What is your favorite walk around Prime lens ?

[VTphotog]

800 f/8. Don't ever have to walk very far with it.
Seriously, though, a prime doesn't really have the versatility for a walk-around for me. Gone are the days of the SRT-102 and 50 f/1.4 as my total kit.

brian

[dr_spock]

Originally Posted by VTphotog

800 f/8. Don't ever have to walk very far with it.

brian

What doesn't kill you will make you a stronger photographer.

[tclune]

I just got a D5000, and the first lens I got was the 35mm 1.8. It takes me back to the days of my first "real" camera, a Voigtlander Vito CLR. It was a delight, and so is this lens/camera combo. I just got back from a short trip to Montreal and Quebec City with that as my only lens. I've got the 55-200mm 4.5-5.6 VR, but it was going to be just too much new stuff to try to learn both lenses along with the camera.

There were a couple of photos I didn't take, or compromised on, because of the lens -- I would have loved a bright ultrawide for inside the Notre Dame basillica, and I was too self-conscious to take a photo of a student sitting under a tree outside McGill reading one of the "For Dummies" series of books. Those are the times that I like a tele, to sneak a photo that I want but am too self-conscious to ask permission for.

But the photo that got away on this trip is one I think I would always lose, and I wish I knew how to get them. On the train, a woman had a crying baby. She managed to get the baby to go to sleep by walking up and down the aisle. As she passed, the baby was serenely sleeping, and the mother's face was filled with worry. It was the very definition of the parent/child relationship, but even if I could aim and shoot fast and accurately with my camera, I expect that the mother's expression would change before I could get the shot.

[Northstar]

Originally Posted by mtngal

I find the 50 mm either too long or too short for walk-around. If I want to walk-about light I take a 35 f2.8 macro and a 77 f1.8. Or if I'm in the mood I'll go "heavy" and take just a 200 f2.8, I tend to either really zoom in or else go "normal".

I agree... I do find that the 50 mm is bit to long sometimes. I will probably take a look into getting a 30mm or 35mm

Thanks for all the feed back!

[Old Boat Guy]

I noticed a number of the responses were for Cannon. Shooting with a Sony I would do indoors with my 28mm f/2 or outdoors with the 85mm f/1.4 .

The "If you could only carry one" is a tough question when it comes to Prime lenses. If I could only OWN one lens it would have to be the 50mm f/1.4 (I think)

Steve

or maybe the 100mm f/2.0 macro

[tjsnaps]

I have an old MF 105mm 2.5 that I still use quite a bit So it would be that or my old tokina 17mm which has much less distortion than my kit lens at 18mm.

[Flying Fossil]

For a walk around, I find the SAL 18-250 to be about perfect. Good image quality, plenty of width and length for most shooting.

It is not a prime but were talking walk around. This is mine.

[peripatetic]

50mm on my 5D2. I had the f1.2 but ended up getting rid of it in favour of the 1.4 - it was too heavy.

28mm f1.8 was utterly fantastic on the 1.6 crop. Loved that lens.

The 50 is all I really use.

[rienz]

50mm f/1.8 is my favorite walk around prime lens

[LTZ470]

Canon 100mm 2.8L Macro...Dustin talked me into it and it is a great lens, and have found I can take a nice trip with just it on the 7D...it is a super lens...way more advanced than my skillset for sure...