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how many lenses for day trip

Godfrey

Well-known member
Depends on the day, and on the trip. Tomorrow I'm heading off for the weekend and I'll bring a 50, .. and a 90 as I think there will be good reason to have that along.
 

gooomz

Member
is carrying around only 1 lens 24/7 really a myth when you have the option to carry at least 1 or 2 more?

i have been trying to say i will only carry 1 to clarify my shooting but i keep bringing 2 sometimes 3.

knowing you have 1 focal length always me at least to stop thinking about changing lenses and work with what i have and move my feet more.

i do think you can move your feet and all but a image shot with a 24mm looks that way most of the time and an image shot with a 50mm looks like a 50mm shot most of the time.

everybody is different but any insight to what works better?

i am thinking 2-3 lenes is the best comprise for me (24mm,35,50) and 1 lens is maybe too limiting.

any insight on this from longtime leica shooters?

thanks
 

StephenPatterson

New member
knowing you have 1 focal length always me at least to stop thinking about changing lenses and work with what i have and move my feet more.
Sometimes it just isn't possible to move your feet...

A little over a month ago I was shooting a waterfall in a remote part of Hunan Province. I took a lot of wide shots, mostly with the 21SEM, but also some 35 Summilux. As I was shooting from this location I noticed the steps leading down to the base of the falls (lower right side of image), and decided to get some images from that vantage point.





When I eventually made my way to the base of the falls I discovered that a local man had climbed down the cliff and was fishing in the middle of the falls. He was quite a distance from where I was standing, and obviously I couldn't use my feet to get any closer. I quickly switched to the 90 Elmarit-M and caught a single frame as he looked up.



Nobody can tell you what gear to carry or what to shoot, but for me I like knowing that I am usually as prepared as possible for whatever I might encounter.
 

algrove

Well-known member
It is not seldom that I find myself in a situation where the lens on the camera will not suffice. Thus, I always travel with more than one lens because many times moving my feet just will not get me what I am looking for in a particular situation.
In more than one instance I have tried a 35 to no avail and then tried a 50 and still did not like the scene until I switched to a 90. Other times I have not liked the scene until switching to an 18 or even 16 on my WATE.

Take plenty of glass and never be without. Take too few and lament that that special shot is gone forever.
 

douglasf13

New member
It really depends on how you want to hone your personal style and art. Too much complexity can often detract from a situation, but it just depends on the individual. Most of the fine art photographers that I admire use a single prime most of the time, but I'm into contemporary art more than travel photography, wedding photography, nature photography, etc, so YMMV.

The way I look at it, no matter where one stands in the world, there are a million photographic opportunities with any lens that you can think of. You could stand in one place and shoot macros, wide landscapes, narrower landscapes, tele shots of a bird, abstracts, etc. all day without moving, but, to me, limiting myself helps develop a direction and vision.

I generally only bring a 50mm lens, and, when I do bring a 28 and 90, I only use those in rare, necessary circumstances, which, honestly, don't come up that often. I'm certainly no HCB, but he usually carried a 35, 50 and 90, and you'd be hard pressed to find more than a handful of shots from him at anything other than 50mm, but, again, it just depends on what type of photography that you want to create.

Bringing one lens, bringing 20 lenses, or bringing something in between all works well for different people. Granted, gooomz, since you're not sure, I'd recommend starting simple, first.
 

NB23

New member
I'm not sure if it's a serious question. I mean, how complicate can it be, really?
If it is, please remember that you can only shoot one lens at once, therefore you only need one lens.
Uno.
 
if I take 1 lens 50 Summilux
if I take 2 lenses 35 Summilux and 90 Summicron
if I take 3 lenses 28mm Elmarit, 50 Summilux , 90 Summicron
 

wosim

New member
I usally take 3 lenses (during day time):
- Tri-Elmar 16-18-21mm (WATE)
- Tri-Elmar 28-35-50mm (MATE)
- Tele-Elmarit-M 2.8 90mm
all in a self-configured small non-photo-bag. For me that's the lightest and most versatile package for travel and architecture.

Sometimes I leave the WATE and take the Nokton 1.4 40mm or the Tele-Elmar 135mm.

That's from today with M9 and WATE 16mm:
 

rscheffler

New member
I typically bring 21/28/50/90 in the smallest bag CourierWare makes. The first lens I'll leave behind is the 90 if I'm going out with friends at night, or alternatively, bringing along a DSLR with 70-200/4. Sometimes instead of the 90 I'll bring the CV12.
 
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