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How to find your Natural FOV

nostatic

New member
This is why I bought the 43/1.9 lens for my Pentax (64mm equivalent). Through the viewfinder it gave a representation of what I saw outside of it. Though in that case it was more of a size/magnification than necessarily framing/FOV.

The human eye/brain is an amazing setup.
 

Robert Campbell

Well-known member
I had to try to find my natural FOV recently. The expected answer was about 50mm equivalent FOV on full frame. However, I found mine to be around 90 mm -- as I had always suspected/expected. Makes working with wide angles difficult.
 

Streetshooter

Subscriber Member
It's not that you actually have to marry your FOV. It's about framing and getting what you see. I have a shooter that does sessions with me. He complains that he can't see 4/3.
He insist that 3/2 is more natural to him. I asked him if he ever watched TV?

Eureka......So now he's getting a GF1 for his side kick. Even very talented shooters get a roadblock sometimes.
It just seems like I live in a roadblock.......well, maybe inside an accident...

But the point is, to try to open the mind and work with what you have instead of fighting and posturing for position with the camera/lens.

It's funny, with my 8 x 10 Deardorff, I can see a subject, plant the Reis, put a lens on and it's right there...

With my Pen, I have the 17 on and the same thing happens...until I get stupid and start moving around...in the end, that move around image, nice as it may be...is not a keeper...hardley ever.

Photography is like visual poetry. When you compose the image and raise the camera, the poem either works or it doesn't. It's just a nice feeling to look at your work and say....

"Geeze, I really saw that".

I didn't invent this stuff, it's just things I learned along the way. Fortunately for me I spent time with the best. I learned from them.
It's all out there..... for me, it's an M4 and a 35 Cron or a Pen with the 17....

and of course I have to be stupid again and am fighting with the lovely 20 1.7....shooter
 
W

wbrandsma

Guest
It's not that you actually have to marry your FOV. It's about framing and getting what you see. I have a shooter that does sessions with me. He complains that he can't see 4/3.
He insist that 3/2 is more natural to him. I asked him if he ever watched TV?

Eureka......So now he's getting a GF1 for his side kick. Even very talented shooters get a roadblock sometimes.
It just seems like I live in a roadblock.......well, maybe inside an accident...
I am sorry Don. For me 4:3 is a roadblock. I hate it, I hate 4:3 for every TV I had, and every intro I made for video reels. And I hated it with screen resolutions for pc monitors. My mindset is on 3:2. Didn't learn it from the best, did not learn it from anyone, but it is just how it feels natural to me since I started photography at the age of 8 (28 years ago). I would much rather learn to adapt to 16:9 then to 4:3. Maybe it has to do with the fact that 4 is not my lucky number.
 

Streetshooter

Subscriber Member
Wouter,
that's the beauty of art. Artist see and capture what they see differently.
I love 3/2 also but I grew up on TV so I am used to seeing that format.

Funny, more often than not, If I make an image and it seems off to me, it's just a slight crop from the top or bottom to get it right...and of course that would make it 3/2.

(Hey, can I say the crop word around here?)
 
W

wbrandsma

Guest
I don't know. That is you choice as an artist. I personally don't prefer to crop. When I think an image is off I throw it away.

I grew up with TV too. Did do motion graphics work for some video production companies, but had tough times creating work for 4:3. Was glad however to make the transition to wide screen.
 

Streetshooter

Subscriber Member
Wouter,
You misread me....I haven't cropped an image in almost 40 years. That's why the FOV is soooo important.
Back in the old days, using a black border around the image was supposed to be proof that the image was as seen and not cropped.

I'm still a purest at heart...hmmm, in the mind too.
I still don't crop....
"Not that there's anything wrong with that".
 

nostatic

New member
I crop however I want. I figure that rules are made to be aggressively ignored at least sometimes. It depends on what I see and how I want to represent it. I am not documenting, I am distorting. There is no such thing as documentation - every shot has bias.

I'm not saying that cropping is right or wrong, or that using the ratio given by the camera is right or wrong. I go through stretches where I will force myself to shoot and crop different ways. But in the end I come back to the crop tool and generally will unclick the "constrain ratio" box.
 

Streetshooter

Subscriber Member
That's really what it's about, right.
Each finding his/her own way.

I learned a Lesson from George Krause back in the early 70's. He printed each image to it's own unique size.....I just looked in awe at his images and most were a different size. It was enlightening. I tried it many times with my enlarger but to no good result. Even now I'm stuck in my size for images, even tho I know better.

So, nothing is right or wrong. It's all about your intent and how it shines in the image.
I hope he ain't reading this.
 

Lili

New member
Don,
Something that seems related to the idea that each image has its 'natural' size; I once read a quote from a Large-Format photographer that large subjects should shot with a large negative. This appears to be related in that something so shot could be printed far larger so the viewer could appreciate the detail and scale of the subject better.
Of course it can be as simple as a striking, simple and bold composition can work well in small sizes whereas a subtle, byzantine-level-of-detail subject works best view Large.
nur meine zwei pfennigen
 
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