I have always found myself having difficulties getting along with 35mm. Shooting with 35mm lenses like the Leica 35mm Summilux I once owned, or the Fujifilm X100VI with it’s 23mm lens being a 35mm full frame equivalent field of view, often made me feel lost in the middle. I didn’t get the wider view that allows for context like you get with a 28mm in the Leica Q or even a tad wider with something like a 24mm. Nor would you get the tighter framing that makes 50mm such a joy to shoot with, without losing the ability for at least some context as you get when you head towards short tele lengths and beyond.
If you want the best of both worlds, get two lenses. Or a zoom, but that is not my thing. Wide and short tele are a perfect two lens setup, but if you want one lens, you are usually stuck with a 35mm or a 50mm. Until recently, that is. Because many more lens manufacturers are bringing out lenses in the sweet spot between 35mm and 50mm.
Leica has released its Q3 43 with the wonderful APO 43mm F2 lens. Sony has a great 40mm F2,5 option for its lens mount. Nikon does a nice pancake 40mm F2. And Ricoh also has a 40mm equivalent option with its Ricoh GRiiix.
Even though it has been missing as a lens option for decades, the 43mm focal length has a long history and can be seen as the first true standard lens. Here is what Leica has to say about it as background for the release of the Q3 43.
“A 43 mm focal length sounds surprising at first. But it is one of the most natural to use together with a full-frame sensor or 35 mm film. The inventor Oskar Barnack recognised this in the early 1920s when he picked the Leitz Milar 42 mm ƒ/4.5 as the first lens for the original Leica.”
If I could have one prime lens to shoot with, it would absolutely be a 43mm lens. Of course there are compromises, like with any focal length, and it is a personal preference. I know people who love their 35mm and others who would never part from their beloved 50mm. Some use the original Leica Q 28mm lens as their one lens option. To each their own.
My love for 43mm became clear when I was shooting Pentax for a while. The Japanese company, that likes to do things their own way, released their FA 43mm F1,9 lens in 1997. A few iterations were made over the years and I ended up using this lens quite a bit with my Pentax K-1 mkii. I loved shooting this lens and carry it as the only prime and nothing else. If I would go out and do landscapes or more elaborate shooting, I would go for a two lens option with something wider like a 21mm and a short tele. For just taking one lens, the 43mm is by far my favorite focal length. The K-1 body was a bit chunky for an everyday carry so I got rid of it eventually.
This year I was reintroduced to the 43mm focal length when I was shooting Fujifilm digital medium format for a while. The 55mm F1,7 is about 43mm in full frame. It is a beautiful lens. Despite its size and weight, I did go out and use it as a one lens kit. The output is spectacular, but digital medium format is still too clunky to justify the gains you get from that bump in sensor size and glass. The thing that stuck with me though, was the 43mm equivalent perspective. Again, I felt right at home.
It is great to see more options around the 43mm focal length coming on to the market. One of them seems like the obvious choice for me. More on that later.
For now, enjoy some more shots taken at 43mm.
