[Leica] Use just a 50mm, are you nuts???????

["BIRKEY, DUANE" <dbirkey@hcjb.org.ec>]

Disclaimer:  This isn't directed at anyone in particular.

But selling everything and shooting with just a 50 or a 85 for that 
matter, you either have to be nuts or you must have a very limited vision 
or want to shoot very limited subject material.

I know, some say it's a great way to learn photography, and my students 
I'm mentoring are using Nikkormats and 50's. (but's that's because that's 
all we have to offer) But......I look at their contact sheets and think 
to myself, this would have been better with a 85, a 135, a 20, a 35 or a 
200 etc. etc.   

I went to downtown Quito this past week to photograph the Good Friday 
processions,  I brought three zooms a 17-35, 28-70 and 70-200.  I would 
have gotten very few good images with just a 50mm,  I used every bit of 
the range as it was unbelievably crowded and I was shooting from within 
the procession itself which was slightly less crowded than the 
sardinelike jampacked sidewalks. One photographer was using one body with 
one lens, a 20mm, another photographer was shooting with just a 24 and a 
105.  Both commented that in hindsight they should have done what I did 
and brought zooms, but they were trying to keep it simple.   

If you can't compose with a 50, a 17mm or a 200mm probably won't  make 
you a better photographer.  But my experience is that there are just too 
many subjects and situations that are better served by lenses other than 
a 50.  Sure you can shoot portraits with a 50, but the background usually 
looks better with an 85 or longer.  Yes you could take general detail 
photos of buildings with a 50, but forget about overall shots which are 
better served by a 20 or 24 or specific details that need something 
longer.   A 50 1.4 is a nice general lens, but doesn't focus close enough 
for macro shots and a 50 macro is usually to slow for available light.  
If you want to isolate a face in the crowd, a 200 does a far better job 
than a 50.

The key is to realize how each lens works in practice, how it changes 
perspective, how it changes the appearance of the background, how it 
isolates the subject or puts it into context and how they each have 
different depth of field. 

And you can't learn that with just a 50 since you need something to 
compare it with.  A M-series 3 lens kit like a  35 (24 or 28) , 50 and 90 
works for many situations.  That's what my M-kit is but I don't carry it 
all that often as I know much of what I'm planning on shooting will 
require something outside of that range (I'm saving for a 21mm ASPH but 
the 200 is going to be hard to do without).   I started photography with 
a 24, a 50 and a 70-210 and for me, that was a great way to learn.

Shooting with just a 50, IMHO you got to be nuts or a serious 
photographic masochist.  But hey, it's your choice and if it makes you 
happy.................do it.   If I was going to work with one lens and 
one camera,  I'd choose a 4 x5,  a 90 and a 210 (I can't bring myself to 
choose one lens).  That way I would have narrowed down my subject matter 
to still lifes and landscapes.  You can do close-ups and crop like crazy 
and no one is ever going to expect you to do portraits or photograph 
their wedding.  

I'll get off my soapbox and get back to mounting slides...........

Duane Birkey

HCJB World Radio
Quito Ecuador