Derek Zeanah
Member
TL/DR: Can you get away with just zooms on these cameras? What's a good, minimalist, "do everything" lens set?
Background: Never liked zooms. First camera was an AE-1 and it came with a Sears branded 28-70. Nope. Moved to primes. Took some photo classes. Still stuck with primes. Moved to Nikon a bit later with an F5 and did some wedding photography, used some zooms because I needed to - saw good work other photographers were producing with monstrosities like the 28-200 that came out in the late 90's - couldn't do it and preferred Leica and Hasselblad anyway. Picked up a Fuji S2, then later an S3 for wedding work a few years later, still mostly stuck with primes. Gave up the paid work - current kit (last month) was a Pentax K1 with the "Limited" primes and a macro lens (which I'll be selling soon, btw) and a solid tripod.
Anyway, last month I discovered the GFX 50Sii existed and bought one with the kit lens and...I don't hate it. It seems fine, even on an extension ring. Granted I've done limited testing so far - I haven't even gone outside - but now that I'm 50 and a bit more weight sensitive, and ISOs are usable above 400, and workable image stabilization is a thing, mirrorless can kind of see in the dark, and lens corrections are done in software, I'm tempted to simplify and carry less weight with more zooms and less primes.
So I figured I'd ask. If you were trying to build a reasonably simple kit - something to take on vacation, grab for fun, put the occasional print on your wall, maybe assign yourself some projects - what lenses would you include, and in what order? Are there any "must haves?" Are there any that are best avoided?
I'm asking not so I can send a big payment to B&H, but so I can think, and ponder, and maybe pick up the occasional used lens that's on my list when it pops up on the market.
Background: Never liked zooms. First camera was an AE-1 and it came with a Sears branded 28-70. Nope. Moved to primes. Took some photo classes. Still stuck with primes. Moved to Nikon a bit later with an F5 and did some wedding photography, used some zooms because I needed to - saw good work other photographers were producing with monstrosities like the 28-200 that came out in the late 90's - couldn't do it and preferred Leica and Hasselblad anyway. Picked up a Fuji S2, then later an S3 for wedding work a few years later, still mostly stuck with primes. Gave up the paid work - current kit (last month) was a Pentax K1 with the "Limited" primes and a macro lens (which I'll be selling soon, btw) and a solid tripod.
Anyway, last month I discovered the GFX 50Sii existed and bought one with the kit lens and...I don't hate it. It seems fine, even on an extension ring. Granted I've done limited testing so far - I haven't even gone outside - but now that I'm 50 and a bit more weight sensitive, and ISOs are usable above 400, and workable image stabilization is a thing, mirrorless can kind of see in the dark, and lens corrections are done in software, I'm tempted to simplify and carry less weight with more zooms and less primes.
So I figured I'd ask. If you were trying to build a reasonably simple kit - something to take on vacation, grab for fun, put the occasional print on your wall, maybe assign yourself some projects - what lenses would you include, and in what order? Are there any "must haves?" Are there any that are best avoided?
I'm asking not so I can send a big payment to B&H, but so I can think, and ponder, and maybe pick up the occasional used lens that's on my list when it pops up on the market.