of people have multiple lenses and other people who use the zooms on their Point & Shoots can answer too since those lenses go through a range of focal lengths.
For this poll, we'll group lenses into 3 categories: Wide-Angles, Normal, Telephoto. From
wikipedia:
- Wide Angles: Anything from 7mm to about 35mm. This includes super-wide angles and fisheye lenses.
- Normal: This is usually around 35mm-55mm (going a little extra on this one to include the far end of many kit lenses which end at 55). Depending on the size of your sensor, the "normal field of view" may be a smaller or larger focal length.
- Telephoto: This is about 55 and longer (well, it has to be given the numbers, otherwise some lenses may end up in a black hole of non-inclusion). This includes everything from short telephotos to the really long super zooms (1200mm lens anyone?
).
Macro lenses haven't been included in the poll as a specific answer because even if you do use a macro lens frequently, you don't have to use it at the closest focal distance. Do tell us though if most of your shots are taken as macros (and of course, which length lens you're using for it).
For Windows users it's incredibly easy to find out what focal length most of your shots come from with
ExposurePlot (Freeware). I've yet to find a Mac or Linux version, so if you know of something similar, feel free to post it.
One great thing about this is that the same scene can come out totally different ways based on the lens that you're using. It's
totally a creative decision. There's no reason why you can't take a portrait using a super wide angle lens or a landscape using a telephoto.
So, which set of focal lengths do you find yourself using most often?