Obsessing About Lenses

I have managed to not covet lenses for quite some time. This was mostly in part because I didn't have any money, but also I had a relatively complete kit for my needs. I was using a Nikon D700, 85mm f1.8G, D600 and a 16-35mm f4G VR. Whilst I was camping in the Gaspé peninsula in Quebec, I dropped my D600 from about 3 feet. This caused part of the mirror to pop out of place and this is now obstructing the sensor. I am only just getting over the shame. I will soon investigate whether this is worth the money for repairs. When Christmas came around, I was so broke that I ended up selling my 16-35mm on Ebay. So now I am down to one lens and camera combination. This is even more restrictive than I predicted.

My major travel plan for the future is heading to western Canada. I intend to travel in British Columbia and Alberta during June. This is the approximate route:

I am now very aware that I need to update my equipment to make the most of the holiday. I had a certain idea about what I would be working toward. I have found that I have been using shallow depth of field for a long time, making the most of having a full frame DSLR. I have also enjoyed challenging myself to get sharp images in low light and social situations, when it is difficult to get a clear image and most people don't burden themselves with a large camera. I was think of purchasing the super sharp Nikon 24mm f1.8G. I have been very impressed that this tops the charts for my camera for all lenses 35mm or below, for sharpness on DXOMark. It is also one of the cheapest.

I have been using mostly primes for about 7 years. The major lens I was using was a Nikon 50mm f1.4G. I convinced myself that I wanted to focus more on developing my portrait skills and wanted a sharper lens wide open, so I replaced this with an 85mm. It is a very different experience. The working distance is often too long for social situations. I sometimes am almost unable to photograph people in small rooms. My mind is having to adjust when I see something in the street as I am too close. I often start by backing away from my subject, which is pretty much the opposite of what I should be doing. The lens is optically superior, but it also is more specialised. 

I spent a lot of time taking full advantage of the lenses sharpness wide open. With my camera locked in to f1.8 on aperture mode. However I have been noticing whilst editing that the transition from sharp areas to out of focus is particularly noticeable. If I miss focus slightly or have points of interest at multiple distances, the mistake is jarring. I have come to the conclusion that I should improve my estimations of depth of field by varying my technique or work with staging my subjects. This has made me feel that the lens is less suitable for general use and I need more options for lenses.

I often think about why I use a large camera, and what purpose there is for this specialisation. I am aware that the most popular camera is the world is an iphone.

I want to create something that is different to others, otherwise I should not share the result. I need to embrace specialisation and use the advantages that a larger camera gives me.

One clear advantage is extreme viewpoints. The iphone's camera has slowly been getting wider with each generation, starting around 37mm (full frame equivalent) and now it is around 28mm, but with the latest generations they are also including a 56mm portrait lens. So, the majority of the images in the world are currently being taken at 28-56mm focal lengths. With full frame DSLR rectilinear lenses are generally sold with a much larger range. There are a large range of expensive lenses between 200-800mm made by both Canon and Nikon and this is an important reason why they maintain an edge against other manufacturers. Also the Canon 11-24mm f4 was recently released to compete against the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8G. I want to increase my photographic vocabulary to include these two extremes.