How do decide what lens to put on for an outing?

I have only had an SLR for 4 months + now. I am finally getting natural with it and don't have to think about exposure and all that anymore. It is all coming naturally. While I am pleased that I am consistently pulling off much higher quality photos than when I had a Point and Shoot, I find that I am disappointed to not be able to afford an 'all in one' lens that it in the L series.

I find it rather cumbersome to decide, before an outing, if I will take mostly landscape, macros, or outdoor portraits. I tend to do it all. On the beach I take landscape, macro, and photos of my kids.

How do you decide what lens to put on?

I usually put it on in the house or the car (I don't like putting them on around the breeze, salt air, dust, sand, etc) and than I just leave the extra lenses in the car. Than if I want to change I have to go back to the car.

I would say that this is one of the main big adjustments from Point and Shoot to SLR.

I wanted to see how you all decide or handle this on those days where you are doing things like taking the kids to the beach.

I bring my backpack with a fair number of lenses in it. As to changing them out doors, get over the phobia and change the lenses. If I'm at a beach on a very windy day with lots of salt spray and blowing sand, I'd look for a sheltered spot but otherwise I don't really worry about it that much.

TiaS wrote in post #9749035
I find it rather cumbersome to decide, before an outing, if I will take mostly landscape, macros, or outdoor portraits. I tend to do it all. On the beach I take landscape, macro, and photos of my kids.

How do you decide what lens to put on?

I usually put it on in the house or the car (I don't like putting them on around the breeze, salt air, dust, sand, etc) and than I just leave the extra lenses in the car. Than if I want to change I have to go back to the car.

That's your problem.
When your sitting in your car, how do you know what lens you will need?
Your other lenses are no good to you if they are in the car and you are out in the woods or on the beach.

Also, there is no one lens that "does it all"

As has been said there is no all in one, I think about what I will be trying to do and then take the lenses that I think will cover it. Your camera was designed to have its lens changed, just do it when you need to, it is not a big deal..

TiaS, if you are just shooting kids/family and are happy for a slight reduction in picture quality (compared to L lenses), then a lens like the Canon 18-200mm or Tamron 18-270mm might be ideal.

However, if you are more interested in quality, then multiple lenses are a requirement. It is simply not possibly (economically) to build lenses that are of excellent quality throughout extended ranges (3x-4x seems to be the ideal for zooms - ie 18-55 or 24-70).

I wouldnt worry about chqanging the lenses when you are out unless its very dusty, wet or windy. Any dust that gets into your camera can normally be very easily removed with a rocket blower.

TiaS wrote in post #9749035
How do you decide what lens to put on?

First off, when I'm setting up for a shot the first thing I do is find the position for the camera to get the composition - which includes paying attention to perspective - right. Then, after choosing the position for the camera, I choose the lens that will let me frame the image the way I have it in my head.

It would be absolutely impossible to predict which lens I might need before arriving at a place where I wanted to make an image. Thus, I almost always carry all of my lenses (three zoom lenses) with me whenever I have the camera in the field. I also have my field tripod with me quite often when I expect to do any serious image making.

You may not understand the thing about perspective, so I invite you to please read our "sticky" (now found in the General Photography Talk forum) tutorial titled Perspective Control in Images - Focal Length or Distance?. This may help you also understand focal length choice better. The bottom line is that focal length choice is really a function of framing the image.

I will also echo the statement that there is no such thing as a single lens that will "do it all" for you.

I often just pick a lens and accept it's limitations on how I can frame and manage perspective. It is an educational advantage as much as a photographic limitation. Lots of times I have a prime on the camera.

It is a mistake to concentrate on equipment all the time. Sometimes I am better off to limit the equipment, and experiment with how I see things.

If I am shooting a specific event, I almost always know what I need from experience. That experience, however, came from carrying around everything until I found out what I don't use and started leaving it at home. If that is the "stage" you are at, you need a big camera bag and some good boots.

But I highly recommend relaxing about the choices you are talking about, and concentrating more on the photographs you CAN take, rather than worrying about the ones you might miss because a lens is not on your camera.

You can choose a lens and limit yourself to its supposed capabilities. Or, you can choose a lens and explore beyond its capabilities.

Well I went out today with my backpack with my gear. I switched lenses a few times on my walk, using them for different shots or purposes. It is something to get used to, but I think I will be happy with the results.

I have come to the point where I go out with one body and one lens. Yesterday I went out for a walk downtown, with only my 5D and th 35mm, thats my second time shooting with only one prime. Before I have traveled to London with only 5D and 24-70.

I learned alot from my walkaround yesterday, I now know how much I will get in the frame when using my 35mm, actually walking to work this morning I played in my head to see what I could frame with it. I have never had a clue of what focal range I would need when I used zoom.

If I am covering an event and I dont know the distance from me to the subject I will carry my zoom, but if it is not that critical, I will use my 35mm and my 100mm.

My best shot from yesterday (I guess it wouldnt look this way if I had my zoom lens on):

TiaS wrote in post #9754392
Well I went out today with my backpack with my gear. I switched lenses a few times on my walk, using them for different shots or purposes. It is something to get used to, but I think I will be happy with the results.

I'd say that's a good thing to learn to do, and then occasionally try setting out with the one lens and stretch your capabilities. Sometimes the backpack or full bag is what you need, but there are a lot of times when I will purposefully set out with one lens -- it's all about your intent in what you want to capture.

But, for the scenarios that you describe, when you want to be able to do several types of shooting and get the best results, a three lens combination can ensure that you do just that.

It's funny, yesterday I set out to do some Spring duck shooting -- it was going to be brief, so I did the "one lens" aproach (a 100-400 with a 1.4x TC). It wasn't until I got to the scene that I realized that the lens that I had grabbed and popped onto my TC/body was the 70-200 (which has a similar look and heft of the 100-400). I was pretty chagrinned, since where I was shooting I knew that the 70-200 would come up short!

I'm also one of those people who carries just one lens. I try to position myself so I can get the shots I need. If I've planned things out well enough, I can cover about 90% of what I want to shoot. So far, the lens that works best is a Sigma 17-70 Macro.

Dean

I would avoid superzoom lenses, you are better off buying a cheap used body and shooting with 2 cameras. When I got my second DSLR body it was great, but over time I have learned what lenses I will uses and don't switch nearly as much. I try to bring no more then 2 or 3 lenses for a specific outing (unless it's something special) that way I am not tempted to throw on every lens I have.