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RE: [OM] Zuiko 85-250 vs Canon 70-200L (surpise?)

Subject: RE: [OM] Zuiko 85-250 vs Canon 70-200L (surpise?)
From: Joel Wilcox <jowilcox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 16:17:17 -0500
At 01:15 PM 4/14/99 +0200, Angel you wrote:
snip
>
> I am a landscape photographer, and when I go out with my cameras and
>lenses
>I say (as everybody) Fix or Zoom ?  For to choose I try to know if the zoom
>(on this case 85-250) is   better,equal or worse than what? Than my lenses
>of fixed focal lenght: 85 f 2, 100 f 2.8, 135 f 3.5 or f 2.8, 180 f 2.8 and
>200 f 4 or f 5. All we know that the intermedial focal lenghts on a zoom
>are a gift of the zoom tecnology. I can´t compare the 230mm or the 170mm of
>this zoom vs nothing.
>
snip

Hi Angel,

Personally, I think the worst things about tests (for which I am grateful
otherwise) is the indirect psychological damage it does to one's regard for
and pleasure in one's equipment.  One sees this in all sorts of areas:
cars, audio equipment, and here with camera gear. 

Having just returned from a shoot in the US Southwest, I reaffirmed that my
selection of zooms vs. primes is dependent upon one of two things:  the
most important is whether I am hauling the big or the small bag.  If I was
trying to do a quick hike in to scout the next morning's shot, I'd take the
Orion hip bag and the zooms, which are useful not only for those emergent
shots you weren't planning on, but for figuring out what lenses you will
probably bring back later.

The other reason I might select a zoom over a prime is that I don't have
every prime I might wish I had.  I had a situation in Canyon de Chelly
where I had to run back to the car to get my 35-70 because I couldn't get
the composition I wanted with a prime 50mm and needed something slightly
wider.  In situations like this, the versatility of the zoom is so
wonderful that I am glad that when I read tests I don't inhale much.

In my armchair, I enjoy reading lens tests and am grateful for them,
because I will never do them myself.  In the field I forget about them,
except perhaps to try to recall the "sweet stops" (about which there have
not really been many surprises in Gary's tests, I think;  I rarely shoot
lenses wide open, so I don't pay much attention to how well they hold up on
the fat end).  I have never been sorry that I have owned or made certain
shots with my zooms.  There are many shots I would not have gotten at all
without them.

This is not to say that you don't have valid reasons for wanting more
information about your zooms, but I would have to assume that since you own
both primes and zooms, you probably have a sneaking suspicion that the
primes are somewhat better at their respective focal lengths.  If the shot
calls for an 85mm, are you really going to question whether to shoot it
with an 85 prime or an 85-250?

Cheers,

Joel  

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