[Marc Sabatella]

For me it isn't a technique but a philosophy that makes shooting with primes viable. Simply put, I don't stress about the pictures I "can't" take because I don't have the "right" focal length. I find the pictures I *can* take with the focal lengths I actually have. And that extends to not changing lenses willy-nilly. *So what* if there is a shot that would be cool to take if only I could zoom to exactly 25mm instead of having to choose between 15mm and 40mm. And *so what* if the lens I actually have mounted at the time is 70mm. I can't worry about the pictures I am not taking. How many pictures did I miss out on right now as I typed this? How many did I miss while I was sleeping last night? How many did will I miss because I don't have my camera with me?

Photography isn't about the pictures you *don't* take. It is about the pictures you *do* take. Sure, set yourself up with appropriate equipment to make it possible to take the kind of pictures you want to take - don't show up for a wildlife shoot without a telephoto, etc - but beyond that, what's the big deal?

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Last edited by Marc Sabatella; 06-07-2012 at 07:24 PM.

[RioRico]

How to select a prime kit -- various options:

1) Grab your favorite focal lengths. Got Limiteds?
2) Model your kit on somebody else's. If it was good enough for HCB...
3) Apply numerology. Each FL is ~1.5x the FL of its neighbor, or ~2x.
4) Take whatever you have. All of it, if it fits.

How to avoid the oh-bugger-I-have-the-wrong-prime blues: Carry a backup camera, either dSLR or P&S. Put your prime-of-the-hour on your main camera. Keep the other camera handy for those 'other' shots. Stay loose. You're covered.

How to build a zoom kit: Get only short-zoom range glass, no more than 2.5x. Overlap a little. Be sure your most-used FL ranges are filled in. Break the <2.5x rule when you need coverage. Remember, the IQ of a missed shot is zero.

How to train your eye and get some exercise: Use only one primes for a few weeks. It can be some nice safe moderate FL, like in the 20-60mm range. But for challenge, go outside that box. Shoot with only your widest or longest glass.

How to avoid long discussions: Get out there and shoot.

[Blue]

A zoom kit, that's an interesting concept.

You mean like a K-5 and a DA* 16-50/2.8 and 60-250/4?

[Blue]

When I am in a serious photography mode, I usually have 2 bodies (occasionally 3 bodies and 1 of those may be film). Last week I usually had the K200d with a DA 21 ltd and K-5 with D FA 100 WR or DA 35 LTD. I ended up having the DA* 300 along being extra weight, but had no way of knowing in advance. But the point is I can anticipate 2 or 3 lenses and have them ready.

I understand the "zooming with feet" concept but it is more than that. It forces me to position for better perspective than a zoom would.

[RioRico]

You mean like a K-5 and a DA* 16-50/2.8 and 60-250/4?

Better throw in an F35-70 there to cover the gap. (I *hate* swapping zooms @50mm.)

[Lowell Goudge]

For me it isn't a technique but a philosophy that makes shooting with primes viable. Simply put, I don't stress about the pictures I "can't" because I don't have the "right" focal length. I find the pictures I *can* take with the focal lengths I actually have. And that extends to not changing lenses willy-nilly. *So what* if there is a shot that would be cool to take if only I could zoom to exactly 25mm instead of having to choose between 15mm and 40mm. And *so what* if the lens I actually have mounted at the time is 70mm. I can't worry about the pictures I am not taking. How many pictures did I miss out on right now as I typed this? How many did I miss while I was sleeping last night? How many did will I miss because I don't have my camera with me?

Photography isn't about the pictures you *don't* take. It is about the pictures you *do* take. Sure, set yourself up with appropriate equipment to make it possible to take the kind of pictures you want to take - don't show up for a wildlife shoot without a telephoto, etc - but beyond that, what's the big deal?

100% agree. This is the real point about shooting with primes.

You have to learn how to make images with the focal length you have at the time. In reality, every one would probably benefit from being forced to shoot every possible focal length, for lets say, a month per, and learn what you can do and how to see the image in your mind based upon what is mounted to your camera, as opposed to what is either in your bag or back at home base.

[Lowell Goudge]

You mean like a K-5 and a DA* 16-50/2.8 and 60-250/4?

but you're missing a 10-20 or 12-24

but yes, a couple of good zooms that cover a lot of ground can be useful.

[Lowell Goudge]

Better throw in an F35-70 there to cover the gap. (I *hate* swapping zooms @50mm.)

Rio, you should know better than this, after all, along with LBA a lot of people have CBA, with one body per lens, it is really easy to switch focal lengths and there is no need to cover the gap. Truth be said, the 35-70 range is not useful for travel. too long at the short end and too short at the long end.

[les3547]

When I composed the opening post I was ready for no one to respond because asking about something like using only primes seems a relatively insignificant issue. However, there have been some pretty good answers. I think what I was really after is how to feel more involved with whole process. I remember way back when I first read A. Adams' series (The Camera, The Negative, and The Print), I was both surprised and very impressed at how much he managed things. Before reading that I would have guessed that it might take the "art" out of photography to manage in such detail, but looking at his pictures clearly it hadn't. His way of doing things completely changed my state of mind about not just photography, but how to approach everything I would produce or build.

I liked the advice in this thread which pointed out that first one needs a shift in one's state of mind, and then to develop the techniques that support the state of mind. So first mentally commit to involving myself more, and use manual focusing, for example, because helps me feel more involved, as does knowing I'm shooting with a lens that produces the best possible IQ. Reducing my kit to five primes helps me feel more involved because it forces me to manage more.

[Lowell Goudge]

When I composed the opening post I was ready for no one to respond because asking about something like using only primes seems a relatively insignificant issue. However, there have been some pretty good answers. I think what I was really after is how to feel more involved with whole process. I remember way back when I first read A. Adams' series (The Camera, The Negative, and The Print), I was both surprised and very impressed at how much he managed things. Before reading that I would have guessed that it might take the "art" out of photography to manage in such detail, but looking at his pictures clearly it hadn't. His way of doing things completely changed my state of mind about not just photography, but how to approach everything I would produce or build.

I liked the advice in this thread which pointed out that first one needs a shift in one's state of mind, and then to develop the techniques that support the state of mind. So first involve myself more and use manual focusing, for example, because helps me feel more involved, as does knowing I'm shooting with a lens that produces the best possible IQ. Reducing my kit to five primes helps me feel more involved because it forces me to manage more.

When you talk about getting more involved, it is really getting your mind in the game. When I play golf, I can usually do 4-5 strokes better when I walk as opposed to using a cart and driving, why, because i count off my steps approaching the ball, I know exactly how far I hit, where I am, what's left to go, and how I am in general, doing relative to what I know I can hit. You don't get that by being lazy and taking a powered cart. A zoom lens is much like a cart. It makes you lazy mentally

[br.davidson]

When you talk about getting more involved, it is really getting your mind in the game. When I play golf, I can usually do 4-5 strokes better when I walk as opposed to using a cart and driving, why, because i count off my steps approaching the ball, I know exactly how far I hit, where I am, what's left to go, and how I am in general, doing relative to what I know I can hit. You don't get that by being lazy and taking a powered cart. A zoom lens is much like a cart. It makes you lazy mentally

Great analogy. I don't golf, but I feel the exact same way when I'm out and about with a zoom vs primes. I come home with better images with primes and it's not just because of optical quality.

[RioRico]

Rio, you should know better than this, after all, along with LBA a lot of people have CBA, with one body per lens, it is really easy to switch focal lengths and there is no need to cover the gap.

I've previously expressed my dissatisfaction with ~18-50 plus ~50-whatever kits, because I *do* shoot a lot in the 35-70mm range. And whilst I have a variety of film bodies, I mostly depend on the 1 dSLR and a P&S. I'll accept donations of K5 or Kr or K-01 or whatever to remedy my shortage.

Truth be said, the 35-70 range is not useful for travel. too long at the short end and too short at the long end.

Quite right. I find specific places for 10-24, 19-35, 35-70, and 70-210 or 80-200 zooms. And those places are NOT where I'm driving through -- the DA18-250 rules there. The F35-70 is for certain large indoor spaces or not-too-wide streets, where activity may be brisk. 35-70mm is a great super-normal range for 135/FF. The rough equivalent for APS-C would be 20-40mm, and I'm seriously considering the AF version of the MF Cosina-made 19-35 of which I've been lately enamoured. More lenses! More lenses!

[MSL]

A zoom lens is much like a cart. It makes you lazy mentally

Maybe I'm being naive, but I'd like to think this isn't an absolute. I can see how a zoom lens allows you to be lazy, but I can also see how if you take the time to know the lenses strengths and weaknesses, and still worry about the composition and the goal of what you are trying to photograph a zoom lens can also be a useful too. And in situations where your feet can't move as freely as you like, it is a tool that can give you an extra degree of freedom that you don't have with a fixed lens.

[Kerrowdown]

I'm a prime only shooter by default, as they do for me what I need to do. There is no right or wrong here primes zooms etc, a lens is just part of a tool to get a job done, sounds a bit harsh maybe but in simple terms it's kinda true.

The only advice I could offer up is really get to know your lenses, perhaps by just leaving one on the camera for a good while. This way you can pre visualise what each lens can achieve in a given situation. Hence the guess work is removed as to which one to use at the time.

Also the use of second body allows for any lens length issues to evaporate, for when I do cock it up.

[Ash]

For a practical travel kit, I haven't looked further than a DA 12-24 (essential for those sweeping/wide landscapes or architectural shots), Tamron 28-75 (covers the most practical walkaround and portrait focal lengths), and a DA 55-300 (reach and IQ nicely married together in a relatively slow but useful telezoom at any aperture).

You'd do very well, though would need to improvise and zoom with your feet quite a bit more, to get a prime kit that you wouldn't miss too many opportunities you otherwise would with a zoom kit: DA 15, DA 21 + DA 40 (or FA 31 +/- FA 43), DA 70 (or FA 77), DFA 100 macro, DA* 200 and DA* 300 would be quite a special set up. Considerably cheaper (and lighter) would be a DA 15, DA 35/2.4 +/- DA 50/1.8 (when it arrives), DA 70, DA 55-300. Nothing wrong with mixing it up to suit your needs.

But Marc's right about taking advantage of the photos you *can* get rather than reeling about those opportunities you *couldn't* get. By far and away, you'd be happier and have a great number of top keepers if the shot was done right with the lens on the camera at the moment, rather than fumbling about to switch lenses to get the quintessential FOV.