Just a little fuel for the fire in the never-ending debate re 17-55 vs 28-70.
A couple of notes of interest to start -- I have always been a telephoto kind of guy and the 70-200VR is quite possibly my most favorite lens of all time.
Uncle Frank was kind enough to point me to the thread by Paul regarding the focal length stats app. Neat little program -- thanks, guys. I just returned from a little vacation on the Redneck Riviera and took a buttload of pics with the 17-55, 85/1.4, and 70-200 (some with TC14) -- the only lenses I carried -- so I aimed that little app at the folders containing the images from the trip to see what it would tell me.
Now, it's a given that focal length use is dictated by style, preference, and subject matter -- mostly by the style of the shooter on a particular subject or event. What *I* do means it's what *I* do, nothing more and is not a suggestion anybody else would do the same. My shots from the trip covered a very broad range of subject matter and situations. Given my predilection for the telephoto end of things and the fact I am currently deeply on love with my new 85/1.4, I was *very* surprised at one little factoid revealed by the stats app. I know my tendency has been leaning towards the wide end lately but was somewhat shocked to learn fully *58%* of my shot total was WIDER than 28MM. Whew! Yep -- over half my shots were from 17MM to 27MM. What can I say? ((shrug))
I thought the results looked a little goofy so did an investigation and discovered a large number of shots taken during a fireworks display I had forgotten about, all at 17MM. However, after removing those from the equation, I am still at 47% of total use from 17MM to 27MM. Quite a surprising number to me considering I had from 17 to 280 at my disposal.
The results were also a little skewed by the oppressive heat and humidity. Had it not been quite so danged hot, I would have spent a LOT more time chasing beach bunnies around with the 70-200.
Phil
A couple of notes of interest to start -- I have always been a telephoto kind of guy and the 70-200VR is quite possibly my most favorite lens of all time.
Uncle Frank was kind enough to point me to the thread by Paul regarding the focal length stats app. Neat little program -- thanks, guys. I just returned from a little vacation on the Redneck Riviera and took a buttload of pics with the 17-55, 85/1.4, and 70-200 (some with TC14) -- the only lenses I carried -- so I aimed that little app at the folders containing the images from the trip to see what it would tell me.
Now, it's a given that focal length use is dictated by style, preference, and subject matter -- mostly by the style of the shooter on a particular subject or event. What *I* do means it's what *I* do, nothing more and is not a suggestion anybody else would do the same. My shots from the trip covered a very broad range of subject matter and situations. Given my predilection for the telephoto end of things and the fact I am currently deeply on love with my new 85/1.4, I was *very* surprised at one little factoid revealed by the stats app. I know my tendency has been leaning towards the wide end lately but was somewhat shocked to learn fully *58%* of my shot total was WIDER than 28MM. Whew! Yep -- over half my shots were from 17MM to 27MM. What can I say? ((shrug))
I thought the results looked a little goofy so did an investigation and discovered a large number of shots taken during a fireworks display I had forgotten about, all at 17MM. However, after removing those from the equation, I am still at 47% of total use from 17MM to 27MM. Quite a surprising number to me considering I had from 17 to 280 at my disposal.
The results were also a little skewed by the oppressive heat and humidity. Had it not been quite so danged hot, I would have spent a LOT more time chasing beach bunnies around with the 70-200.
Phil