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Re: [OM] DPReview on the "standard lens"

Subject: Re: [OM] DPReview on the "standard lens"
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 16:03:35 -0700
Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> Ummm.  Did anyone actually read the reference I posted?  The definition of a 
> standard lens as a geometric reference was the whole point of the article.
>   

I understood that to be the case, which is why I didn't read the 
reference. AG's first line captures the point for me.

"What is the issue? Rules? Are there laws of physics being broken?"

There is an important place for standards. Enforced standards for 
mortgage loans might have been a good idea.

On the other hand, there are folks who enjoy setting standards for 
matters of taste and art, perhaps because they enjoy that activity more 
than the actual activity for which they are busy setting rules. I don't 
wish them ill, but do ignore them as soon as it becomes clear what they 
are about.

I think the idea of somt sort of overall 'standard' focal length is an 
oxymoron. Distance and focal length are the two important variables the 
photographer has to control angle of view and perspective. It seems a 
particularly silly thing to worry about in  a time where one must go out 
of one's way to find a camera with a fixed, single focal length lens.

The same seems to me to be true of fashions in photographic style and 
subject. Not long ago, I wandered through a fairly large collection of 
prints at the SF fine arts museum. There were only a handful, a quite 
small percentage, that I would show in my house, let alone pay money for.

Does that meant that someone is wrong, and someone else right? No, only 
that tastes vary. Same thing for focal lengths.

I particularly like the story of Roger Kingston, who collected over 
decades a rather large hodge-podge of bits and pieces of photography of 
no or minimal  then current value for his own enjoyment and to his own 
taste. The collection has been appraised at $4.3 million. 
<http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/03/the-kingston-collection.html>

Moose
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