Rorslett's Rule and Short Telephotos for the Df

[Tristin]

If their cries become too nagging I can always babysit one for ya Bjørn.  I guess I'd be willing to help you out 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

...
My choice was a 55/3.5 Micro Nikkor-P, 105/2.5 Nikkor-P and a 24/2.8 Nikkor-N. Later I added a 35/2.0 Nikkor-O, 20/3.5 Nikkor-UD
....

The classic line-up of Nikkors. I used it for decades in the earlier days of my career.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

If their cries become too nagging I can always babysit one for ya Bjørn.  I guess I'd be willing to help you out 

But then what about the Noct-Nikkors? The UV-Nikkors? The APO-Lanthars? The 300/2.8s? And so on. The mess is complete. There always will be complaints and disgruntled members of the lens arsenal.

[Andy]

I certainly wouldn't mind the old 200mm f/2 getting cheap hehe 

I guess you will enjoy it ....

...... and to support your efforts to look for one ....


more AiS 200mm/2 snippets are here

rgds,
andy

[oldfauser]

Not ever hearing of Rorslett's Rule (makes a lot of sense!), I ended up with a 24mm, 50mm and a 105mm in my "light" bag for my Df.  Only variation is adding my 85mm AF-s 1.8 for the grand kids. 

Question: how do you choose between the 20mm f/2.8 AI-s, 24mm f/2.8 AI-s or the 28mm f/2.8 AI-s?  (I can also through in my 35mm Nikkor-O f/2 AI converted).  I'm almost all of the time debating which one to take.  I think of the 20 and 28 as more of a "special" lens, especially the 28mm as i love the closeup capabilities of it.  I end up taking the 24mm as in my mind it is the best compromise.  Thoughts on the "short end" of the rule?

Art

[Roland Vink]

With a 50mm in my kit, I usually go to 28mm as my wide lens. 24mm is closer to the 2x (or 1/2x) rule from 50mm, but I find as you approach the wider angle of view the apparent difference between one lens and the next is greater than with telephotos. So for example the difference between 24 to 50 feels greater than 50 to 105, so 28 ends up being a better fit (for me anyway). Sometimes I'll add a 20mm or 16mm fisheye below that if I feel like going really wide.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

To be honest, I never heard of the 'Rule' myself - before saw it posted here on NG .....

My approach has always been to bring lenses so widely different that there is never any doubt which of them to use on a given occasion. That almost directly leads to a requirement of having focal lengths being double or triple of the others.

I shot for many many years basically with a 24/2.8, 55/3.5 Micro, and the 105/2.5. When I deemed something even longer was appropriate, added the 200/4 maybe topped by a 400/5.6. As the lens kit increased, other kits such as 35/2, 85/1.4 (or f/1.8 ), 180/2.8, or 15/5.6, 28/2, 50/1.4, 105/2.5, and so on were tried. On my stay as a Visiting Scientist in New Zealand I departed slightly by using 25-50/4 for the wide end, 85/1.4 for details and landscapes, and 200/4 Micro for close-up work.

The permutations probably are endless. Consider carefully any upcoming trip to decide what to bring and why a given lens should be in that kit. Never ever take everything with you. That only leads to a mess.

[Airy]

Rorslett's rule works well on the long FL side, and less well on the other side. I'd also rather go for the 28-50-105 sequence. Could not find any obvious mathematical "law" (correlation with angle, tangens...) that would correlate with the "feel". The "optimal" sequence is probably subject-dependent ; if it's all about people (individuals and groups), FLs shorter than, say, 28 bring about some usability problems (anamorphosis), and the shorter the more often, while buildings will always look good.

For reference, a French photographer known as "JR 28mm" nearly exclusively uses that FL, including for portraits - see his book "Women are heroes", but he has drifted far away from academic conventions.

[Airy]

The permutations probably are endless. Consider carefully any upcoming trip to decide what to bring and why a given lens should be in that kit. Never ever take everything with you. That only leads to a mess.

Self-restraint is and old, proven recipe for improvement. And the more often lenses are changed, the less time for observing and shooting.

[John Geerts]

For reference, a French photographer known as "JR 28mm" nearly exclusively uses that FL, including for portraits - see his book "Women are heroes", but he has drifted far away from academic conventions.

Interesting you mention JR. In 2012 the Inside Out project was organised by Incubate with thousands of portraits of mothers. Strangly enough not mentioned on Wikipedia

Article in Tilburg  But it's all more about marketing than real photography...

[BW]

Self-restraint is and old, proven recipe for improvement. And the more often lenses are changed, the less time for observing and shooting.

I agree. If you keep a certain FL attached to your camera, there is never any doubt what you should do when a scene unfolds infront of you. Come in closer or back up.

[Fons Baerken]

Start with a small bag, i have been using the thinkthank correspondent 10, comfortably it only holds two smaller lenses and body, some extras like, battery, cards, a few personal items etc
Or simply go out with one lens, 35 or 50mm for instance
After all its a personal thing, i agree simple is better in general anyway.

[Airy]

Interesting you mention JR. In 2012 the Inside Out project was organised by Incubate with thousands of portraits of mothers. Strangly enough not mentioned on Wikipedia

Article in Tilburg  But it's all more about marketing than real photography...

He is : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JR_%28artist%29. Thanks for the link. Open another thread if you feel like.

[oldfauser]

Start with a small bag, i have been using the thinkthank correspondent 10, comfortably it only holds two smaller lenses and body, some extras like, battery, cards, a few personal items etc
Or simply go out with one lens, 35 or 50mm for instance
After all its a personal thing, i agree simple is better in general anyway.

I have an old Kata 3n1-11 that works great - carries the 24/28 - 50 - 105, filters and a tablet.  I find it the best way of "not taking everything!"  But because of that, i wonder about the "short" end...

I can only imagine the dilemma if i had a larger selection!

Art

[Akira]

Photography is my game, not my profession.  So, limiting myself to one lens is always challenging and enjoyable.  My current lens system consists of 7.5mm fisheye, 25mm standard, 200mm supe- tele (in m4/3 term).  Quite a bit extreme...

I haven't go out just with the 200mm, but often just with the fisheye.