ShowcaseA year with one lens

Last September I put the 33 on the X-T4 and said I'd leave it there for a year. Swapped bodies in March, kept the lens. Didn't take it off.

About 9,000 frames. Maybe 60 I'd print.

What I learned. 50mm equivalent is boring for about two months and then it isn't. You stop seeing wide pictures that aren't there. Landscapes got worse, I'll admit that. The Dales want something wider or something longer and 33 is neither. Street and people got a lot better, mostly because I stopped thinking about what to carry.

Best of the year is probably a farmer at Hawes market in March leaning on a gate with a sheep looking the same way he was. Worst is about forty attempts at Ribblehead viaduct, which simply doesn't fit.

Taking the 16-55 out tomorrow. Will probably hate it.

Recommend it to anyone who thinks they need another lens.

mfrost said:

a farmer at Hawes market in March leaning on a gate with a sheep looking the same way he was

Sounds like a good year. That's the sort of thing you only get by walking about with one lens and not fiddling, by the time you'd swapped to a longer one the sheep would have lost interest.

I'd argue with you about Ribblehead though, it just needs you to walk further back... or turn round. Some of my favourite pictures from up there are of the moor the viaduct looks at, not the viaduct, and those suit a normal lens fine.

Agree on the landscapes in general, mind. I've been doing most of my fell walks with just the 40 this year and the big views are the ones that suffer. But the big views are also the ones everyone's already taken from the same three spots, so I mind less than I thought I would. If 60 keepers out of 9,000 is what a year of being made to look gets you, that's a good year in my book.

darkslide said:

it just needs you to walk further back

Into the bog. Yes. I did.

This is the kind of thread my bank account needs. I lasted three weeks on a one lens challenge in 2023 and bought a 35 halfway through, which I then justified as "still one lens, just a different one". Honestly 60 printable out of 9,000 is a better ratio than mine. Might try it again with the 35 Art this winter. Might. Dont hold me to it

this is basically me with the 23 on the x-t5 except 35 equiv. tbh i think 50 equiv would drive me mad

A year wide open on the 33, respect. I'd have done it on full frame for the shallower depth but same idea.

f2point8 said:

A year wide open on the 33

Barely shot it wide open. f/4 and be there.

mfrost said:

Recommend it to anyone who thinks they need another lens.

Did a year with the Helios on the A7 III a while back and I'll say this for it... I learned more in that year than in the five before it. You stop thinking about the kit and start thinking about where you're standing, which is the whole job really.

Mind you, I also learned some things I didn't want to. Like that I can't stand swirly bokeh after about month seven, which for a man with my lens collection was a bit of a blow. And that 58mm on full frame is a funny length, just long enough that you're always taking two steps back in a pub. The 33 on Fuji is a much more sensible choice than mine was.

Going back to the bag afterwards was the odd bit. Took me weeks before I stopped reaching for the one lens out of habit. Just saying.

Love this! Did you shoot recipes on it or straight raw? The farmer and the sheep sounds perfect for something warm and Kodachrome-ish. I did three months with just the 27 on the X-E5 earlier this year and it's the most fun I've had with a camera

Raw. Classic Chrome in Lightroom for most of it. Sorry.

Classic Chrome. Of course. Every single time!

Really tempted to do this now, but with the 12-40, which I know defeats the point being a zoom. Maybe the 8-25 for a year? Oh dear. Actually the thing that puts me off is the landscapes bit, if 33 didn't suit the Dales then a single prime in the Highlands would drive me up the wall. Might do a season instead of a year. Winter with one lens, when I'm out less anyway

A zoom for a year is just owning a lens.

Late to this, but it made me realise I've used nothing except the 70-200 for nine months. Going to borrow a friend's 50 for October and see what happens. Thanks for writing it up.