Some do say that limitations are needed for creativity

Mainecoonmaniac · May 23, 2017

So why not just limit yourself to just one lens?

https://petapixel.com/2017/05/23/use-one-lens/

Saganich · May 23, 2017

Does having 5 50's count as one lens? I don't see it as a limit but an opportunity to get to know your rig true-n-true.

removed account4 · May 23, 2017

i like using a box camera for a similar reason.
==
but what about people who don't want, need or care about creativity...
does one lens also help them as well ?

guangong · May 23, 2017

I am not quite sure that limiting oneself to a particular lens length will result in better photographs, but the invention of the frame in Western art led to the concept of composition by creating limits to image area which in turn provides the possibility for more powerful images. However, I do enjoy walking about shooting with only one lens...28mm to 90mm. I no longer carry a multitude of lenses. Many great photographs have been taken with the 50mm. The worst with fisheye.

LAG · May 24, 2017

As for the thread title, to my way of thinking it is the "need" what enhances creativity, not the limitations, and of course much less when those limitations are a personal whim or a personal decision.

Mainecoonmaniac said:
So why not just limit yourself to just one lens?

The guy from the article has decided 50 (closer to the human eye) instead of 500 (much less versatil). The real point would be how to overcome the limitation of another radical (mm) distance, or the limitations (such as MFD, f/open, f/close ...) for whatever your first limitation is, what would really bring a "need" to show the creative side.

Best

bdial · May 24, 2017

It's easy to obsess on the possibility of "missing a shot", so you pack a bunch of different lenses so that you are set for perfect framing for anything. But that also makes it easy to forget about really seeing because you're thinking about equipment rather than the scene.

As for missing something, for every pic you might miss because you have the "wrong" lens, there are 10 others waiting if you are looking and seeing.

MartinCrabtree · May 24, 2017

I quit carrying multiple lenses for everyday stuff. if I'm going away or to an event I'll carry 2 maybe 3 but daily I stick a fast 24 or a 50 on and run with it.

darkosaric · May 24, 2017

Limitation is often good for creativity for sure. For example when I look filmography of the Balkan states (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia...) - best movies are made during communist era and under strong censorship. The same goes for my favorite director Abbas Kiarostami - almost all movies that he made in Iran are true masterpieces, but the later work outside Iran - not so.

guangong · May 24, 2017

To continue Darkoseric's observation, I have the utmost admiration for those who make "unapproved " films, especially feature length films where the penalties can include lengthy prison terms or worse, such as Iran and China. The shear number of personnel, the amount and bulk of cameras, lights, etc are not easily hidden. Not to mention film processing and editing. These people have guts.

msage · May 24, 2017

michael_r said:
It might be good for some, and be a hindrance to others, which is why I generally find these kinds of rehashed rules silly.

I agree!

Helinophoto · May 24, 2017

The only reason why the writer is using 1 lens, is the fact that it says "Leica", most people cannot afford more than one of those!

Anyhou.....

No, one lens isn't good for creativity IMO, it's limiting and constricts your view. Rangefinders in particular are limiting in the fact that they rarely have zooms and cannot focus closer than 0.75-1 meter. This rules out macro, closeups, tele-shots (for compression or other stuff), extreme wide angles, fisheye etc.

If you only run around with a 50, it's difficult to do the 35mm or 24mm "environmental" portraits of people and situations, you can do portraits yes, but you will never get the perspective no matter how creative you think you are.

Sure, if that's all you got, you can be creative and make do and create the stuff you want, as best as you can, but it's not "good for creativity". Creativity is about mixing things up and try to make something completely different, then you need a few strings to play on, and break.

To me it sounds like the writer did just that, he had a bunch of stuff and tried a lot of things (creativity) before settling down on one lens, that he preferred, it's not a starting point, but more of a resting point.

dpurdy · May 24, 2017

I don't think it is the same for everybody. Some would benefit and some not. However for me personally I agree with his point of getting to know exactly what your lens is going to "see" so well that you know where you are going to stand and what you are going to photograph before you put your camera to your eye. It is one thing I really like about using my Rolleiflex with the 80mm lens. I also am completely tuned to the 210 lens on 4x5. So in that way I agree with him.

Jim Jones · May 24, 2017

A range of lenses permit the photographer to best do justice to whatever subject he is photographing. If the subject and its photograph is less important than the photographer, then the photographer is justified in whatever fetish he indulges in. It's a matter of photograph versus photographer. Great photographs endure when the photographer is long gone.

faberryman · May 24, 2017

I see with my eyes and my mind, then choose the lens to capture my vision. You might say that limiting yourself to one lens is a lazy approach, always limiting yourself to what the lens sees.

Frank53 · May 24, 2017

Imo it has a lot do with the subject, the kind of photography you like.
When making a trip, walking through a city, changing lenses kills my creativity. I just miss too much. In those situations I take 2 35mm bodies with the same film, but different lenses, ie 28 and 50 and mayby a 17 or short tele in my bag. Taking your time for landscapes is a different story.
Regards,
Frank

Ko.Fe. · May 24, 2017

This Leica M holder in article rediscovered the bicycle... And it is the old one.

FED-2 FSU rangefinder camera has about three million copies and it was sold with only 50mm lens and used by millions with this and only 50mm lens. Not to mention Zenit with nothing but 50mm lens. Or Smena with single lens. Many young and often creative by the age photographers used nothing, but Smena. 11 millions or so were made. How many great single lens cameras were made in Japan. Hundredths of millions? And it was nothing limiting to be creative back then.

Vivian Maier used single taking lens TLR for long time. And Garry Winogrand used 28mm as we only lens for years.
If you have gift in photography one lens is never liming. Was Disfamer using same studio, same spot, same camera, same lens? His portraits are one of the most creative studio portraits I ever seen.

From my experience, I feel more free (creative) with single lens. I used 50mm for years, switched to 35. For photography where I'm trying to be creative. Trade is different story. You have to be creative in trade photography as well, but limiting to one lens might be not practical. $$$ first, creativity is second, but still must. IMO.

It is not only for photography. Most of the heavily equipped for fishing deep pockets are out-fished by village boys with single and primitive rod. Deep pockets are reading magazines and listening tackle stores owners. Village boys have to be creative and adjusts to the moment to have their catch.

faberryman · May 24, 2017

Ko.Fe. said:
From my experience, I feel more free (creative) with single lens.

Do you crop your film and/or digital images, or do you always print/display full frame?

Mainecoonmaniac · May 24, 2017

I think beyond the limitations being the catalyst for creativity, shooting with one lens and keeping it simple keeps a photographer from being distracted by burdens of carrying too much gear and having to make choices of which lens to use.

Dali · May 24, 2017

Creativity has nothing to do with lenses but with the photographer. Pretty easy to understand.

Craig75 · May 24, 2017

I find my talent and ability limiting enough without adding more restrictions.

Pioneer · May 24, 2017

What makes you feel creative? If you feel creative then you probably have a better chance of being creative.

If using one lens makes you feel creative; go for it.

I tried the one lens approach for awhile and once in awhile I did feel creative. But I don't think it was because I was carrying just one lens. There was no cause and effect relationship that I could find.

For myself the muse is more likely to visit when I am looking at something I find interesting. It may be subject matter, it may be location, it may just be a certain type of light falling on that old tree in my backyard.

Though the equipment does not trigger that creative feeling, knowing my equipment well enough to translate my creative impulse into something that makes other people feel what I felt. If I am carrying equipment that I am not familiar with, chances are that creative impulse will be wasted. But if I am carrying a familiar piece of kit then it is a different story.

People often say that the camera gets out of the way. I don't see it that way at all. For me the camera and the lens become my partner. For me it is exactly like Ansel used to say. The camera is the instrument and I know exactly how to play it. I know how to play Chopsticks if I am so inclined, and I can also play Fur Elise if that is what I want.

That is why I still use the K1000, or my Leica III, or my Intrepid 4x5. I own a number of lenses for either camera but regardless of which one I happen to be using the camera and lens controls are easy for me to work. Neither of these cameras are perfect in any stretch of the imagination. But because I am so familiar with how they work I am far more likely to get the photograph I see in my creative mind.

This, to me, is the one camera, one lens process. It may be one camera, many lenses or many cameras, many lenses. But what ever it is, make sure you know exactly how to play the instrument you are using to get the music you want. If you can't then you may be using too many cameras...or lenses...of film types...or developers...or...

Jacob Weiss · May 24, 2017

Eh... idk about this one
I mean I get it... but seems kinda drastic.

I relate because I pretty much have sized down to 1 lenses per camera, being that 1 lens that I feel has dialed in to the true characteristics of what the camera is capable of or what I specifically prioritize it for.

Although having a 70 on my Broni, a 50 on my minolta, a compact p&s, and an 85 on my A2E presents more VARIABLES of limitations.

I think a strict one set of rules like one lens one cam is almost boxing oneself in. Yes your horizons grow within that box, but there is still walls all around you.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 24, 2017

Jacob Weiss said:
Yes your horizons grow within that box, but there is still walls all around you.

Yes. The walls for me is my brain sometimes. The tough part is keep shooting even when I'm not inspired. I'm sure other creative folks face the same problem. Slogging through work until the creative funk ends.

Jacob Weiss · May 24, 2017

Mainecoonmaniac said:
Slogging through work until the creative funk ends.

I agree. Especially why I think its important for some (not all) creative people to have options, as in multiple formats, mediums, lenses, processes. These alternative sometimes allow you to re-approach your work in a fresh or inspired way.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 24, 2017

Jacob Weiss said:
I agree. Especially why I think its important for some (not all) creative people to have options, as in multiple formats, mediums, lenses, processes. These alternative sometimes allow you to re-approach your work in a fresh or inspired way.

Sometimes that works. But sometimes for me, novelty of a new lens or a camera wears off. I still have to do some slogging. Sounds strange, but I think the key is finding creativity not getting caught up in the gear, but getting into a space in your head where you're creative and make great images.

Some do say that limitations are needed for creativity

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