The Little World

Laugh all you like at the use of the word ” standard “. There are no end of standards in the world for all sorts of things and few people agree on what they should be. But you can put the technical definitions side and just note what cameras were equipped with in the 1940’s and try to replicate that.

By which I do not mean that you go out and find a Leica IIc with Luftwaffe markings or a Combat Graphic with a film pack. I mean you look at what the average Joe or Johannes was using. The 35mm or small TLR camera. Insofar as photography was practiced – permitted or otherwise – it was done with standard lenses. In the case of the 35 mm frame this was 50 mm focal length and in the case of the twin-lens reflex 80 mm. Here’s what these translate to in today’s digital cameras:

a. Compact cameras and underwater cameras – about 9-10 mm focal length.

b. Micro 4/3 cameras – 25mm focal length.

c. APS-C cameras – 35mm focal length.

d. Full-frame cameras – 50mm focal length.

These choices give you an angle of view that subtends 47 degrees. Some people say that this approximates human vision. I wear glasses and it is not that for me, but the camera is different.

Remember the last column where I told you to get down to a scale height from the tarmac? Well you’ll have a better chance for it with the prime lenses from each maker than you will with a zoom lens, but even then you’ll be struggling with anything much above the APS-C. The Micro 4/3 offerings in 25mm from Olympus or Panasonic may be your easiest option in interchangeable lenses, and the underwater camera held upside down is also a neat solution to this – albeit with other quality problems…

You may have to content yourself with a slightly high point of view or resort to professional trickery to overcome this. More on that later…

Note that the best compromise for depth of field in your shots will be with the Micro 4/3 or APS-C cameras. You’ll want to find a lens with the shortest close-focus distance that you can get and one that can be switched to an effective manual focus.