I find that a lot of photographers try to get zooms that seamlessly cover a really wide range of focal lengths, in fact I did the same exact thing after I got my first DSLR. I was shooting Pentax at the time, but I got zooms that covered 16-200mm (DA* lenses, which is the pentax equivalent to L glass). This idea seems to make sense from the stand point that you will be able to frame any scene that you come across and will always have a focal range to cover anything you want. Over time I realized that this logic is not reality (at least for me) and in fact this setup lead to much less creativity and fewer impactful, signature shots. There are a few reasons for this. 1) I find that even if I have a full range of focal lengths I am only really be able to "think" and see in subsets of these ranges, and I find that if given the chance to zoom in or out I would often take the safest, most simple composition, which is often boring and usually not that creative. I'm not really sure why this is the case, but it is unmistakeable. I always ended up with fewer original/creative compositions when working with zooms, but if I'm forced to a single focal range I end up much more creative, and able to predict and thus "see" more as I walk around. 2) Zoom Lenses are a hell of a lot heavier and bulkier (compare the 16-35 with the 14 L II) which makes them a hell of a lot more of a pain in the ass to carry around multiple lenses, so you often only end up taking a single lens which limits you as well. I am muchh more likely to carry two relatively light primes, than a couple zooms, so if I carry a 14mm and a 50mm, I actually cover a lot more focal ranges than a single 16-35. 3) Optically they are alway going to be inferior to prime lenses, both in sharpness, color, and speed. Not only that, but I find that in order to get images that stand out from the crowd, using extreme unique glass helps quite a bit, as it gives you a different perspective than is possible with standard zooms, due to the speed and focal length of the lens. I guess I might be a bit different than most, but I want images that are as unique as I can get, they are just more interesting to me, and that is much easier to obtain using unique tools.
When I switched to Canon a month or so ago, I decided to take a new approach to glass. I was just going to buy my favorite prime lenses as fast as possible and stay away from zooms for the most part (I do have a 70-200, for sports shooting though). So my main kit has been the 50 1.2L and the amazing 14mm LII. First off optically the 14mm is crazy sharp all the way to the corners, with great color, and surprisingly low distortions. I actually bought the sigma 12-24 first as it is the widest available FF lens, and I have had great luck with both sigma lenses I have previously owned (8-16 and 10-20 for crop cameras). But the 12-24 was horribly soft and I returned it immediately for the 14mm. I must say I had a bit of sticker shock at first, but it was worth it because it is truly an extremely unique piece of glass. I can't really tell you how much I like it as it is so versatile. It is crazy fast so I can handhold bracket images indoors (which is amazing for me as I used to have to lug a tripod which can be dangerous and slow when urban exploring), and it also can be stopped down for landscapes. Shooting ultra wide is not for the faint of heart and takes a lot of practice and mastery before you can see in 14mm, but if you want a fun adventure I would highly recommend it. This is all I can really say, so maybe I'll just show some images I've got with it the last few weeks to make my point.
Supper by
@!ex, on Flickr
Out Back by
@!ex, on Flickr
Inner Diameter by
@!ex, on Flickr
Bad Oasis by
@!ex, on Flickr
Mile High 'Murica by
@!ex, on Flickr
Waiting for Tomorrow by
@!ex, on Flickr
Chipping Away by
@!ex, on Flickr
The Plunge by
@!ex, on Flickr
Perspective by
@!ex, on Flickr
Drought by
@!ex, on Flickr
Ionic Jail by
@!ex, on Flickr
Sunset and County by
@!ex, on Flickr
Power Sources by
@!ex, on Flickr
