How do you decide what lens to take?

yogestee wrote in post #12349673
Challenge yourself one day. Only take your favourite prime for a few hours and see how many good pics you come back with.

that's what i normally do - obviously not for 'paid' work but for pleasure.

i wouldn't even think of going up the park with the kids & taking several lenses... never!! it'd be 5D2/50mm 9 times out of 10

I can't stand wasting so much time trying to decide which lenses to bring, which is why I try to own as little gear as possible. Last summer I just kept my Think Tank Speed Freak bag loaded with my 5D2, the f/4L trio, a 270EX and a 50/1.8. That was pretty much all I owned for Canon at the time, it went with me everywhere, I never had to think about it, and it was all lightweight enough to just take without thinking. Awesome!

And now I've gone and ruined it all with a secondary body and an extra prime, with one more prime and probably another zoom too.


Go to setup is the 24-105L on my 5D2. Rarely need wider than 24mm, and if I need longer than 105mm I just make sure I'm in 21MP mode and crop as needed for a tighter composition.

I usually make a random choice of one lens and deal with it. My 18-200mm (on a crop sensor body) is the perfect lightweight, all-day, one-lens solution but I'm no less happy when I have the better quality of either of my primes, or the more interesting focal distance of my telephoto or wide angle.

Taking more than one lens is too confusing for me. I prefer to walk around and look for the good shot with the lens I happen to have on the camera. I'm planning a road trip for the summer and will probably limit myself to the 12-24mm, the 85mm, and the 150-500mm. Of course, the 18-200mm would be a good walk-around and the 30mm might get lonely if it's left at home by itself.