Chair in Shadow

Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI lens. ISO 100; f/6.3; 1/160th.
Interviewed for Camera & Darkroom magazine in the 1980s, photographer Sally Mann said she used Olympus OM cameras, and that, if she were going to do any art work using 35mm film, she would use the 40mm Zuiko. She felt 40mm was ‘about right’.
There have never been many 40mm lenses on the market. Professionals tend to prefer 35mm for general work and amateurs have provided the market for the ubiquitous 50mm standard. And for many years now, manufacturers have provided zoom lenses with consumer cameras, and people take photographs without having to move to a better viewpoint.
However, one thing the digital crop sensor has done is to breathe some life into the 28mm prime lens, the old wide-angle stalwart from the days when an outfit consisted of 28mm, 50mm, and 135 mm lenses. On a crop sensor a 28mm lens provides a field of view of 42mm (or 45mm in the case of Canon sensors which are even smaller). 42mm is exactly the diagonal of a full frame sensor. It is as normal a viewpoint as it is possible to get for photography. Ah! The joy of being normal!