One camera, one lens, challenge

[NorthernFocus]

Izzie posts photos quite often. Interesting though that nothing comes up if you click on the "photos" link on her profile. I'd think that's what that is for

[rpcrowe]

Occasionally, I will travel light. Most often when I carry one camera with a single prime lens, that lens will be either the 40mm pancake or the 50mm f/1.8 Mark-1.

Usually, I do this when I want specific photos, like at dog adoption events when I want records of the adoption for our Facebook page or website and I don't want to burden myself down with a ton of equipment. Additionally, I have an "oldie but goodie" Canon 30D camera which I could not sell for any great amount of money. That camera with the 40mm pancake is my personal insurance against theft. If it is stolen at an adoption event, I have not lost a great deal like I would if someone walked off with my 7D mark-2 and 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens...

I generally will not carry a single prime lens for walk around shooting.

OTOH: I will fairly often carry one camera and my 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens because it is a pretty nice general purpose lens...

[IzzieK]

OFF TOPIC: Robert and Bruce...As Dan had said, I've posted quite a few especially this year as we had been travelling a bit more. It was only these last two months that I have been absent at least two months and this month every other days because at this time of the year, I am busy being the wife of a pilot with sporadic schedule of when he'll be really home... In the meantime, I am taking up molecular gastronomy and incorporating my photography with it. Anyway, when I have more time to edit the series of shots from our last trip, I'll submit some decent ones. At the moment our busy schedule here in the house takes precedence with different days of attendances starting from next week so we will have three Christmases from Wednesday onwards. It is hard life. I have a funny feeling, I raised my hand when this kind of tasks comes around during this time of the year...

[DanK]

But you improvise and if you teach yourself to fill the frame it often works out well; unless there is a gully between you and your subject.

Back to the original topic, I missed this the first time around. Even though I do often use a zoom as a substitute for walking with my feet, the latter isn't the same as changing focal lengths because of the difference in angle of view. For example, suppose you have two people standing far in front of a background. You shoot them first at 70mm and then at 24, walking forward so that they fill the same portion of the frame in the second shot. (Those happen to be the extremes of the zoom on my little Lumix LX-100.) And say that you shoot at the same aperture. DOF will be the same. However, the background shot at 24 mm will include much more because of the angle of view, and objects in the background will be smaller. In addition, the background will be less blurred in the 24mm shot, despite the fact that DOF is the same.

[Dave Humphries]

I agree Dan,

In fact I think there's a 'light bulb' moment for photographers when they realise that moving closer is not the same as zooming in/tighter (or cropping in PP) - that's when they realise that the phrase "zoom with your feet" is utter hogwash.

Once that's been understood, then they can make informed and imaginative decisions on where to shoot from and which focal length to use - in order to best realise the image they wish to create.

That said, when zoom range is limited and pixel count and lens sharpness mitigates against PP cropping, we do have to either not shoot, or get closer - gullies permitting

[Jims]

All I can say is wow... thanks for the responses. Very much appreciated, I will be using my other lense sooner rather than later as a result of what I have learnt from you guys in response to my initial question.

I do believe it has helped me get more familiar with the camera functions by not worrying about changing lense in the time I have stuck with the challenge.

[ewitte]

I'm going to try this out with my new lens which is a Tamron SP 35mm with VR. I tried primes in the past and stopped once I got a hold of something with VR. This should solve that problem

[rpcrowe]

I once shot sports, aircraft and wildlife with fixed focal length lenses, primarily with the Canon 300mm f/4L IS and the 400mm f/5.6L lenses on 1.6x cameras. However, although I liked both of these lenses quite a bit, I sold them and used the proceeds to partially fund the new (at that time) Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens.

Although it is slower at 300mm than the 300mm f/4L IS lens, I do not miss my primes one bit. IMO, the IQ of the zoom, in real-life shooting, equals that of the primes. The zoom is far more flexible and the IS is better than that of the f/4L IS lens. Of course, the 400mm did not have IS at all.

I recently shot a training session of the Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team using the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens on a Canon 7D Mark 2 camera and loved it... My previous session with the Blue Angels was shot with the 7D Mark 2 camera and the 300mm f/4L IS lens. The aircraft were often too close to cover with the 300mm (480mm equivalent focal length). Additionally, the aircraft would approach at high speeds and it was sometimes difficult to find them against the blank blue sky. I just couldn't locate them in the small field of view of the 300mm lens. Using the zoom and zooming back to 100mm, I could spot the aircraft, center them and then zoom in to whatever focal length I deemed correct. I could also zoom back as the aircraft came closer.

While I got some very good shots the previous year with the 300mm, I think that I did better with my zoom. I particularly like this one shot at 349mm.

[Cantab]

Richard, this is quite a photo!

[rpcrowe]

Richard, this is quite a photo!

Thanks, I don't think I would have captured this with either of my primes. Zooming back to 349mm was exactlly what I needed...

I am going to carry this lens solo on my 7D2 to a Civil War reenactment on the first weekend of March...

[William W]

. . . Anyone else tried anything like this, how did you find it?

It’s fun to do. That’s one reason why I bought my Fuji x100s.

As a course/technique of learning it is not new. Mentioned because it seems you might think this using this as a prolonged technique is good method for you to learn: it isn't

It is a (learning) technique used (or used to be used) in the more prescribed curricula for teaching Photography, most noticed when Photography was a "Trade Course" and jobs were accessed by the successful completion a Diploma and also a few years as an Apprentice - City and Guilds (London), East Sydney Technical College (Sydney), Leica Akademie (the original one) are examples of institutions whose Diplomas were held in high esteem.

Typically the Student would intensively use one camera and one lens for a period of time - about one week. Typically it was first a View Camera, then a TLR; then a 135 SLR - each for about a week. The purpose was multifaceted, and more about learning the differences of tools and applications, rather than honing artistic skills or forcing one to "learn" a particular Focal Length.

When learning SLRs - yes there were typically ONLY Prime Lenses (same for View Cameras), but there were sets of Prime Lenses - typically for 135 Format there were three or four lenses: 24mm (sometimes); 35mm; 50mm; 85mm; 135mm(sometimes) - again the techniques was to use each lens extensively, but the emphasis of the rationale was to learn the differences and thus gain a (broader) insight into the CHOICE of Focal Length to best suit the Shooting Scenario.

***

Found an interesting few articles on the subject and this one stuck out in particular, as I'm really just a casual hobbyist with my photography I thought I'd give it a go.

I read the blog, twice.

Interesting advice.

Conclusions are flawed; lack reason; the content completes - non sequitur:

1. It eradicated G.A.S. from my system(#1)

Eradicating GAS from the system is better achieved by buying tools suitable for the task and objectives of the Photographer – logically, if ‘learning’ is one of the tasks, then why would (or should) ‘learning’ be restricted to learning at and about ONLY one Focal Length?

Why not continue the illogical approach and restrict ONE aperture and also one shutter speed?

I have two cameras that can do only that – one is a pinhole – that’s fun to use too, but as a comprehensive ’learning tool’, not a logical choice.

*

2.

It made me master a single focal length(#1)

Of course. That’s implicit.

Using only one Prime Lens, will obviously assist learning about that one Prime Lens and that one Focal Length.

Hopefully one would learn about the situations when that Focal Length would be useful to choose to use.

More hopefully using only one Prime Lens might highlight the situations when that Focal Length would be a poor choice . . . but maybe not?

Ergo, is it possible we simply NOT learn what would be the better choice for all those other situations?

Non sequitur which cries out for comment, (my bold/underline for emphasis):

Since I have been shooting with my 35mm lens for so long, I see the world in a 35mm focal length. I know exactly how close/far I need to be away from my subject to frame him/her the way I want to. I also know how a photo will look before I take it.(#1)

Does the author encourage that the Student give nil deference to the Perspective of the shot?

*

3. It helped me be more creative(#1)

Maybe – but only creativity at using that one Focal Length.

Non sequitur which cries out for comment (my bold/underline for emphasis):

. . . the way to go is with prime lenses over zoom lenses. Why? Prime lenses force you to see the world in a certain way, and whenever the world doesn’t fit the way you exactly want to, you be more creative. Prime lenses also force you to use “foot zoom”, crouch, and experiment with compositions.(#1)

Please Re read Posts #24 and #25 for explanation of why "foot zooming" and "zooming with the feet" should be eradicated from photography’s lexicon.

***

I have the kit lense that came with my camera and have not even used it once yet. Sticking with my Zeiss 55 f1.8 And Sony A7 I plan on sticking with it for as long as I can to 'make' me learn how to shoot with a fixed focal length.

I think that approach could render a lot of learning about the using of and the usefulness of an high quality Camera with an high quality, very fast (large maximum aperture) slightly Telephoto Lens.

But in so doing, there will be very much restricted learning or no learning about lots of other stuff to do with Photography.

My advice, (if learning about Photography is your main aim) is to re-read Robin’s commentary and (hopefully) when you plonk on your “Kit Lens” that came with the camera, you do not become lazy and use that zoom lens by standing in one spot and zooming in and out . . . but you choose follow these two simple steps.

Learn to stand at a Distance from the Subject and at an height above or below the Subject, to create the PERSPECTIVE of the shot that you want. (This is termed the Camera Viewpoint).

Then use the Zoom Turret to zoom in or out of the scene, making the expanse of the shot wider or narrower. (This is termed the FRAMING of The Shot)

And also use your 55/1.8 too – and learn about the differences between it and the Kit Zoom Lens – and how, in different SHOOTING SCENARIOS, one tool will be more useful than the other . . . ergo you shall learn what tool to choose and when to choose it.

WW

#1 Ref: "Why You Should Shoot with One Camera and One Lens" op cit

[inkista]

Just as a historical note, this hold OCOLOY thing (one camera, one lens, one year) started with a 2009 post by Michael Johnston on his Online Photographer blog, called "The Leica as Teacher."

It was just a mental exercise when someone asked him what he thought was the best way to learn photography quickly. He stated up front that he didn't expect anybody to agree with him or to do it. It was just something he thought would work as the best way to get you to look at light: shoot with a Leica M with a single focal length in B&W every day. Develop a roll once a week. Make one work print every week. Throw in a box. Repeat for a year. The key was to do the entire process from beginning to end--to see how shooting fed into printing and getting prints. Huge amounts of discussion and folks going on the journey and forming Flickr groups and such ensued, and word spread.

But what this exercise is most distinctly not about is just limiting yourself to a single focal length forever and ever. The choice of camera and focal length and B&W was simply to speed mastery by simplifying. It's harder and takes longer to master five lenses than it does to master one. It's easier and faster to master a camera that's built for simplicity of film operation than one that has 500 digital menu options. And you need that mastery to forget about the gear and start seeing the light. It's meant to be a short, temporary exercise, because a year, when you're older, isn't really that long a period of time.

Johnston eventually revisited the topic in 2014, admitting that shooting/printing film was outwith the reach of most folks, and came up with "The Digital Variant: One Camera, One Lens, One Year", where he loosens up the restrictions on camera and does digital instead of film, but accelerates your pace of making workprints--here, you have to print DAILY. And you have to shoot DAILY. (obviously, life will get in the way, but try to be consistent. This isn't a 365 project). You shoot daily for a month before you begin printing, so that you have a bank of images to work from, and printing doesn't have to be from that day's shoot, but should be relatively recent.

Again. It's not about limiting yourself to a single focal length. It's about understanding the flow, and daily exercise to build the muscles. And gaining real mastery of your chosen camera/lens combination (or at least the ability to see in it without bringing the camera to your eye). But it is meant to be an exercise, not easy, a way to build mental skillz, and not how you're supposed to do things ever after.

I love shooting a variety of stuff. I love having a variety of lenses. But I bought an X100T, in anticipation that someday I may actually do this digital OCOLOY. I took it in baby steps. First, I bought a printer, and told myself to make a workprint every day, just to see if I could possibly do the OCOLOY. I quickly began to realize why you also need to shoot daily. I'n not ready, yet. But I hope to be soon. I am, however, truly beginning to understand just how much I need to print, and how vital it is in the process for me.

[LePetomane]

It’s fun to do. That’s one reason why I bought my Fuji x100s.

The X100F would be a great camera to do the one lens project with. I have the XT-1 with a couple of primes that I may do a one month project with. The choice of lenses would be between the Fujinon 23mm f/2 or the Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8.

[tao2]

Just as a historical note, this hold OCOLOY thing (one camera, one lens, one year) started with a 2009 post by Michael Johnston on his Online Photographer blog, called "The Leica as Teacher."

Hi Inkista,

Ah think, historically, many (100s) of thousands of photographers would disagree with that statement. Ah've got Mr. Johnston beaten by around 49 years; ah was given my first camera when ah was 9 years old, a box Brownie which had been in my family since the 1920s. This was followed by several fixed lens cameras over the years. But ah'd say seriously, since 1970, when ah got my first SLR, a Zenit E, followed by an EM, a couple of years later. The first one came with a Helios lens which served on the EM as well. The reason why so many folk used one camera, one lens, not for one year, but all the time, was simple...we couldn't afford anything else. My Zenits lasted me for over 12 years, still have the EM - one lens, 12 years...

Ah don't think Mr. Johnston was being didactic or provocative, rather...crass and pompous. "It doesn't have to be a good lens, anything that will fit the camera" Any lens that fitted a Leica, even back then, would've been around 3 months wages for a working man. Anyway, rant apart, IMO, it is an excellent idea tae only use the minimum gear that over 100 years of popular photography has produced and refined.

Ah rarely carry more than one camera,one lens. Partly habit, mostly, 'cos ah think hard on whether ah need more than one lens for what I've planned.

[RBSinTo]

"Of all the small nations of the world, perhaps only the Ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind"
Boab,
You might check out the contributions of the Israelis to mankind before making statements like this one.
Robert

[Donald]

"Of all the small nations of the world, perhaps only the Ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind"
Boab,
You might check out the contributions of the Israelis to mankind before making statements like this one.
Robert

Robert - That isn't Boab's quote. It's Winston Churchill's. You need to take up any issues with him.

I think the clue is that he put it in quotation marks as part of his signature.

[tao2]

"Of all the small nations of the world, perhaps only the Ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind"
Boab,
You might check out the contributions of the Israelis to mankind before making statements like this one.
Robert

What can ah say Robert, you show me your list and ah'll show ye mine...though my list would probably cause the CinC server tae fail whilst uploading.

[rpcrowe]

Now that I am reminded of it, I shot a six month Navy cruise to the Mediterranean (aboard carrier USS Forrestal in 1961) using one camera with a fixed single lens. It was a Rolleiflex twin lens reflex with a fixed 75mm f/3.5 shooting lens (I couldn't afford the f/2.8 version).

I did quite well shooting 120 black and white film in 6x6 cm format and never felt like I was at a disadvantage...

However, I would feel severely constrained if I were to try the same thing today

[RBSinTo]

Robert - That isn't Boab's quote. It's Winston Churchill's. You need to take up any issues with him.

I think the clue is that he put it in quotation marks as part of his signature.

Donald,
I keep sending Mr. Churchill emails, but he never bothers to reply.
Robert

[Black Pearl]

I did this a couple of weeks back when I stuck a 50mm on my Fuji and just went for a wander with it even going so far as to shoot everything wide open.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/163988...57680334396075