There's also the "40mm mystique" for 35mm small format on top of that.
The heuristic definition of "standard" focal length, one that approximates
the perspective of the human eye, is focal length equal to the diagonal of
the film frame. In 35mm small format, the diagonal of the 24mm x 36mm
frame is 43mm. This makes the 40mm lens is _closer_ to the heuristic
definition than what is accepted as the standard lens for 35mm small
format, the 50mm.
Why is the 50mm considered standard? IMO it is one of the vestiges of the
Leica "A" which was the first successfully marketed 35mm camera made by
Ernst Leitz in 1925. It was fitted with a 50mm lens.
At 00:51 1/1/01 , Doris Fang wrote:
>
>
>On Sun, 31 Dec 2000, JUANITA M. ALMEDA wrote:
>
>> What is so great about that 40 mm lens?
>
>
> They're very small and light. Rare, too.
>
> *= Doris Fang =*
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