Focal length statistics thread

Since upgrading to Adobe CS4, I have had the chance of making smart collections in Bridge based on the lenses used (a long overdue feature in this program). Filtering those for the focal length of each shot gives some very interesting statistics. I attach here the result of the use of my EF-S 17-85mm, the kit lens of my 40D, during the past year. (Disclaimer: I am a casual photographer, even amateur would be an overstatement in my case!) The results of this analysis (shown below) are pretty amazing. And the interpretation equally straightforward: I obviously prefer wide angle and telephoto and don't care very much about anything in between. (Hmmm... this does sound a bit Rockwellish, doesn't it?) It made sense for me. Until recently, my favorite lens has been the 10-22 and always felt that, as a walkaround, the longer end of the 17-85 was a bit too short for me. Prior to knowing these stats, but with a distinct feeling in mind, I have recently got the 24-105L, hoping that it will be a better complement of my beloved 10-22. The stats of the 17-85 completely confirmed my suspicions. It will be really interesting to see the stats of my 24-105L a year from now ... Watch this space!

In the meantime, I encourage other POTN forumers to post similar stats for their favorite zoom lenses here. I think it would be really interesting and fun to see what habits different people have using their zooms ...

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When I see statistics like your chart I kind of wonder. Guess I was expecting to see the ends used mostly though. My take on it is that you did not have another lens with you and/or did not have time to change lenses - that is why the ends get used the most. The implication being, you should have used another lens perhaps?

Actually, I'm surprised to see that you used focal lengths OTHER than the ends as much as you did. You're around 44% on the extremes and used everything in between more than half. I did an exposure plot of my 24-70 and I hardly ever go to the extremes, but on my 70-200, it's usually either 70mm or 200mm.

It shows you would be better of with 17-40 f4 + 70-200. I have the same problem as you have. I mainly use my 17-85 at 17-25 and then only at 85. So I would rather exchange it for better IQ (17-40) and buy a nice zoom (70-200 2.8). That is my aim

I did the same thing with my last couple months of photographs.

I had a 17-85EFS lens and found out that I was also taking a lot of shots at both ends of the range.

I then bought a Tamron 18-270VC lens as I figured I could live with a 1 mm loss at the wide end but really needed more at the tele end.

With two small kids and only 1 camera body (and both likely to stay that way for a long time if my wife has her way) I didn't want to get into a two or more lens situation when taking pictures at the kid's events. Maybe I haven't taken the best pictures with a superzoom lens but I've gotten a lot I would have missed swapping lenses back and forth.

Don

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Well,

I find that we tend to heavily use the wide and long ends of our zooms (I am no exception).

I'm still using CS, lol, but I have the stats from a program called Exposure Plot.

(http://www.wega2.vande​l.nl/)

This is a graph of the FL's I use when working for the newspapers recently.

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You know, i heard once that generally people will use the widest or narrowest extremes of any Zoom..

Which is why I sold my 17-55, my Sigma covers the wide end well enough for my usage, and at 50 I'd rather have a wide aperture prime..

Ah well, i love zooms too

Yeah, I've definately been finding I stick to the wide or long ends of my EF 400mm F5.6L

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noodle_snacks wrote in post #7224693
Yeah, I've definately been finding I stick to the wide or long ends of my EF 400mm F5.6L

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LOL XD

I used the freeware exposureplot for my stats. Unfortunately I left the setting to round in 10s, so 55mm = 60mm on the charts. I only have 2 zoom lenses, 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS. It is so obvious I need something in between because I am always right around 55 on both. Ironically I also have a 50mm prime, so you can add about another 20% of my shots at 50mm, too.

So if this was your graph, what changes would you make to my lens lineup? Maybe a 24-85 or 28-135?

noodle_snacks wrote in post #7224693
Yeah, I've definately been finding I stick to the wide or long ends of my EF 400mm F5.6L

Hmmm ... interesting. Your graph bar falls short of 100%. I wonder ... which focal length did you use for the remaining shots you took with this lens?

:p

It is interesting how when you are thinking of a subject the perfect focal length is obvious, but as soon as you stick a zoom on the camera it's either too close or too far away

So you have been taking pix of something like your kids with your 50 - 150 zoom and mostly using it at 50 and 150. Then I hand you a 30 - 250 zoom and you'll be mostly using it at 30 and 250? Seems odd to me.

cfibanez.... inrteresting chart. Looks like you could use a 17mm prime and a 85mm 1.8 prime and be very happy with that combination.

noodle_snacks wrote in post #7224693
Yeah, I've definately been finding I stick to the wide or long ends of my EF 400mm F5.6L

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I have almost exactly the same profile with my nifty. I never realized all of the similarities between the 400 and the nifty before. They are almost identical.