One Lens - Long Term Documentary work

[LondonL]

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Hi all,

Interested to hear your thoughts and experience with documentary photography and sticking to one lens. What lens would that be, would you stick to only 1 lens for storytelling and documentary work, is the minimalistic approach of 'one camera, one lens' too restrictive to tell powerful stories and does a body of work using 1 lens provide strength to the project?

[a.noctilux]

I would take the one that I feel the most comfortable with.

The project can be wonderful or boring

but the journey may be worth trying.

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[shirubadanieru]

I think the best one-lens kit is any 35mm. You can do travel photography, landscapes, portraits with enough bokeh, zone focusing, and so on and so on, it really fits every style of photography for most part and it also uses the best frame lines of the 0.73x viewfinder.

If you shoot mostly during the day any Summicron or even the Summaron f2.8 would be enough; If shooting in various lighting conditions then a summilux might be best. 

There are tons of lenses to choose from but my two favorites are the summilux pre-asph 35mm and any of the summicron V1~V4 35mm.

I try to limit myself to one lens & one body only, but I do have two bodies and three lenses, so I rotate them on a monthly basis or based on what I will photograph (if portraits only I’ll take the 50mm instead of the 35mm). The simpler it is and the longer you use the same equipment the more comfortable you feel with it and can truly master it, so I definitely recommend (that is, if you can resist GAS :p) 

Edited January 18, 2022 by shirubadanieru

[wda]

LondonL, please tell us what is your previous photographic experience.  That will inform you and those able to help you. 

It would also be useful to know what kind of documentary photography you intend to undertake. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by wda

[LondonL]

5 minutes ago, wda said:

LondonL, please tell us what is your previous photographic experience.  That will inform you and those able to help you. 

It would also be useful to know what kind of documentary photography you intend to undertake. 

Its more of a general question to provoke some interesting discussions. Not specific to my type of photography as I have some thoughts on this topic, but the discussion and other peoples ideas is what interests me.

[Al Brown]

52 minutes ago, LondonL said:

is the minimalistic approach of 'one camera, one lens' too restrictive to tell powerful stories

Absolutely not. Content is king.

[Bronco]

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vor 59 Minuten schrieb a.noctilux:

I would take the one that I feel the most comfortable with.

The project can be wonderful or boring

but the journey may be worth trying.

This is exactly what made me decide to take only the Nocticron 1.2/42.5 mm on an MFT camera (equivalent to 90mm on the Leica sensor) for a city tour. The speed of the lens also saved me from lugging around a tripod.
On the first day, you do occasionally miss a shorter focal length, but capturing subjects (seeing) changes with each photo and the fun of taking pictures increases with each shot.
 Examples:  (90mm)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jupp36269/albums/72157695878754791/with/39779732130/

For my favorite tool M 240-p I have three different lengths 28mm, 50mm and 90mm. Here (at the moment) the 28mm is my absolute favorite - with it EVERYTHING is possible.
-My Q is slowly getting dusty

Try it!

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Bronco

[wda]

28 minutes ago, LondonL said:

Its more of a general question to provoke some interesting discussions. Not specific to my type of photography as I have some thoughts on this topic, but the discussion and other peoples ideas is what interests me.

A search will reveal many discussions in the past on one-lens choices, likes and dislikes. I would be happier with my 50mm Summicron for many projects, while two lenses will always be  more flexible, such as 35 + 75.

[jslabovitz]

I've discovered that if I use more than one lens for a project, then all the lenses should have a similar look. If I switch from a 35 cron to a 75 lux for the purpose of framing, the feel of the image changes too much, I think, for a documentary project that should hang together with some visual coherency.

Another point is that more lenses means more choices -- and more time I need to spend making those choices. If I'm doing a slow, contemplative project -- say, an exploration of a calm place -- then multiple lenses are fine, and maybe even better. But if I'm trying to capture faster moments -- say, people working or playing or performing -- then I need to simplify my decisions, often down to only framing & focus. For many projects, I've ended up using one lens, one aperture, one ISO setting, and (if appropriate) one type of film.

[hiphopopotamus]

Interesting question with the documentary slant. In most other theoretical discussions, or even just "out for the day with camera round my neck" practical choices, if needing "one camera one lens", my gut reaction is almost always to reach for a fast 50 (I seem to be one of the few that haven't hugely gelled with a 35mm) -  I think my most used lenses are the Summilux 50 1.4 and (previous to the Summilux) the Contax Planar 50 1.4... 

But your documentary point has thrown that gut reaction out the window. It would have to be a 21mm for me, when documentary is the name of the game. It can be used so creatively to tell many different stories. The only one I have is the Zeiss 21mm f4.5. So it's that one for me.

[FrozenInTime]

3 hours ago, LondonL said:

Hi all,

Interested to hear your thoughts and experience with documentary photography and sticking to one lens. What lens would that be, would you stick to only 1 lens for storytelling and documentary work, is the minimalistic approach of 'one camera, one lens' too restrictive to tell powerful stories and does a body of work using 1 lens provide strength to the project?

Back in the days of film, many photographers did just fine with their Rollieflexes - fixed 80mm standard lens.

On a Leica, a fast 35mm covers you indoors and outside, if you keep close within the thick of the action ; if you are more standoff-ish then the 50mm would be better; if you can't make up your mind then a 40mm voigtlander does great.

[jslabovitz]

4 minutes ago, FrozenInTime said:

On a Leica, a fast 35mm covers you indoors and outside, if you keep close within the thick of the action ; if you are more standoff-ish then the 50mm would be better; if you can't make up your mind then a 40mm voigtlander does great.

As a recent convert to the 40mm, I completely agree! I found it to be as generally useful and pleasing as my 75mm on my Rolleiflex TLR, and my 65mm on my Bronica RF645.

Speaking of multiple lenses, I've just built out a set using the idea that I raised in a previous post, about sticking with a similar look and feel: a 21mm TTartisans, a 40mm Voigtlander, and a 75mm Summilux (happily borrowed from my father) make for a lovely trio with quite compatible looks. They are all wide apertures (1.2-1.4) with similar bokeh & contrast, so switching between them almost feels like zooming slowly.

[Hans-Dieter Gülicher]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb LondonL:

Hi all,

Interested to hear your thoughts and experience with documentary photography and sticking to one lens. What lens would that be, would you stick to only 1 lens for storytelling and documentary work, is the minimalistic approach of 'one camera, one lens' too restrictive to tell powerful stories and does a body of work using 1 lens provide strength to the project?

Take the new Summicron 35 mm. Make a crop if needed.

Regards Hans

[a.noctilux]

Thinking of the topic further,

I would take 35mm lens as this is the sweet spot "lens" on M camera.

 

But which 35mm one, that is my big question 😇.

The Summicron can be the good/right choice...

Yummy on M4 😉

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Maybe, I would regret other 35mm lenses ?

Summaron 3.5cm/3.5 is so light and small

Summiluxes are so "funny" or maybe useful, in dark areas

...

part of my 35mm lenses choices 😇

[rtai]

My preferred camera for travel has always been a Rolleiflex TLR with a 75/3.5 lens and if there’s room I would also bring the Hasselblad SWC. The only time my Leica M film cameras would see any action is if I plan to be away for a long time and need to shoot a lot of film. A roll of 120 only holds 12 frames. The important thing is knowing what you want to shoot and then choose the right tools. For 20 years I never thought a f3.5 Planar or f4.5 Biogon used handheld with iso400 film was a limitation but now a digital sensor with noise at iso6400 is crap.

[Ba Erv]

35mm Asph Summilux-M FLE

[Herr Barnack]

15 hours ago, LondonL said:

Hi all,

Interested to hear your thoughts and experience with documentary photography and sticking to one lens. What lens would that be, would you stick to only 1 lens for storytelling and documentary work, is the minimalistic approach of 'one camera, one lens' too restrictive to tell powerful stories and does a body of work using 1 lens provide strength to the project?

IMHO, one lens is not at all too restrictive for a long term project. 

A friend did a four year long project using one lens, the 35mm Summicron v.4, the "king of bokeh" #11-310.  The result of that one lens, one camera, one emulsion (Kodak Tri-X) approach is a book titled Covenant:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0253348358/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0   There is a power that flows from his images which is rarely seen.  It's not about the lens, but about the heart and soul behind the lens.

Regarding the question of which lens would I choose - that is a complicated question.  If I could find a good copy of the 35 Summicron #11-310, I would likely go that route.  Otherwise, it would be a 35 Summilux M ASPH, a 28 Summilux M ASPH or a 35 Summicron APO.  My final decision would be contingent upon which lens was available when I needed to make my purchase to start my project.

[threeseed]

Not sure what type of documentary work you're doing.

But having travelled to a few different countries recently people have quite different wishes for personal distance.

Some would be fine with a 35mm. But others would need a 50mm or 75mm.

[genji]

My preferred setup is two bodies with 28mm and 50mm lenses. With a single body I would split the difference and choose a 35mm.

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[a.noctilux]

2 hours ago, genji said:

My preferred setup is two bodies with 28mm and 50mm lenses. With a single body I would split the difference and choose a 35mm.

That was what I try, and to learn later that one lens is more efficient than two lenses on two bodies.

Hesitating with which one to use, in those days, I took later on the Tri-Elmar-M 35/50/28 hoping to have the 3 focal lengths in one.

Better but not definitive with the finder blokage of the MATE and the not so fast F/4 and focus to 1m.

Strange thing that when in my wife's use (MATE now), she never notice those "flaws" as limiting factor, and appreciate a lot the lens as it is.

 

👇

Time to say that in M there is no universal lens, and we must adapt our lens choice to the situation in each case, each user.