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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