A day out with just two prime lens???

 

 I'm contemplating a day out with just two prime lens, the 35mm and the 85mm.  Back in my film days I pretty much mostly used just prime lens (fixed focal length rather than zoom)  Yes I did have some zooms, the 60-300 sp tamron was a cracker, and I loved my 28-85 and 35-135 lens.  The fact was though those zooms just didn't have the same quality as the fixed lens of the day.

 Fast forward to now and zoom lens are fantastic quality, so it's really a bit pointless carrying a fixed prime.  Yes a 50mm 1.4 will have a better depth of field than a 50mm 2.8 zoom, but the zoom may go to 80mm and you'll be hard pressed to see a massive difference in normal viewing.  Plus fast lens are usually not fantastic wide open and better stopped down a stop or two, then your in zoom range speed wise and the advantage is gone.

 I was thinking of limiting myself to just two prime lens, a 35mm and an 85mm.  The thing is shooting like this makes  you think more about your shots.  No more just zooming in out out, you have to move to compose your shots.  Walking is the best zoom you'll ever have (Victor Blackman daily express) and thinking about composition is always a good thing, it's also a bit more of a challenge than just wandering about being able to shoot anything you like because of the range of lens in the bag.

 Theres another factor.  I've found the less gear the more shots you get.  Your looking for shots you can take with the lens on the camera, not anything at all.  Because in practice a lot of shots wont be worth the bother of putting the bag down and changing lens, then you'll have to change again in five minutes, it's a PITA, so you dont bother taking them at all.

 We'll see if it works out, I doubt I'll have chance this week, I might be able to do it if I swop the 105mm macro for the 85mm as I've got flowers planned for this week, and I cant be arsed to find my extension tubes or use close up filters with the 85mm.  We'll see what happens.