16mm or 23mm for indoor, your opinion?

[val]

I've had my 23mm F1.4 and the only time I want the 16mm F1.4 is for photos of my food.

[Nero]

I have both the 16mm and the 23mm. If you're mainly trying to take photos of people with one of these lenses, I would say the 23mm. It's very useful for other purposes too and I don't think it's too close to the 35mm. The two complement each other quite nicely. If you want to be taking photos indoors where you capture the place more than the people, then the 16mm would be my choice. For people, the 16mm is wide enough that you may need to get uncomfortably close to photograph them. Even if it's family, sticking a camera right up in their face can have an impact on them that changes their expression or presentation in the photo, not to mention possible distortion. For street photography, that might not be as much of a concern, but not really for family/social photos in my opinion. I was part of a team that my employer sent to CES this year and one of our affiliates managed to make the cut for Best of CES Finalist in the Maker category, so I was there taking photos and it got really busy and crowded around that booth. The 23mm was perfect for that situation.

[Stealthy Ninja]

I own the 23mm and I was considering the 16mm too. So I got out my 16-55 and tested the difference. It's essentially two steps back and your 23mm becomes a 16mm (well not really, I mean it covers the same field of view). So for me I decided it's a bit too close to 23mm. I might get a Samyang 12mm though.

 

The 16mm would be good if you want to shoot wide and close. But for me the 23mm is the more versatile choice.

 

However, since you own a 35 already I'd go for the 16mm since it would compliment it more.

 

Here's what I think are good two lens combos.

 

16mm and 35mm

23mm and 56mm

 

Personally I went for the latter.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Stealthy Ninja

[NWPhoto]

I have a 35, f2 so I'm picking up that 16, f1.4 when it goes on sale May 22nd. I do a lot of shooting in Italy and a nice fast wide is great in those medieval hamlets with narrow streets and broad piazzas. I was atop the Duomo in Firenze (atop it's dome)  in Sept 2015 shooting with a 10mm rectilinear prime and everyone loves the look. And shooting in crowded streets and piazzas with shallow DOF is just great stuff.