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04-19-2015, 09:47 AM   #1
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Swapping Primes in a Walkaround?

Just a question for you prime shooters. Walking around with your lens, when do you swap versus just 'zooming with your feet'?

04-19-2015, 09:52 AM   #2
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Anytime when I have to in order to make the shot I have in mind. But usually I try to stick with one focal length for a longer period of time, if posssible. (I try to think with the given fl in mind, and change only when something extraordinary happens)
04-19-2015, 10:50 AM - 1 Like   #3
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I change lenses when I can't get the perspective I want by zooming with my feet. And I zoom with my feet when changing lenses can't give me the perspective I want.

Of course, sometimes you can't choose your position freely and have to choose lens based on that. (If I know I'll be restricted in my movement I'll probably choose a zoom instead.)

Most of the time I tend to look for shots that suit my currently mounted lens, though, rather than look for any possible shot I can get by changing lenses.
04-19-2015, 10:59 AM   #4
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I don't typically carry a bag when walking around with the camera. It's simply too cumbersome and distracting.
The camera bag typically goes as far as the car/hotel/friend's house, at which point I choose an appropriate lens
for the 'walk around'. Rarely I might take along a second pocketable lens, though even this can be annoyingly
cumbersome, especially in the summer when I'm not wearing heavy clothing with large pockets.

In short, I typically commit to a single focal length and compose with that focal length in mind.

04-19-2015, 11:43 AM   #5
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If you find your self changing lenses every few subjects, and you do not demand the shallow DOF of fast primes, use a zoom. There are some very good ones.
04-19-2015, 11:47 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by derelict Quote
when do you swap versus just 'zooming with your feet'
I tend to run with multiple bodies, so unless I get my lens choices wildly wrong or something really unexpected happens, it's never normally an issue.
04-19-2015, 01:13 PM   #7
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I do not swap (prime) lenses because I shoot outdoor in foul weather: i.e., typically bad conditions unsuitable for lens swapping. These could be rain, dust, sand, .... but that is 60% of my shooting.

I recently experimented with a combo for two bodies: one body with a prime and one body with a walk-around zoom. It works well for me. For the body, I use K-3 and K-7, and I used the zoom (DA18-250mm) on either. For the prime, my favs are the Voigtlander Nokton 58mm, FA77mm Ltd and FA31mm Ltd.

With this two-bodies combo (one body with a prime and one body with a walk-around zoom), I do not miss anything. Interestingly I found that my my keeper rate is much higher with the body+prime, that with the body+zoom.

Hope that the experience may be of interest.


Last edited by hcc; 04-19-2015 at 03:50 PM.
04-19-2015, 02:30 PM   #8
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Just a note on using zooms. One can either; A. Stand and zoom their lens without regard to perspective changes in doing so. or B. Consider ones zoom as a series of primes utilizing it in a manner as using a prime by first selecting ones focal length and zooming with ones feet maintaining that length's perspective. Sometimes that can be handier then having to swap out a lenses.
04-19-2015, 03:45 PM   #9
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My primes are widely spaced apart so it becomes easily apparent when to change. I use a compact camera bag attached to my belt that holds two lenses and the third is on the camera. The weight of the bag and two primes is low and the bag does not protrude far. When walking about with the three primes they are the 15 and 70 limited and the 35 2.4. I also use three lens systems with my large format and Hasselblad systems and started out with only primes with a Spotmatic F hence I believe the choice comes automatically to me through experience.
04-19-2015, 04:00 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by hcc Quote
Interestingly I found that my my keeper rate is much higher with the body+prime, that with the body+zoom.
This is why I am asking about primes and switching. I really like my 28-75. Good shots come out of it but when I get to looking at the results, I do not get nearly as many keepers as I do out of a prime.
04-19-2015, 04:05 PM - 1 Like   #11
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There is an excellent youtube video here. About the 59 minute mark is a terrific demonstration on this very topic.

04-19-2015, 06:00 PM   #12
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Depends on where I will be shooting. If I am shooting street, I use a prime and zoom with my feet. If I am shooting outdoors or wildlife, I use a zoom lens because I don't want to walk closer to a bear or animal that I might scare....or he might scare me. :P
04-20-2015, 12:19 AM   #13
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I usually carry 3 lenses. Primes allow me to carry a very small bag when I'm walking about especially since one lens is always on the camera. I try to carry lenses that will span the 16mm to 100mm range. With cropped cameras like mine, that would be the equivalent of about 24mm - 150mm on FF. For most photography that is all you need. If I'm in a hurry, I just keep the lens I have on the camera and take the picture hoping to crop it when I get home.
04-20-2015, 12:42 AM   #14
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My first setup with manual focus film camera was 50mm/1.4 prime, than 135mm/2.8 tele than 28mm/2.8 wide angle, so the answer was obvious - basically you cant's switch from 50mm to 135mm by foot, nor from 50mm to 28mm.
My second setup was Canon FD with collection of 24mm, 28mm, 35mm and 50mm fast primes, and that was a first pain which of lenses put in the bag , and a second pain to switch or not to switch if you already did put that Super HG CPL-filter on the front of one of the lenses .
The above is the reason I stick with zooms now

-----
QuoteOriginally posted by derelict Quote
Walking around with your lens, when do you swap versus just 'zooming with your feet'?

Last edited by Prakticant; 04-20-2015 at 12:50 AM.
04-20-2015, 05:50 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Prakticant Quote
My first setup with manual focus film camera was 50mm/1.4 prime, than 135mm/2.8 tele than 28mm/2.8 wide angle, so the answer was obvious - basically you cant's switch from 50mm to 135mm by foot, nor from 50mm to 28mm.
My second setup was Canon FD with collection of 24mm, 28mm, 35mm and 50mm fast primes, and that was a first pain which of lenses put in the bag , and a second pain to switch or not to switch if you already did put that Super HG CPL-filter on the front of one of the lenses .
The above is the reason I stick with zooms now

-----
That makes sense. carrying a couple of lenses that are so far apart that zooming with your feet might not be possible. The gap from a 50 to something like a 21 cannot be easily duplicated by just backing up. Then a 21 would not have the same reach as the 14.
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