Lenses, saloon brawls and getting out of Dodge

[John Kasaian]

Say you've just started a brawl at Rosa's Cantina, over the affections of a comely senorita with her jealous boyfriend. The Town Marshall is headed down the street with a sawed off scattergun to put an end to this nonesense. You've just been thrown through the window and are recovering on the board sidewalk in front of Rosa's Horseshoe.
Jose, her boy friend is on his way out with a drawn .44 and is still mightily perturbed. Directly in front of you is a hitching rail with twelve saddled horses tied up, all different colors and breeds and sizes.
Which one are you going to use to make your escape?

I think for a new photographer, choosing a first lens is kind of like that.

[E. von Hoegh]

Hard to go wrong with a Plasmat from any of the major manufacturers.

[Michael E]

Which one are you going to use to make your escape?

If you ask the guys at the bar, each will recommend the horse he rides himself.

[Vaughn]

If you ask the guys at the bar, each will recommend the horse he rides himself.

The hell they would...I'd take the horse belonging to the biggest guy that didn't have a gun. No sense in having another guy shooting at me! And the horse has to carry my weight, and not have my boots in the stirrups and my knees in my face!

My first lens came with the camera as a kit (new) -- I just got lucky. It was a Computar Symmetron 210/6.3. Sharp as a tack.

[E. von Hoegh]

If you ask the guys at the bar, each will recommend the horse he rides himself.

Not me. I have one Plasmat and five Dagors. Six if you count the Angulon.

[BarryS]

So, I'm a no-account lowlife from a z-grade Western and I don't even have my own horse? Looking down at my thinly-written script, I see that I need to hop on the freshest looking horse and fire my gun into the air a few times to panic the other horses as I ride off--laughing and threatening to return. In the short breaks I have while the posse chases me, I'll be looking for a lens in a modern shutter with lots of coverage.

[Vaughn]

Not a low-life, your horse is just over at the blacksmith's up on blocks getting a new set of shoes and the alignment checked.

Good coverage is important...

[Brian C. Miller]

I think for a new photographer, choosing a first lens is kind of like that.

Honestly, for me, no.

I found, after replacing and adjusting my Super Graphic's ground glass, that the Wollensak really is quite good. It was quite some time before I bought another LF lens. The main point is to have a lens, or at least a pinhole. Then learn to use the camera, and get out and make images!

As for the story, the best bet is to just run around the corner. Stealing a horse is a hanging offense, and José is going to be liable for the window glass. After José calms down a bit, apologize, pay for the window, and buy him a drink.

[E. von Hoegh]

What's a CLA on a horse cost?

[Tony Lakin]

Say you've just started a brawl at Rosa's Cantina, over the affections of a comely senorita with her jealous boyfriend. The Town Marshall is headed down the street with a sawed off scattergun to put an end to this nonesense. You've just been thrown through the window and are recovering on the board sidewalk in front of Rosa's Horseshoe.
Jose, her boy friend is on his way out with a drawn .44 and is still mightily perturbed. Directly in front of you is a hitching rail with twelve saddled horses tied up, all different colors and breeds and sizes.
Which one are you going to use to make your escape?

I think for a new photographer, choosing a first lens is kind of like that.

Sounds a bit like El Paso