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

Subject: Re: [OM] DPReview on the "standard lens"
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 15:38:20 -0400
I think y'all read a different article than I did.  I didn't see anyone 
trying to set a standard or convince anyone of what a standard should 
be.  All I saw was an explanation of how and why things are as they are.

Sheesh!

Chuck Norcutt

Moose wrote:
> 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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