{"id":6881,"date":"2017-02-07T22:43:24","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T21:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=6881"},"modified":"2024-04-21T14:31:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T13:31:19","slug":"one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month – updated"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am a gear head. How do I know? Because I own about a dozen normal lenses.<\/p>\n

Usually I enjoy the choice I have but I was asking myself what would happen if I had no choice and could use only one lens for a whole month? \u00a0There is only one way to find out and so I decided that I would limit myself to the Minolta MC Rokkor 1:1.7 55mm<\/a>\u00a0which is 45-years-old and cost me $25.<\/p>\n

When I started the project I was curious how it would affect my photography. I have always progressed the fastest when I was outside of my comfort zone and I expected that this project would give me many experiences outside my comfort zone.<\/p>\n

In this post I will recapitulate my experience so far.<\/p>\n

Day 1: Black and White<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On day one I decided that the lens alone wouldn’t push me outside of my comfort zone enough so I decided to give myself additional challenges each day which would make the project more interesting.<\/p>\n

For day one this was photographing in black and white only because color is usually essential for my pictures. I think it worked quite well as did using 55mm for zoo images.<\/p>\n

Day 2: Unknown territory<\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

My challenge on day two was to photography my university because it is such a different subject from my usual landscape photography.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 3: Stuck on a tripod<\/h1>\n

I don’t like using a tripod so I challenged myself to use one on day 3. As I should have expected it wasn’t much fun<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 4: Just 5 Pictures<\/h1>\n

This has been my favorite challenge so far: I allowed myself only 5 images. This made me slow down and consider my images a lot longer than I usually do. I felt that my awareness was heightened and my images benefited from \u00a0the challenge. I think I will repeat it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 5: Using Film<\/h1>\n

I loaded an old Minolta XD-7 with some negative film which isn’t developed yet so I can’t show you the results but I can tell you that I enjoyed the experience a lot less than I had hoped.<\/p>\n

Day 6: A grey day in February<\/h1>\n

When I left uni at 4 PM I seriously thought about not taking any pictures because it was such a grey day. But since I wanted to challenge myself everyday I made it my challenge to document just that: A typical day in February. This challenge turned out much better than I would have hoped and in the end I had a few pictures which showed quite well what a day in February looks like.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 7: Same place – different light<\/h1>\n

I have my normal roaming grounds not too far from home which I usually photograph in the glorious light of sunrise or sunset. Today I challenged myself to photograph them in the diffuse light of another gray day. Again it turned out better than I would have hoped.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Preliminary conclusion after week one<\/h1>\n

So far the project has worked out quite well for me. So far I actually enjoy using just one lens and I don’t feel like I have lost any images because of it.\u00a0In fact I took many images I wouldn’t have taken otherwise and I broke \u00a0away fro many of my usual patterns.<\/p>\n

I’ll keep you updated on how my little project progresses in about a week and whether I get fed up with just one lens.<\/p>\n

Day 8: Minimalism – Or not<\/h1>\n

Well I tried to use the snow to reduce my images to the bare essentials because I think my images are often too complicated. I failed. Failing at something is part of any learning process so I am very okay with it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 9: I have to take some pictures today<\/h1>\n

What do you do when you sit at the desk til 10 pm learning for your next exam with no time for photography? I grabbed the most photogenic subject I could find which happened to be a flower, set up a softbox and tried to capture in in a way I normally wouldn’t capture a plant. I like the first image but all the other images turned out pretty boring.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 10: Focusing by foot<\/h1>\n

Today’s challenge was to take pictures with the focusing ring set to 3m. So I had to focus by changing my distance to the subject. Given the circumstances (solid cloud cover around sunset) I am quite happy with the results.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/h1>\n

Day 11: A break<\/h1>\n

It would have been very stressfull to take some images this day so I gave myself a short break. I want to push myself but not too far.<\/p>\n

Day 12: Human interference in nature<\/h1>\n

My images usually paint a rather romantic image of the nature I photograph so today I tried to photograph how humans shape nature. Again I like the first image but the rest of my images didn’t turn out that well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 13: Back to normal<\/h1>\n

I had an exam this day so I didn’t give myself any challenge and instead used photography to relax. Since it was a very nice day the resulting images will look rather familiar to those of you who know my usual style.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 14: Another golden sunrise<\/h1>\n

I had another exam this day and didn’t set a challenge so the resulting images fell well within my comfort zone.<\/p>\n

I don’t think that my images on this day would have been significantly better had I had a\u00a0FE 4\/16-35, <\/a>Minolta MC 1.2\/58 <\/a>and Zeiss Makro 2\/100<\/a> with me which cost me close to 100 times as much as the little Rokkor 1.7\/55.<\/p>\n

stitch from 5 images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/h1>\n

<\/h1>\n

Conclusion after week two<\/h1>\n

The Minolta MC 1.7\/55<\/a>\u00a0feels totally natural to me by now and I am surprised how seldom I feel limited by it. When I started the project I though that using just this one lens would put me out of my comfort zone but far from it. On day 13 and 14, when I photographed my usual roaming grounds in my preferred conditions like I have done a 100 times before there were a few scenes where I could have used another lens or better coatings. But I don’t think that these lenses would have allowed me to create a significantly better series on that day.<\/p>\n

Because of the challenges I currently think much more about the images I take and while I don’t think this will quickly turn me into a much better photographer I think the skills I currently improve will have a lasting effect on my photography.<\/p>\n

So my conclusion so far is not that gear doesn’t matter,\u00a0it is that I should continue to put focus on my photo skills.<\/p>\n

\n

This site contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using any of the links marked as affiliate links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support the creation of future content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a gear head. How do I know? Because I own about a dozen normal lenses. Usually I enjoy the choice I have but I was asking myself what would happen if I had no choice and could use only one lens for a whole month? \u00a0There is only one way to find out … Continue reading Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month – updated<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photography","category-projects"],"yoast_head":"\nProject: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month - updated - phillipreeve.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month - updated - phillipreeve.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am a gear head. How do I know? Because I own about a dozen normal lenses. Usually I enjoy the choice I have but I was asking myself what would happen if I had no choice and could use only one lens for a whole month? \u00a0There is only one way to find out … Continue reading Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month – updated →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"phillipreeve.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-07T21:43:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-21T13:31:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Phillip Reeve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Phillip Reeve\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/\",\"name\":\"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month - updated - phillipreeve.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-07T21:43:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-21T13:31:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d875e9fd60a43e24a1abc265963ed021\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":629},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month – updated\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"phillipreeve.net\",\"description\":\"Sony \u03b1 | Leica M | Nikon Z\/F New articles every week\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d875e9fd60a43e24a1abc265963ed021\",\"name\":\"Phillip Reeve\",\"description\":\"I have two hobbies: Photography and photographic gear. Both are related only to a small degree.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.phillipreeve.net\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Phillip_Reeve\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/author\/phillipadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month - updated - phillipreeve.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month - updated - phillipreeve.net","og_description":"I am a gear head. How do I know? Because I own about a dozen normal lenses. Usually I enjoy the choice I have but I was asking myself what would happen if I had no choice and could use only one lens for a whole month? \u00a0There is only one way to find out … Continue reading Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month – updated →","og_url":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/","og_site_name":"phillipreeve.net","article_published_time":"2017-02-07T21:43:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-21T13:31:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Phillip Reeve","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Phillip Reeve","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/","url":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/","name":"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month - updated - phillipreeve.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-07T21:43:24+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-21T13:31:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d875e9fd60a43e24a1abc265963ed021"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DSC00392.jpg","width":800,"height":629},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/one-month-just-one-25-lens-personal-project\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Project: $1500 camera with just one $25 lens for one month – updated"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/","name":"phillipreeve.net","description":"Sony \u03b1 | Leica M | Nikon Z\/F New articles every week","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d875e9fd60a43e24a1abc265963ed021","name":"Phillip Reeve","description":"I have two hobbies: Photography and photographic gear. Both are related only to a small degree.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.phillipreeve.net","https:\/\/x.com\/Phillip_Reeve"],"url":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/author\/phillipadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6881"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54765,"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881\/revisions\/54765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}