I would like to carry two bodies with me and have colour film in one and B&W in the other. If you were to carry two bodies with different lenses on them, which lens would be preferred for colour film and which one for B&W? I would really like to learn from everyone's experiences and preferences so I will leave the specific focal lengths open to suggestion.

I am sure the answers will vary with individual style and interest in photography, and I think I can learn a lot because of that.

Thanks in advance.

Bill

-- Bill (Bill_Lee@telus.net), May 30, 2001

Answers

35mm Color and 50mm for Black and White.

Why? I do not know. But I'm pretty sure of my answer, looking back on actual experience. This is a more subtle question than it appears to be at first glance...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), May 30, 2001.

I wouldn't do it myself, but I tend to agree with Mani. God knows why, though!

-- rob appleby (rob@robertappleby.com), May 30, 2001.

I just ot back from a trip where I did same... I started as Mani indicated, because it seemed "right". However, I ended up reversed most of the time(!) In any case, for me there was no clear winner, and I often was switching lenses between bodies -- This experience got me really considering a tri-elmar for the color body!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), May 30, 2001.

I have never equated a focal length with b&w vs color and I can't imagine how or why there would be any correlation. I have not shot b&w in quite a while, now that grayscale conversion is a realtively simple matter, so my choice of color vs b&w is now done after the shot has been made. If my 2 bodies are not loaded with the same film, then one might be a faster emulsion.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), May 30, 2001.

I agree with Jay. In my experience, it has not made any difference as I have interchanged lenses for a given film whether bw or color, according to the circumstances and my vision of the subject.

-- Jean-David Borges (jdborges@home.com), May 30, 2001.

I have an old book written by Alfred Eisenstaedt, and there is a section in which he very honestly admits to errors that he has made over the years. During one important photo session with Marilyn Monroe, he was using two cameras with color and B&W film. He mixed up the cameras in the heat of shooting and miss-exposed the color film, which had no tolerance for the deviation.

I personally like to standardize... one film all of the time. I know it and how it acts in every kind of light. If I were shooting in your situation, I would go for the wider lens on the B&W only because cropping is easy with the print film, and while you can take away, you can't add after the shoot.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), May 30, 2001.

Generally I make no distinction between colour and B&W. But my rule of thumb is: negative film with 50+90 mm and slide film (to be projected) with 50, 35 mm and wider.

-- George (gdgianni@aol.com), May 30, 2001.