Using only one Prime Lens

Nikon Z 50mm

In the blog, I wrote about using primes versus using zooms. And I concluded that using only one focal length does not work for me. In this posting, I want to explore the opposite position, i.e., to use one prime lens and a single camera. Recently, I learned a few arguments that could make me rethink my photography in many situations. 

It started with this video by Daniel Milnor. He is a "documentary photographer" who worked in several projects for all sorts of media and journals. His main arguments to use a single lens are based on two ingredients.

Consistency and Simplicity 

Let me elaborate. I learned a lot from his video. 

Nikon Z 50mm

The market for professional photographers is small and the number of aspiring photographers is big. Thus you have to stand out, make yourself recognizable. This is achieved by a style. Of course, using a specific lens is not enough. But it helps. It is hard to imagine a look that mixes telephoto shots with wide angle shots. Everybody sees that a wide angle composition is completely different from a 50mm composition. A style may also involve other things like b/w shooting or specific presets. But the lens is certainly a part of it. 

A single lens helps to get a consistent, recognizable style.

Nikon Z 50mm

The other argument is that a single lens and camera helps to simplify the photographing thinking. The imagination and creativity can still play, but they have a solid base to build on. This helps in situations requiring a fast response. Many photographers with a single lens setup say that they start to see the photographic opportunities around them in their specific focal length. It simplifies their photographic approach and takes away one parameter.

I never bought this argument completely. Now, I have to admit that there is a valid point in it. Good photographers do not search motives and frame them, but see images around them which may or may not contain an interesting motive. If an image does show something worth showing to others, it becomes a keeper. But the first incent is the composition and the light. This may be just one style of shooting. There might be the motive first and foremost. But without a good composition and good light, there will be no good image. And a single lens and camera may indeed help to see those images.

With a specific lens, you start to see the world so that the lens works.

One may argue that with a hammer everything looks like a nail. This expresses my first reservation with the argument above.

Nikon Z 50mm

I think there is another argument in this discussion. Using the same equipment again and again yields a certain acquaintance which is hard to get if you switch switch your lenses all the time carrying around one for every opportunity. This is true for each instrument you use.

For me, these arguments are accompanied by the fact, that my 50mm f/1.8 lens is versatile in a way the zoom cannot cope with, simply because I can open the aperture to isolate subjects or get more light for a shorter shutter speed. Moreover, it is technically still superior to even the best zooms.

But I do understand everybody who prefers a good zoom lens. I am often in your boat. For travelling, a zoom lens and a good camera is my only option. Carrying around a set of primes to be prepared for each situations is distracting from the photographic process. A zoom may sometimes be the better way to simplify your life.

Nikon Z50