lens usage statistics, interesting

02/17/2021 12:41:32 PM · #1

I have been looking at the usage of my lenses during the past 18 years of digital photography (the library filter in Lightroom can show camera details and those statistics I copied and pasted into Excel).

Over the years I have been using:
* A Sony DSC707 wide a 38 -190 mm zoom lens (35 mm equivalent)
* A Nikon D70 with either 27-105 or 105-450 zoom lens, or the 27-300 zoomlens (18-70,70-300,70-200 on DX)
* A Nikon D7000 with the 27-300 zoomlens (18-200 on DX format)

I found:
* around 30 % of my images are shot at the widest lens angle
* around 45 % of my images are shot at a focal length up to 50 (35 mm equivalent)
* around 10 % of my images are shot at a focal length above 190
* the rest is fairly equally divided in between, with a slight decrease in percentage from wide to long

So, as result, when considering new equipment, I think I am probably better of with a full frame camera or with a wider lens than anything else (unless I plan to go more specialist with macro or really long for wildlife)

Eye opener for me.

Message edited by author 2021-02-17 13:43:23.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

02/17/2021 03:21:29 PM · #2

I've never looked at this, though I certainly could as I am a long-time Lr user. I'll have to take up the challenge...

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

02/17/2021 04:30:07 PM · #3

What does your lens angle have to do with full frame?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

02/17/2021 04:55:41 PM · #4

Originally posted by posthumous:

What does your lens angle have to do with full frame?

The DX sensor is smaller than a full frame sensor and as result it covers a smaller portion of the image projected by the lens. This is the crop factor, meaning that an 18 mm lens on a DX sensor result in a field of view equivalent to a 1.5*18=27 mm on a full frame.

Seeing that apparently my usage is very much skewed towards the widest angle available, if I want to cover even more in my images, I could go a step further by using full frame instead of a DX camera (provided my lens is suitable for full frame as well and not only for DX), or I could go for a wide angle lens on my DX, for example a 10-20 or 12-24 zoom, going below the 18-200 I currently have.

Message edited by author 2021-02-17 16:56:29.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

02/17/2021 06:08:58 PM · #5

Originally posted by kirbic:

I've never looked at this, though I certainly could as I am a long-time Lr user. I'll have to take up the challenge...

It would also be interesting to do this for aperture and shutter-speed; I'm pretty sure that over half of my shots are at the widest possible aperture.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

02/17/2021 08:10:48 PM · #6

thank you for explaining. interesting that you want to go so wide. I'm sure you can get some interesting shots that way.

02/18/2021 03:50:44 AM · #7

Originally posted by posthumous:

thank you for explaining. interesting that you want to go so wide. I'm sure you can get some interesting shots that way.

I often feel I am unable to get enough into the frame when doing landscapes, so more and more I am doing small panoramic images of just two or 3 frames to get the wide view. The software is so good in alignment that it often does not require a lot of manual adjustment. That's the really cheap alternative, no new hardware required.