mainly one lens shooters...what makes them tick?

[oftheherd]

I started out using cameras with only one focal length. I just thought that was the way it was supposed to be, and I learned to shoot that way. When I got back into photography in the mid-70s, I saw all the neat lenses and how they could be used to advantage. I wanted them all. I soon discovered I wasn't crazy about teles afterall, but used them when I thought the were needed.

I still use folders with fixed lenses and don't give it a second thought. I often enjoy using only a 50mm, but with a 35mm camera, I expect to have flexibility unless it is a FFL RF camera. For a long time I only had a normal lens for my Super Press. I wanted more but I was quite happy just using the 100mm lens.

I am leaning more to using FFL lenses over zoom if I have interchangable lens cameras. None of that really answers your question. But I think it possible that many of us have no problem using what is available. Some do prefer using only one FL, or mostly one FL. I am not one of them. Nonetheless, I can be comfortable most of the time with a camera with a FFL lens.

 

[maddoc]

I have never met a famous photographer in person but the few really good who I happen to know care / talk less about equipment and more about prints, exhibitions, books and competitions ...

 

[Steve M.]

I think it's like that in all art forms. Some people experiment continually, but most find a particular look that they like (or that sells) and stick w/ it. It's much more extreme amongst painters, where you'll often see people painting essentially the same painting the rest of their lives! I think that the galleries and economics push them that way, but in the end it's the artist's decision. In photography, you can still use just one lens and have unlimited opportunities to make different types of photos. But most people don't.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

I feel that too many different focal lengths throughout a series or group of pictures come across a little weird. I do find myself using 35mm almost exclusively, although I do have options for 15, 21, 50 and 90mm as well. I usually need a good reason to use another focal length (specific subject, environment, etc.). On the other hand, 21 + 35 or 50 + 90 can be well combined, if balanced well.

 

[sig]

No tick, no 'forces me to see in one focal length', no arty farty mysterious reason, just me being lazy. 1 camera is enough to carry.

 

[jsrockit]

I like to be close to my subject, I like to know what will be in my framelines before I even put the camera to my eye, and I that a 35mm lens is wide, but doesn't distort much. That is why I use a 35mm equiv almost exclusively.

 

[Livesteamer]

Every time I go on vacation I pack lots of equipment and end up using just some of it. At home it's mostly 1 camera/1 lens. Before my daughter came it was a 35mm lens. Now it's a 50mm. I agree with Paul. Keep it Simple. Joe

 

[dovi]

Variety is the spice

Variety is the spice

I think this is really the downfall of this forum for new, inexperienced photographers. It stresses the equipment being used, instead of learning through shooting.

I remember when I started shooting with the 28mm lens. I felt I had discovered something that I should have known long ago.
I think the only way to know which focal length works for you is to use them, and sometimes it takes a minute to get used to a lens.

I think it is natural for phoogs to have a bunch of lenses even if one is preferred because the curiosity involved with photography will at some point make you want to try different angles,times of day, weather conditions, crops, subjects and focal lengths. I think you learn what you like over time.

I also think that as we get older we become less interested in change.as well as more sure of what we want.

 

[Bob Michaels]

<snip> rambling...do you think the 'famous' choose one lens because of their vision?
what makes/made them do it?

Last year I was speaking with Chris Usher, who spent 10 years in the White House press pool and also shot his own project "Behind the velvet rope" about what went on behind the scenes as they worked. He carried a M6 with 35mm Summicron / TriX for his personal work in addition to the normal 2 pro DSLRs with zooms . The occasion was an opening of his personal series at the SouthEast museum of Photography. I was in a group that was mostly photo students at Daytona State College. A student asked Chris about his limited choice of equipment for his personal photos.

While in conversation and never glancing down at the M6 around his neck, Chris adjusted the shutter speed, aperture and focused on the person asking the question entirely by feel. He then handed the camera to someone and asked how he did. "Perfect" was the response. Chris told the students that one needed to keep gear simple and familiar so all those adjustments were reflexive background tasks so you could devote attention to what you were photographing.

 

[semilog]

I like to be close to my subject, I like to know what will be in my framelines before I even put the camera to my eye, and I that a 35mm lens is wide, but doesn't distort much. That is why I use a 35mm equiv almost exclusively.

I also use a 35 a lot... often alone but sometimes with a second lens.

...but let's be serious: it's not so difficult to learn the FOV for more than one lens: 35/90, etc. In fact this is one of the great strengths of the M-style RF — the frameline preview lever is very useful for learning what different lenses can see.

When I can manage it I like to carry two cameras, one wider and one longer. 35mm on an M and 85 on a Nikon is one combination. It's notable that the 75mm framelines on my M almost exactly match the real FOV of the Nikkor 85/2. Another combination: 50 on an M and 28 in the Ricoh GR-1. That combination is especially useful as it gives me two cameras with the bulk and weight of one + a small extra lens.

 

[kbg32]

There are other focal lengths besides 28mm???!!!!

 

[Tim Gray]

I agree with a lot of what is being said here. As an addition to my post, I should say that even though I have multiple focal lengths and often travel with more than one, I rarely change lenses during an outing. On big trips, I might take two bodies with me with different lenses mounted, swapping back and forth if need be, but if I've only got one body with me, it's typically got one lens on it the whole time.

 

[ElectroWNED]

for me, only the XA, and it is poverty.

but, if I had enough money to buy a Bessa R3M and a Nokton 40, I could still be poor but never lacking.

 

[Bob Michaels]

Bob, I took a look at your web site. I think the Cuba section has a typo. Rum?

"$2 to buy a bottle of run offer a drink"

Nice photos.

I sincerely appreciate that. Although I am not a good proof reader, I do abhor typos and misspellings. I have already corrected it. That update has only been up for a few hours so hopefully no one else noticed it.

 

[sar-photo]

My camera only has one lens 🙁

Well, two really - but then it is a TLR 😀

Simon

 

[froyd]

I agree about what's been said about artificial limitations being beneficial to the creative process. Fixed meter poetry seems to give evidence of this.

I have several focal lengths but I very rarely carry more than one at a time. When I go somewhere where I expect to take photographs, I select the focal length that I believe will best fit the type of subject I'm most likely to photograph.

However, what never ceases to amaze me is how the most interesting pictures usually result from being forced to use my one lens to photograph an unexpected subject, such as a landscape when I only have the 90 mounted on the camera, or an intimate portrait when the 28 was all I had.

 

[Mikeds80]

Personally, I'm just poor/ stingy/ lazy. I have a cheap zoom for my SLR but it is really only for insurance..and the occasional macro. I hate changing lenses once I'm out so I just leave the 50mm on. I could buy more primes or zooms but I don't really think most of them offer enough to justify the price for my uses. I'll probably get a 35mm or 28mm in the future but I don't feel any real need to own an expensive zoom. I guess I just buy stuff as I need it, and right now I don't absolutely need anything in terms of lenses.

 

[tofagerl]

I can totally see going out with 1 camera and 1 lens. The mindset is simply the same as a specialist - do one thing, and do it well!

 

[visiondr]

I'm a one lens guy mostly by choice, partly by necessity.
In the end, I love using just a 50mm (50 Elmar-M) for the same reasons I love riding a fixed gear bike; simplicity.
Also, read my signature...

 

[Frank Petronio]

I like the 40mm equivalent with my digital and 4x5.

I find it hard to do a "nice" headshot with a slightly wide lens. And I can't photograph birds or football games in a traditional sense.

But I can work around that and those often are more satisfying pictures.