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How many Lenses do you carry at one time when facing the unknown?

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BobSC said:
T O Shooter said:
I took it Stacey was invalidating anyone that would chose to use a zoom. I thought I merely pointed out that her problem with using a zoom was highly unusual.
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It's not unusual at all, based on the many photos people post in these forums.
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It's unusual that she says she can take a good shot with a prime, but not with a zoom. Last chance she could pick a focal length on the zoom when she gets her "view" and duct tape the zoom. Versatility of a zoom with fixed focal length potential of a prime.

--
A Canon G5 and a bit of Nikon gear.
The trouble with normal is it always gets worse - Bruce Cockburn
 
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anotherMike said:
Interesting thread.

Personally if I'm headed out for landscape work, I kind of have a general sense of what lens range I'll need, yet I'll still cover my bases, which for me means a 20/24/35/50/135 kit. I might pick a smaller subset depending on what I'm facing. Probably no coincidence that I've spent the most time with those lengths in picking the very best options image quality wise for those lengths. But there are times when I just don't know, and that's when the tried and true 24-70 comes along; it may not be "the best", but it can deliver professional results between 28 and 60mm at distance every day and generally just doesn't let me down in any grand way, and there simply are times where I need the zoom flexibility. Then of course if I'm returning to the spot later, I'll know what I need and decide on which primes I'll bring.

-m
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Well, I've just got to ask: *which* 135mm, and why no 85mm?



85mm: it's not just for portraits any more
85mm: it's not just for portraits any more



--
"I like your pictures. You must have a nice camera!" -- "Thanks. I like your poetry. You must have a nice pen."
 
T O Shooter said:
Stacey_K said:
T O Shooter said:
T O Shooter said:
I took it Stacey was invalidating anyone that would chose to use a zoom. I thought I merely pointed out that her problem with using a zoom was highly unusual.
Click to expand...
It's not unusual at all, based on the many photos people post in these forums.
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And i have no clue where he got i was "invalidating people who use a zoom". I simply was describing a relevation I had about a year ago when i noticed if i went out shooting with a prime or two, I (note I said "I") was getting more interesting images than when I would go out shooting with a zoom. Yet somehow this guy is personally insulted and goes on a rampage....
--
Stacey
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A little over dramatic aren't you? And a little understating of what you said. Why would I be insulted - I have as many primes as I do zooms which invalidates your premise that I have a problem with primes. You stated you couldn't take a decent shot with a zoom assuming stale and boring equals bad images, I repeat what you said and you're annoyed with me?
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Stacey_K said:
Stacey_K said:
Stacey_K said:
Stacey_K said:
T O Shooter said:
I took it Stacey was invalidating anyone that would chose to use a zoom. I thought I merely pointed out that her problem with using a zoom was highly unusual.
Click to expand...
It's not unusual at all, based on the many photos people post in these forums.
Click to expand...
And i have no clue where he got i was "invalidating people who use a zoom". I simply was describing a relevation I had about a year ago when i noticed if i went out shooting with a prime or two, I (note I said "I") was getting more interesting images than when I would go out shooting with a zoom. Yet somehow this guy is personally insulted and goes on a rampage....
--
Stacey
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A little over dramatic aren't you? And a little understating of what you said. Why would I be insulted - I have as many primes as I do zooms which invalidates your premise that I have a problem with primes. You stated you couldn't take a decent shot with a zoom assuming stale and boring equals bad images, I repeat what you said and you're annoyed with me?
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Depending .... but at least 1.

1. DX Nikon 16-85. This gets me many, many shots and while I miss a few because I don't have something longer my philosophy is there is always something to take a picture of.

Then add if I want to take two.

2. DX Nikon 35 f/1.8

Minimal approach.
 
Light - D800E with 24/2.8 AF-D

Heavy - D3s (or D800E) with 24-70/2.8 on camera and 14-24/2.8 and 70-200/2.8 in bag.
 
T O Shooter said:
It's unusual that she says she can take a good shot with a prime, but not with a zoom. Last chance she could pick a focal length on the zoom when she gets her "view" and duct tape the zoom. Versatility of a zoom with fixed focal length potential of a prime.
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Yes, when I use a zoom, I look at the scene, decide how I want to shoot it, decide where to stand, select a focal length, frame and shoot, with maybe a touch up of focal length after getting my viewpoint how I want it.
 
You clearly have reading comprehension problems. I said my photography (that pesky first person again) had gotten stake and boring from my using zooms. I discovered it helps my visioning process (again first person, you don't seem to grasp this...) to only use one or two focal lengths at a time. It forces me to look for unique perspectives on thungs. So then you turn this personal and called me a liar? Seriously are you drunk?
--
Stacey
 
pw-pix2 said:
pw-pix2 said:
It's unusual that she says she can take a good shot with a prime, but not with a zoom. Last chance she could pick a focal length on the zoom when she gets her "view" and duct tape the zoom. Versatility of a zoom with fixed focal length potential of a prime.
Click to expand...
Yes, when I use a zoom, I look at the scene, decide how I want to shoot it, decide where to stand, select a focal length, frame and shoot, with maybe a touch up of focal length after getting my viewpoint how I want it.
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T O Shooter said:
Stacey_K said:
T O Shooter said:
You need a good zoom, some Xanax for the nerves.
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That is one of THE rudest things I have ever seen posted on this forum. You should be ashamed of yourself.

--
Stacey
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Chill out. It was a joke. He said he got all confused with a zooms, too many options, too many focal ranges. All I meant was take a deep breathe, it's not that big of a deal. Light up a joint and mellow out if that works better.

--
A Canon G5 and a bit of Nikon gear.
The trouble with normal is it always gets worse - Bruce Cockburn
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TO, I see you've been playing a game of "hot potato" with the sun. :)

Lots of people have clinical or subclinical "eccentricities." Do you know of Temple Grandin? She was a high-functioning autistic (and PhD!) who was so sensitive to environmental stimuli that she built herself a "hugging" machine to calm and comfort herself!

The celebrated neurologist, Oliver Sacks, in remarking on people like her, noted that "There may also be, very prominently, a large range of abnormal (and often "paradoxical") sensory responses, with some sensations being heightened and even intolerable, others (which may include pain perception) being diminished or apparently absent" (Sacks, 1995, p. 245).

Here's something else from the famed psychologist Kay Jamison at the Johns Hopkins' School of Medicine. In her memoir, "An Unquiet Mind," she reminisces about here extreme sensitivity and emotionality in childhood. In describing her attempts to cope with this aspect of her personality, she supplies this choice insight: “The Chinese believe that before you can conquer a beast you first must make it beautiful. In some strange way, I have tried to do that..." (Jamison, 1997, Prologue). The "beast" here is her mind.

Photography can be cathartic and meditative for a lot of people. I can understand why they might eschew zooms in favor of the slower pace afforded by a prime or two.
 
If I am going light, the f/1.8 G trio of 28/50/85.

Heavy, Tokina 16-28 f/2.8, Nikon 50 F/1.8 G, Nikon 70-200 f/4 G. Maybe a Tokina 100 f/2.8 macro too.

+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Aaron Killen
 
Stacey, not saying anything is BS. Just noting that it's possible to work with zooms as though they were primes (for me at least). I often go out with just a prime or two, but even with zooms it goes the same. I see a potential shot, think hmmm I want compression is space to stack up those shapes, zoom to 70mm, find where to stand to frame it how I think it will work, shoot. Or I may think, hmmm I want to emphasise the foreground, zoom to 24mm, find where to stand to frame it how I think it will work, shoot. I don't usually see, stand and zoom to frame.
 
Stacey,

you may have already seen these article by Mike Johnson, but it ties in with what you were saying and supports your idea.

Loading…

theonlinephotographer.typepad.com

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theonlinephotographer.typepad.com

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theonlinephotographer.typepad.com
 
pw-pix2 said:
Stacey, not saying anything is BS. Just noting that it's possible to work with zooms as though they were primes (for me at least).
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I understand and appreciate what you are saying and that you added "(for me at least)".

I should add, many times when I go out shooting for fun, it's about the process as much as the results. I like to challenge myself by doing things like only taking a fisheye, I spent a whole day shooting in Savannah GA with just a 8mm fisheye on my D7000. I ended up with several cool images I would probably not thought "Oh let me get the fisheye out". I saw the shot because I was looking for fisheye shots.



Or maybe I will go to a place people would typically think of as a "landscape" location with a 105mm portrait lens, looking for details. I probably would have walked right by this shot and taken a wide angle shot of the whole tree if I had a zoom on the camera.



Doing this forces me to think outside the box. My whole point was: not that primes always produce better results than zooms. But that for me personally, I enjoy the challenge of shooting with one or two primes and this seems to improve my creative vision. Part of this is likely because I have been shooting regularly for 30 years and it keeps the process from becoming boring and keeps my shots from all ending up looking the same (stale). It took me a while to figure out that this just really works well for me.

--
Stacey
 
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For about a year I only had an X100. To just be "restricted" to 35mm was a great lesson for me. After a while I got to the point where I would know *exactly* where to stand to get the framing I wanted. Then I would bring the camera to my eye ;-)

Sure, i would miss some shots with only one FL, but I also got some of my best shots ever during that period.

The creative process has many paths and "restrictions" (self-imposed or otherwise) can be liberating.
 
Felts said:
For about a year I only had an X100. To just be "restricted" to 35mm was a great lesson for me. After a while I got to the point where I would know *exactly* where to stand to get the framing I wanted. Then I would bring the camera to my eye ;-)
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That's how I am with the 24mm, I see a shot and raise the camera, and there it is.

Anything longer in an urban/industrial context and I find I'm standing too close and have to work back.
 
pw-pix2 said:
Felts said:
For about a year I only had an X100. To just be "restricted" to 35mm was a great lesson for me. After a while I got to the point where I would know *exactly* where to stand to get the framing I wanted. Then I would bring the camera to my eye ;-)
Click to expand...
That's how I am with the 24mm, I see a shot and raise the camera, and there it is.

Anything longer in an urban/industrial context and I find I'm standing too close and have to work back.
Click to expand...
 
Stacey_K said:
You clearly have reading comprehension problems. I said my photography (that pesky first person again) had gotten stake and boring from my using zooms. I discovered it helps my visioning process (again first person, you don't seem to grasp this...) to only use one or two focal lengths at a time. It forces me to look for unique perspectives on thungs. So then you turn this personal and called me a liar? Seriously are you drunk?
--
Stacey
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I just love people who are "too funny"

For my comment to SOMEONE ELSE, not YOU, said in jest to someone who I thought was joking about his difficulty in using a zoom

"You need a good zoom, some Xanax for the nerves."

I got from you "That is one of THE rudest things I have ever seen posted on this forum. You should be ashamed of yourself."

But you say to me

"You clearly have reading comprehension problems". and "Seriously are you drunk?"

Thanks for the laugh. Again "too funny" :-D :-D
 
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