I sent you some images 😊

You can send me some photos at
jeff.chanemouye@gmail.com

Cheers!

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Jeff. Makes a lot of sense.

I just came back from a family trip to Norway and the 35mm is really growing on me.

As you say, it’s great for composing. I feel, I can be more precise in my images and more selective compared to the 24mm. This seems like a good thing to the resulting images. And shooting Leica M10 Monochrom, the 35mm is the ideal focal length for the built-in framelines too. So it’s very quick and intuitive to work with.

I don’t have any images online, but I’ll be happy to share some, if you shoot me an email.

Best,
Mads

Hello Mads, thanks for dropping by.
I started to shoot 35 mm during a trip to Thailand in early 2024. Before that I was only a 28 mm shooter. So 8 years of 28 mm and only shooting 35 mm for the past two years. I could have stayed with the 28 mm but I felt at a time that I was repeating myself relying on the same gimmicks beiing close to the subjects. It was my way of photographying for a long time. Personal space invasion to get what I wanted. But I got tired of this and wanted to try something different by stepping back from the subject. But I still wanted something wide enough and I decided to try the 35mm. It was intimidating as I knew perfectly my 28 mm FOV and I needed to learn the 35 mm FOV. What focal do I prefer ?
Well I like it wide. I even tried for a time the 21mm with my Ricoh GRD IV. I had to get even closer than when I used a 28 mm ! A bit too much but I did it for fun.I think that the 35 mm is my fav now. It’s wide enough and it’s perfect for composing.
Sometimes, depending on the situation, I switch to the 28mm. It’s not because I think that the 28 mm will be better than the 35 mm, but just because I need a wider focal at this time.
I like to stay consistant and keeping only one focal for my street work.
Concerning the immersive feeling, I think that for having shot exclusively with the 28 mm, I kept the habbit to fill the frame, by getting close or adding elements in the composition.
I do use the 50 mm but only on my Fuji X-E2. No street work, but only for family stuff. It’s just for the pleasure to manuel focus with a super bright lens : 50 mm f0.95. I love this lens and it gives me the Noctilux effect of the Leica lenses. Just for fun. But as you mentionned, 50mm is too narrow. I can’t get enough context …
If you have a link to your work, I would be delighted to see it !

Cheers Jeff

Great blog and images you got going here!

Having now shot extensively with both 28mm and 35mm, which do you prefer overall and find most versatile?

I shoot reportage/documentary of my family life all in b/w and have until recently been shooting 24mm as primary focal length with a 50mm as secondary. But I have come to the realisation, I prefer shooting with one focal length only and the 24mm to 35mm range being my fave. I don’t really like 50mm after all.

So, I have now set out to “relearn” the 35mm (having shoot both 28mm and 35mm a lot in the past) as I guess, it’s the most versatile for what I shoot. And the classic reportage focal length for a reason.

I’m still learning standing further back than when I shot 24mm, and trying to give an immersive feel to my images, which is slightly harder with the tighter 35mm FOV. But looking at your images, you really give the feel of being in the scene even with 35mm. Well done!

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Best,
Mads

I have never had a GR that last so long. Do you believe that I’m using the same camera for more than one year?? I kept this camera on the shelf for more than 5 years before using it. I had it brand new back in 2019, but in the end, it was some kind of second hand one when I decided to use it at my primary gear.
I have very little usable cameras. Just a Ricoh GRD IV with some flaws. All the other ones are broken. And of course just the living dead x-e2…
I’m heading to Cape Town in September. A week of English courses and a week of holidays by myself overthere. Join me and we can fix your motivation_vision on street photography! 😋