One Lens?

suppose the one lens theme (issue 2) is often an attempt to struggle oneself out of the gas- circle instead of a photographic issue.
 
I could never commit to one lens on one camera. I may, as others have said, tend to use certain lenses with certain cameras (the 50/3.5 Elmar on my Barnack, for example), but I like to change things up. I rarely change lenses "on the fly"--usually I make that decision before I leave the house and/or carry a second body with a different focal length.

While there may be merit to this in theory, it's a self-imposed limitation that I find rather pointless.
 
I only use one lens when I am in process of getting to know a particular focal length in terms of forcing myself to view and think in that focal length, otherwise I usually decide which lens or lenses (max of 3) to use on that day. For my primary use lens I tend to gravitate into the normal range (38-60 fov) depending on which camera with the 40fov being my preferred.

Gary
 
I fully agree with Roger's comment. For me, one lens at time (a day, always an entire film), but I like to use from 21 to 135mm (135 rarely, I must admit). My preference is 50mm and lately 21mm (last acquisition).
 
if forced, i could shoot a trinity of 28, 35 and 50 for the rest of my life. the 35 would probably see the majority of use.

however, the beauty of photographing for yourself is that "force" never enters into the equation.
 
i only ever carry ONE lens. i have other lenses, but have made it a rule to never carry more than 1 at any given time.

my favourite one to use of them all is the 21mm Elmarit pre-ASPH. amazing.....
 
I could never commit to just one lens...I love using several focal lengths knowing the look each one would give me during any given event or outing...
The only time I would limit myself to one lens is when I use a fixed lens camera...my thinking is different because I have no other choice...I could stick to just using my TLR with a fixed lens only because I really love that camera and format...
 
While some painters can commit to only one model (i.e. Dalí, Hopper) or one strict style (Pollock), very few can pull it off (Dalí, Hopper, Pollock, van Gogh, etc.), but then the Academia Elitista snubs them off.

Stuff is hard. Unless it isn't. Words to live by.
 
IEDEI said:
i only ever carry ONE lens. i have other lenses, but have made it a rule to never carry more than 1 at any given time.

my favourite one to use of them all is the 21mm Elmarit pre-ASPH. amazing.....
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Why?

I mean, I normally carry just one lens (or two, of I'm carrying two cameras) but I don't make it a rule.

Then again, what is 'any given time'? I've just done a circuit of the village (it's the big annual vide-grenier) with an M9 and a C-Sonnar, but if I were going down to the Pyrenees I'd probably take at least two lenses and maybe three or four. And a spare body.

I'm not questioning the wisdom of your decision: just wondering why you felt the need to make it a rule.

Cheers,

R.
 
It always comes back to Elmar M ('new version') on the M6 and Elmar on the III. The others tend to stay in the cupboard.

The debate centres around whether to sell the rest or maybe keep them and use them on a Nex ... but would I actually be bothered?
 
For my M8 it would probably be the Ultron 2/28 (or the Ultron 1.7/35).

On my EOS 40D it was the Sigma EX 1.8/24. But the 40D is gone now.

On my 5D it would either be a Leica Summicron-R 2/50 (best image) or a Nikkor-S.C 1.2/55 (low light!).

On my NEX-7 it would perhaps be the Sigma EX 2.8/30. But here I am least certain.

On my Nikon D3100 it would be the 18-70, I guess.

On my Spotmatic it would be a Mamiya Sekor 1.8/50.

Always a tough choice.

Just not with my Electro 35GS, my DP1s and my Digilux 2 - 'cause there is no choice. ;)
 
Agreed (I think).

It's not so much that a photographer "gravitates" towards 1 focal length, but rather that she/he gravitates towards a particular type of photography (&/or subject).

Gabriel M.A. said:
While some painters can commit to only one model (i.e. Dalí, Hopper) or one strict style (Pollock), very few can pull it off (Dalí, Hopper, Pollock, van Gogh, etc.), but then the Academia Elitista snubs them off.

Stuff is hard. Unless it isn't. Words to live by.
Click to expand...
 
Roger Hicks said:
just wondering why you felt the need to make it a rule.
Click to expand...

Sometimes a personal rule helps a person concentrate better. Taking gear out of the equation can help you concentrate on photography when out and about. Usually one only has to do this when you don't have focus. I've been there.
 
I am a one lens guy. I still have others. I don't sell them because they won't fetch much anyway. The one lens is the Zeiss ZM Sonnar 50mm 1.5. My dream lens since I saw the first picture of it. When digital it's the X100.

I shoot video too, for which I have loads of lenses. Most of them are photo lenses with which I have never shot a photo! :0
 
Being that I have two different fixed focal length cameras, I can't really gravitate to one lens without gravitating to one camera. I will admit though I tend to like the Olympus 35 SP more than the Fujica, but the Fujica's light meter is more accurate making it better for getting quick shots since I can just set it to shutter priority and shoot. That being said, for a lot of my shooting, I find I really like the 42-45mm view of the world.

--
Bill
 
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