The correct answer to most questions is, 'it depends'. I photograph different things so it depends on what I'm photographing.
When I shot professionally (past tense) I basically used 2 bodies and 3 AF pro zooms for virtually everything (and the odd special lens for specific purposes). Simple, reliable, predictable, because I always had to get the job done well.
Now that I just shoot for fun, I can come back home without any 'keepers' at all, and I like it that way because I can play and try things. I can do dumb things, such as using inappropriate lenses, and that's fine.
I like my vintage/legacy lenses so use them quite a lot, and really the MAIN thing I try to do is to have a working 'kit' in whatever brand of lenses I am using. I prefer to carry a single adapter instead of multiple adapters for each different mount, and even though adapters are often quite light they can be quite bulky when there are several of them.
For example, with Konica I often bring a 24 or 35, 50-57, 85 or 135 and that's basically my Konica kit. Olympus might be a 28, 50, 100. Contax/Yashica might be 24 or 35, 55, 135. I do the same with Leica R, Mamiya M645, and I'm working on a Minolta kit, but you get the idea. I tend not to mix legacy lenses, and that's only to minimise how many adapters I carry, not because I'm after a particular rendering or look.
If I want to shoot people, and need to get the shots, a Sony 50/1.2 GM always gets the job done so it's always in the bag, but the 55/1.8 ZA is lighter and excellent too.
It all depends.
Aug 04, 2026 at 02:21 AM
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