One Lens?

1750Shooter

1750Shooter

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Don't know if it's been brought up before, sorry if it has & anyone is offended. I know Roger has talked about gravitating towards one lens. Now I find myself using my 55mm Ais Macro-Nikkor most of the time. Anyone else find themsleves in the same boat?
 
This has been a topic here since RFF began. Its an attractive idea for many photographers that want to simplify gear and/or find a simple kit that matches their vision of the world.

I currently enjoy using a Voigtlander 40/1.4 on my Fuji XPro1 nearly all the time.
 
Jamie Pillers said:
This has been a topic here since RFF began. Its an attractive idea for many photographers that want to simplify gear and/or find a simple kit that matches their vision of the world.
Click to expand...

i think this is why the fuji x100 is so popular. i personally find it quite liberating. but then one day i wake up with a tele-craving...:bang:
tony
 
I tend to move to one length for a while, or more often a pair that I'll shoot almost exclusively for a time. These days it's a 21 and a 35.
 
I know that 35mm is the one for me, but which one? Lately, it's been the Nikkor-O 35mm f2 on an FM body. But then I like my Summaron f2.8 on the N3, as well as my W-Nikkor 35/2.5 on the Contax IIIa. My aged eyes are having trouble with RFs, so I'll probably land on the Nikon. I know how you feel about the Micro-Nikkor, though. Mine is a very old 3.5 and I love it.
 
Nah. One lens is not for me. Tried it out, didn't work for me.

I made a little statistic over the last couple of films recently (because I do want to rarify my lens kit) and found out that even my most-used lens, the C-Biogon 35, accounts for only 40% of my pictures.
 
Hi,

While I have three lenses now, I most often have the 35mm on the M6 just because it's the lightest, easier to carry and will get the job done day or night, interior or exterior.
Personally I love the rangefinder as I find it much easier to see the difference between doubled images verses out-of-focus or a little more in focus, etc. especially in low light.

Lately I've been thinking of getting a IIIg and a collapsible 50mm Summicon f/2 as a smaller daily carry.
 
I've spent a lot of my life shooting the same angle of view - 35mm for 35mm and 60mm on 645.

Now, while I have a lot of choices available, I most like the 35/2.8 Minotar on my Minox.

However, the camera I like the best has a 42/1.7 G-Zuiko, so, if I had to restrict myself to one lens only, it'd be that.


(but I'd still wish it had a 35 ;) )
 
There are two separate issues here, or possibly three.

The first is gravitating to a lens you use most, but still having other lenses you use when you feel like it. It's not so much 'one lens' as a 'standard lens'.

The second is a (substantially pointless, false-purist) decision to commit to a single lens, often before you really know which lens will suit you. As
Jamie Pillers says, this is the one that comes up again and again, ad nauseam.

The possible third is that your 'one lens' may change over time. For decades my 'standard' lens was my 35 Summilux. Now it's my 50 C-Sonnar. But I also use (sometimes) 15mm, 21mm, the old 35mm, 75mm, 90mm, 135mm...

Cheers,

R.
 
These days, the cameras I use the most are fixed lens. I like it that way, although sometimes I do miss my wide angle lenses a it. I enjoy the simplicity though, not saying it'll be that way forever, but right now, just a select few options suit me. That way, if I'm heading out, there is no great confusion about what to take.
 
After a decade or more of taking photography fairly seriously [as a hobby, no interest in earning a living at it, although I do work in a related field] I'm fairly confident that I know what my favourite focal lengths are, and what style of rendering I like. So I know I could commit to a 50mm (ish) lens in 35mm, and a 75-90mm ish lens in 6x6. I also know that I don't care particularly about sharpness in the corners, or a bit of vignetting, and that the quality of the focus fall-off from the in-focus to out-of-focus areas matters to me. This isn't quite the same as bokeh.

So, as per Roger above, I have personal 'standard' lenses. Two in 35mm (Leitz Summar, and the C/Y mount Zeiss Planar 50), and the 75mm Planar on my Rollei. I don't really have any interest in deliberating restricting myself to one lens for ever, or as a curb to GAS. Although, if I looked over a year's shooting, I'd probably find I could have done 90%+ with just one lens.

It _is_ quite fun to play with imposing strict limitations on oneself, just as a spur to creativity, though. I've spent (short) periods just using a 135mm (on 35mm), and have regularly gone away on holidays with just a single lens.

Matt
 
Thanks, Roger! Your first point was the one I was looking for. I have 20, 28, 35, 50, 55, 85, 105, & so forth Nikkors, but find myself using the 55 most. I used to use the 35 most, but...
 
There are two separate issues here, or possibly three.

The first is gravitating to a lens you use most, but still having other lenses you use when you feel like it. It's not so much 'one lens' as a 'standard lens'.

The second is a (substantially pointless, false-purist) decision to commit to a single lens, often before you really know which lens will suit you. As
Jamie Pillers says, this is the one that comes up again and again, ad nauseam.

The possible third is that your 'one lens' may change over time.
Click to expand...

Best way I have seen it explained.

I do have a standard go-to lens. But if that doesn't work I have a dozen of others.
 
Roger Hicks said:
There are two separate issues here, or possibly three.

The first is gravitating to a lens you use most, but still having other lenses you use when you feel like it. It's not so much 'one lens' as a 'standard lens'.

The second is a (substantially pointless, false-purist) decision to commit to a single lens, often before you really know which lens will suit you. As
Jamie Pillers says, this is the one that comes up again and again, ad nauseam.

The possible third is that your 'one lens' may change over time. For decades my 'standard' lens was my 35 Summilux. Now it's my 50 C-Sonnar. But I also use (sometimes) 15mm, 21mm, the old 35mm, 75mm, 90mm, 135mm...

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

I agree with this summary. I'd add maybe a fourth issue: gravitating toward one lens for a particular kind of photography, but not necessarily all kinds of photography. For example, I use a 35 (sometimes a 40) for street photography, but I still prefer a 50 for landscape work.
 
Jamie Pillers said:
This has been a topic here since RFF began. Its an attractive idea for many photographers that want to simplify gear and/or find a simple kit that matches their vision of the world.
Click to expand...

Indeed.


I gravitate towards a few lenses, but I still use all of them, even if occasionally. To me it's like wanting to eat all your food with only one fork (or one spoon...or one spork), that whole "one lens / one camera" bidness. Sure, it simplifies a lot of things, but it complicates others. Why complicate your life purposefully? Unless, of course, complications are the irreplaceable spice in your life.
 
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