35mm BEATS 50mm! Here's Why...

What's your favorite lens? (There are NO wrong answers! 🙃)

35mm F1.8 is almost glued to my Sony A7IV. It's my go to lens.

x10 thumbs up..I made my choice = 35mm yes!

hi! great video man, i really enjoy it. I have a question tho. I'm very very new in the photography world, and as i'm trying to find the best (and FIRST) camera and lens for my style (which i think is street photography in low light) i'm watching a bunch of video trying to understand if its better the 35mm or the 50mm. but i have a really big doubt. Since my camera would probably be aps-c if i decide that the 35mm is better, on the camera won't actually be 35mm, but more of a 56mm. so maybe i should buy a 24mm so that on the camera will actually be a 38mm and more close to a 35mm? while with the 50mm it's like having an 80mm whitch i think is way too much? i'd really appreciate a clarification on this. Thank so so much brov

I also agree with Joris. I bought a relatively inexpensive nifty fifty for a Canon dlsr many years ago and very quickly realised that it was only usable in very limited scenarios.

It spent most of the time in the bag and rarely saw the light of day.

I now have a Sony A7 iii and am looking to add a prime lens to my collection and will almost certainly opt for the 35mm option.

The image is high resolution and cropping an option if required with no loss of detail.

What are you using to shoot this video???

I like that recommendation: "When your back's against the wall, go for a 35mm!"

I don't think, I like distortion in a person's face - so I don't use the 35mm for portraits of ppl period. Cityscapes, landscapes, street photography it is good for that, but I still prefer the 50mm; even though, I own both. Also, to come-back and fix it in Photoshop seems to me like you're creating an extra step for yourself that you could just avoid by switching to a 50mm when your doing portraits / close-up of people. Again, it's not flattering to distort a person's face, in my opinion. I agree no lens is perfect, and no lens is a 'One Size Fits All' situations.

As a strong Bressonian/geometric composition lover, I think I'll stick to my 50mm lenses. I think 35mm is great as you said, but it is not my style when it comes to making strong geometric composition.

When i go simple, i use my 35 and 85 primes. If i need versatility i go with my canon 28-70 f2 which is the best zoom lens i have ever used any system, and my 85 1.2

Yo compre el 24-105 f4l RF y ahora otro que quiero es el 35 mm

Where are your photos as a photographer? I mean your portfolio, where to find it?

Well concluded! If I were to keep only one (prime) lens, it’s gonna be a 35mm. And an all-rounder 24-70mm.

yup 50mm just too thight in small space

35mm in APS-C = 50mm full frame.

I love my 50! I also love my 35. Each have their place and best-use scenario.

Personally, I want a 35mm for shooting outdoors and getting more in my frame. Depending on how much room I have, the 50mm doesn't do very well in tight spaces.

HOWEVER, the 50mm reigns supreme when taking concert shots. A LOT of venues have guard rails now to keep people back. If you are allowed to bring your camera in, but you don't have a press pass, chances are that you aren't able to pass that threshold. The 50mm gives those nice close up shots for focusing on 1-2 people on stage. When shooting the whole band, the 35mm is better.

Long story short, it really depends on the type of work you are doing. There is no wrong way, and as someone said on another video, you can zoom in with your feet towards the subject, even in tight spaces. You can't zoom out depending on how tight the space is.

Which camera and lens did you used to make this video and what is the distance between you and camera

This was very helpful, and addressed some of my uneducated suspicions. I feel more free filming on my phone indoors, compared to something better with a larger lens. I will upgrade when it makes sense for my goals. Thank you for helping me not waste money.

This video does help. I have a K10D Pentax body only that I've owned but never used because at the time I was Canon guy. Tried selling it at various garage sales and found it recently during this old camera resurgence so I was stoked. I've been mixed between getting a 35mm or a 50mm and with your explination I think for me and what I want to use it for, the 35mm is the better choice if I just want one lens. Thank you.

naaa man 50 is amazing. 1.2 has been crazy. 35 is nice too but 50 is king IMO

Good discussion and I agree. 35mm is my alternative to a standard zoom when I want keep size down for personal shoots. For events I'll use a standard zoom along with a flash for versatility.

Yeah, more versatile != better. 50 is great.

135 f 2 is best lens. Ha

At some point in my journey I started preferring the 35mm as well. Your video is the most comprehensive material I've seen on this topic. It makes a lot of sense too the part about indoor vs outdoor, and having a lens that works in bright light and low light. Thanks!

yessss ive been legit thinking about this lately cause I wanna get a DZO vespid prime and I don't have the budget to snag multiple focal lengths and ive been thinking buying the 35mm is the best option for all around workhorse lens and then renting a wider/tigheter lens as needed - and then normally my go to lens is the sigma 24-70 which I realized I normally bump it to 35mm anyways for most any shoot for the exact reason you said, distortion; it just adds a little too much warping if you get too close, but 35 mm seems to be a nice fall out where you can move around more and not worry

that’s helpful! Thanks, n btw u’re so dope

Take a 35mm gmaster ( my favorite) put any a7r series camera in crop mode and voila you get a 50mm perspective. Ots muych easier to do it in camera and using your feet than guessing what it will look like in post cropped

Which lens do you recommend to shoot videos in concerts (low light) with a Sony a7iii, is this one a good option?

50mm for life. nothing can beat it. 35mm is in the middle of nowhere. In fact, it has no excuse for existence. In my opinion!

I personally prefer 50

You are me, in different universe

I have never used a 35 but I love the 50mm..I will check out a 35mm

shout out to joris for wearing a sonic youth Tee!

What if im using an original black magic pocket cinema camera that has super 16 crop factor of 2.8 that makes my 35mm a 70mm?😢

I was a 50mm fanboi until I got a Sony rx1r. I have finally seen the light 😂

Hahaha.. you are right.. i always shoot in 40mm in my Lumix. It is wide enough for me.

Had to learn this lesson the hard and expensive way on a friend’s wedding day. Fortunately it was his third ceremony (don’t ask) and I didn’t give up my day job. Thank you for making my learning clear, Joris!

Why do you have 82mm filters linked in the description when they are too big for the lens, no?

True! 50mm (closest to the focal length of a human eye)always boring as well .

This was great

I have a 35, 50 and 85 in my kit.
I just can't seem to find something the 50 can do that the 35 can't.
And the 85 rocks portraits compared to the 50.
I WANT to like the 50 more but I just can't find any reason to.

For me, 40mm is the perfect compromise between field of view and background compression.

I've been using my Konica Hexanon 40mm f1.8 a lot for video projects and I've ended up using it exclusively for a recent music video.

It's up to personal preference of course, but 40mm is the most natural looking lens for me. Great for run and gun stuff too!

I acknowledge that this is a subjective personal thing, but I've had two 'nifty fifties' in the past 40+ years — I still have one — and I must have used them half a dozen times, at most, during those four decades. I've just never got the 50mm focal length, and every time I dig it out of the mothballs and try it again, I'm just completely at a loss as to why it's so beloved. 35mm is by far my favourite focal length for general use, and yes, you're right, it's just MUCH more versatile.

NO , pro users still using 50mm for all

I currently use the Sony 14mm 1.8 GM. Finding it really good for video so far. Slight distortion on edges if close to objects or doing vertical. But I found once you enable a7iv 4k60 crop, active stabilization etc. You can push it to around roughly 24mm-ish and still get more pixels than you'd typically need to edit with for 1080p/social media. Also have the Sony 90mm Macro 2.8 lens for portrait stuff. Looking for a good in-between prime. Tour video has me leaning for the 35mm as it seems more versatile (can push it close to the 50mm in crop mode too). That 50mm 1.2 seems dreamy for night photography though. Hard choices lol

I agree with most arguments - a 35mm/1.8 is very versatile for environmental portraits, because you can go relatively close to a person, and displaying also their close close surroundings. On the other hand: Remembger Henri Cartier-Bresson who became a world famous photographer with his images from the street mostly taken with the Leica 50mm F2.0 Summicron ...