canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2021-08-25 10:20 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2021-08-25 10:20 pm
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My fallback wide angle lens
Last week I noted that I've been without my super-wide angle lens since dropping and breaking it 2 months ago. Yet in the series of blogs I just posted about our trip to Garrapata State Park last weekend I shot some of the photos with a super-wide lens. Did the repair shop fix it lightning fast? Did I give in and spend $1,000 on a new one? Neither. It turns out I already had another super-wide lens on the bench waiting to get back in the game.
![My fallback Zeiss 12mm f/2.8 lens [Aug 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/770814/770814_original.jpg "My fallback Zeiss 12mm f/2.8 lens [Aug 2021]")
I bought this lens, a Zeiss 12mm f/2.8 prime, in about April 2014. I know the date to within a month plus or minus, in fact, because I can bracket it with my blog. I bought my first Fuji X series camera, an X-A1 in March 2014. I was already using it by June on a hike along the PCT near Mt. Shasta. As I've mentioned before (though not in these words until now) my blog is like a data backup of my brain. 😂
"Why buy two super-wide lenses," you might ask, "Particularly when these lenses are not inexpensive?"
Well, I bought this lens almost immediately after buying that first Fuji camera because I knew having a super-wide was critical to my photographic style. At the time there were only two choices in the category, Fuji's own 14mm prime and this Zeiss lens. I chose the Zeiss lens because it was wider and because of the quality associated with the name (though the Fuji 14mm was no slouch). In the 9 years since then several more super-wide lenses have come to market, including a Fuji 10-24mm f/4.0 zoom lens not too long after the Zeiss 12mm appeared. Tests showed Fuji's super-wide zoom had great image quality so I bought one. It quickly became my main workhorse lens. The Zeiss got shelved.
"Okay, but why keep two super-wide lenses?" you might ask.
Many photographers sell their older lenses when replacing them so they can plow more money into buying new lenses or other gear. Countless times over the past several years I've kicked myself for not doing so. I probably could have gotten $400, maybe even more, selling this lens. In most respects it would've been the right thing to do. Ultimately I didn't because I was lazy. I didn't want to deal with the vagaries of selling an item at that price via eBay, craigslist, etc.
Now I'm glad I've kept this old lens all this time, because I can pull it off the bench and send it into the game. It still works great, shooting pictures probably as good as new. And while it lacks the versatility of the Fuji's 10-24mm zoom range its 12mm focal length fills an important gap in the rest of my lens collection.
![My fallback Zeiss 12mm f/2.8 lens [Aug 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/771018/771018_original.jpg "My fallback Zeiss 12mm f/2.8 lens [Aug 2021]")
One thing I've appreciated anew about using this old lens again is how compact it is. The first picture in this blog shows the lens with the sun shade attached, making it look way bigger and bulkier than it actually is. The picture immediately above shows how small it is with the hood detached. It's nice to have a small(ish) lens in my bag right now since "the brick" I bought earlier this year takes up so much space... and weight.
But still, I'll be glad when I get my 10-24mm super-wide zoom back.
I bought this lens, a Zeiss 12mm f/2.8 prime, in about April 2014. I know the date to within a month plus or minus, in fact, because I can bracket it with my blog. I bought my first Fuji X series camera, an X-A1 in March 2014. I was already using it by June on a hike along the PCT near Mt. Shasta. As I've mentioned before (though not in these words until now) my blog is like a data backup of my brain. 😂
"Why buy two super-wide lenses," you might ask, "Particularly when these lenses are not inexpensive?"
Well, I bought this lens almost immediately after buying that first Fuji camera because I knew having a super-wide was critical to my photographic style. At the time there were only two choices in the category, Fuji's own 14mm prime and this Zeiss lens. I chose the Zeiss lens because it was wider and because of the quality associated with the name (though the Fuji 14mm was no slouch). In the 9 years since then several more super-wide lenses have come to market, including a Fuji 10-24mm f/4.0 zoom lens not too long after the Zeiss 12mm appeared. Tests showed Fuji's super-wide zoom had great image quality so I bought one. It quickly became my main workhorse lens. The Zeiss got shelved.
"Okay, but why keep two super-wide lenses?" you might ask.
Many photographers sell their older lenses when replacing them so they can plow more money into buying new lenses or other gear. Countless times over the past several years I've kicked myself for not doing so. I probably could have gotten $400, maybe even more, selling this lens. In most respects it would've been the right thing to do. Ultimately I didn't because I was lazy. I didn't want to deal with the vagaries of selling an item at that price via eBay, craigslist, etc.
Now I'm glad I've kept this old lens all this time, because I can pull it off the bench and send it into the game. It still works great, shooting pictures probably as good as new. And while it lacks the versatility of the Fuji's 10-24mm zoom range its 12mm focal length fills an important gap in the rest of my lens collection.
One thing I've appreciated anew about using this old lens again is how compact it is. The first picture in this blog shows the lens with the sun shade attached, making it look way bigger and bulkier than it actually is. The picture immediately above shows how small it is with the hood detached. It's nice to have a small(ish) lens in my bag right now since "the brick" I bought earlier this year takes up so much space... and weight.
But still, I'll be glad when I get my 10-24mm super-wide zoom back.