3 replies to this topic

[2017commuter]

It's interesting how people go about selecting lenses based on recommendations, either from the classical interpretation of what has been used by famous photographers or personal anecdotes. However, while most lens recommendations fit the average photographer, there are some of us that don't have the standard focal view point. An example is the selection of the "normal lens". Some choose the standard 50mm or 35mm. Some prefer 24mm, 28mm or even 85 mm. There is no right or wrong, but it can be costly if you buy based on recommendation only.

 

So here is my tip for the day. Choose the lens that fits your view point based on actual use. We all have some sort of kit zoom lens or 2 that cover the typical wide to telephoto lens range, especially as beginners when they buy a DSLR with a standard 2 kit lens bundle. Before considering another lens purchase, such as prime lenses, spend a month or 2 or even a year taking photos with your zoom kit lenses. Then download the freeware program, Exposure Plot 1.16 at www.Vandel.nl and analyze your results.

 

This program can be directed to search all your photo files and plot on a graph visually, what focal lengths you have been using. By analyzing your data, you can determine your favorite focal length(s). The program can also tell you graphically what aperture, shutter speed, and ISO you've been using.

 

By no means am I suggesting you buy another lens just using this data, but it does help you make a better informed decision.

 

Ed.

[Jerry_]

Ed, good recommendation to only buy lenses based on real needs.

This reminds me of an exercise that I did about a year ago, using querys in Lightroom and then entering the data in Excel, ending up with the following graph:



Liking to capture landscapes, I found most of my focal lengths in the lower end.

Even so the querys were using ranges of 10mm from 0-200 and ranges of 100mm above, the main peaks were more aligned to current lenses focal lengths (incl. approx min/max of zoom lenses), with almost no difference between DX and FX sensors (even so they offer different fields of view).

Possibly I give the software you mention a try.

Can you show us the graphs it did produce for you?

[2017commuter]

Hi Jerry, your graphs look great. I'm having a problem pasting my graphs, but I'll figure it out and post them. 

 

The great thing about about Exposure Plot is that not only will it analyze the data in your entire photo collection EXIF data, but you can filter out the type of camera you are using. In my case I can select lens data only for either my D750, D200, V1, or RX-100. And did I mention it is fast gathering the data, depending on the amount of photos you have and the speed of your computer.

 

Ed.

[Laurie in Maine]

I tried this experiment but I may need help interpreting what it says. My next wish list lens is a 10-24mm... ish

 

2nd experiment was trying to paste photos from my new album here without uploading them somewhere on the internet first?