Just read this interesting line......

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A quote from an article I stumbled across whilst googling about shooting street stuff, but it really hit home with me and makes perfect sense. Amongst other things, he says, "The best fashion shooter I ever met just had one lens. It was a Hasselblad 150. The front element looked as though someone had put a cigarette out on it. She didn't own any other lens so she never had to think about which lens she would use or how she would work. She just did her work and it was stellar. No choices, just the right choice. No confusion just vision. Amazing. But now we're all so fearful we feel like we need to have "all of our bases covered" even when we're just doing this for fun. That's why it's not as much fun."

Of course, the make of lens is irrelevant. My friend Ian often accuses me of overthinking photography. Those of you who I have conversed with on here would probably agree. I am going to try this if I manage to get out over the weekend. :)
 
Yep i have been giving this a go,sometimes just taking out my Fuji X100s,but saying that just brought another lens :rolleyes:
 
Yep fully agree..........I have so much choice it does make me over-think a little. Believe it or not I took more photos when I had only the one lens, but, I don't want to sell the others.
JohnyT
 
I'm a little bit in this boat. My main 'walkabout' gear is 5D2 & 50/1.4 - I've done several Spanish beach family holiday's with just that too. I have a 17-40L which is 99% land/seascape only which I only take when I know I'm going to use it. Last year I sold my 85/1.8 & Sigma 70-200/2.8 & bought a 135L which still falls behind the 50mm for usage even though it is a lovely lens.

So, 5D2, 50/1.4, 17-40L, 135L, Redsnapper tripod, 10 & 3 stop ND's & a Lee filter kit. More than enough for me to get by with :)
 
gazmorton2000 said:
But now we're all so fearful we feel like we need to have "all of our bases covered" even when we're just doing this for fun.
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I think there's a point where you can let go of that and I think it's the point where you finally start understanding exactly what it is you really want. I used to carry a crazy amount of gear in a huge bag everywhere I went because I didn't really know what I wanted to do, I'd just shoot random stuff and see what I liked but now I'm really starting to know what I'm after it's completely different. Most of the time now I head out with one camera and one lens (5D2 + 24-105L) and it does exactly what I want it to do. It's actually a really liberating feeling when you suddenly realise you don't *need* 15 kilos of gear!
 
Gaz
Pro's that obsess over gear are very rare, generally speaking it's hobbyists who overdo the gear thing. Lots of great photographers may appear to have a load of kit, but it's more about redundancy than it is about collecting shiny things.

You'll see it all over the equipment threads, people obsessing that if they buy such and such lens they'll have nothing to cover the 20-24 or 55-70 focal length. It's bloody hilarious, I used to shoot weddings on MF, 95% of the shots were on the standard prime lens, with a swap to a tele for a couple of portraits.

The most common misconception in photography is that it's about the gear. It is about the photographer, always has been, always will be. Modern auto cameras just allow people with moderate ability to create OK pictures easier, and good photographers to create good pictures easier, and in a small way help great photographers create great images easier. They're just tools. And the people who believe anything different, well - so are they :exit:
 
Phil V said:
I used to shoot weddings on MF, 95% of the shots were on the standard prime lens, with a swap to a tele for a couple of portraits.
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I sometimes get our wedding album out, just to have a look at the image quality. It was shot in 1992, by a mate who used to be a very keen photographer. He used a Canon AE1 with mostly the prime lens and sometimes the 135. He certainly managed to get all the shots, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the quality or composition.
 
I'd strongly recommend trying to shoot with just one focal length for a while if you've never really done it before. I stuck to a 50mm prime for a while, which was usually too long for a lot of stuff (crop body) and too short for most of the rest, but it's makes you think much more about what you're doing.
 
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hmm sometimes its good to just have one option, others you want more, and apart from ultra wide, you can cover a big focal range for cheap now with old lenses, and you can get ultra wide adapters of meh quality
 
When I first got into photography, all I had was an old (even then!) Pentax S1a with a separate meter clipped onto the prism and a 50mm (? f/2.2?). After a couple of years, I managed to scrape enough together for a 135 of some sort. Didn't know anything other than a limited kit bag so didn't miss what I'd never had. I'm now lucky enough to have most bases covered and the problem now is that when a grab shot appears, Nod's law applies - wrong lens fitted! From time to time I do go out with just one lens option but that's almost always a zoom these days.
 
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