Thirtyfive: The Versatile Location Lens

I love shooting on locations. It gives me more excitement than working inside a studio. Location gives depth to my story, adds more character and enhances my composition. However I can’t always have the luxury of being in a wide open landscape or a huge interior spaces, sometimes we have to work with what’s in front of us. When shooting in narrow streets or with small indoor spaces, working distance is a very important. Working distance is basically the distance between you (your camera) and the subject.

Sony A7Rm2 + Zeiss 35mm; 1/500; f/6.3; ISO 320

Sony A7Rm2 + Zeiss 35mm; 1/400; f/5.0; ISO 125

One of the best focal length for fashion and urban photographers is 35mm. My own favorite is the mighty Zeiss Distagon T* FE 35mm F1.4 that works superfast paired with the A7 series. The cons are probably only the weight and size (which is pretty huge compared to the FE 35mm 2.8), but the pros on this lens outweigh everything: a larger maximum aperture, faster shutter speeds and lower sensitivity settings in low light, as well as a shallower depth of field, and the super handy manual aperture ring on the lens barrel (which can be easily switches back to Automatic on the camera body).

Sony A7Rm2 + Zeiss 35mm; 1/500; f/4.0; ISO 1000

Sony A7Rm2 + Zeiss 35mm; 1/250; f/4.5; ISO 50

I don’t always use telephotos because standing faraway would make connecting with my model difficult. Not to mention, most urban studios are hardly big enough even for an 85mm. The 35mm focal length is one of the most useful, if not THE most useful focal lengths you can use. No more no harsh, awkward crops on your composition (especially on your vertical, full body fashion shots!).

Sony A7m2 + Zeiss 35mm; 1/1250; f/1.6; ISO 200

Sony A7m2 + Zeiss 35mm; 1/200; f/1.7; ISO 200, See more Sasha testshoot shot with 35mm and 55mm here.

This is the lens for you if you do fashion, street or landscape. What about portraits? Sometimes with a 35mm, if you get too close to someone they can appear distorted, but not always. I find the 35mm focal length great for portraits if you want to include the surroundings as well. It’s just wide enough without being too wide.