To avert the impression that my new lens had made me forget how to use a smaller f-stop like 1/5.6 here are three images from a road construction machine. Here I sometimes missed the universality of my zoom, but this restriction of course provoked more flexibility. And I am still asking myself why I didn’t make more use of my 50mm lens, similarly fast. It could be that I am somewhat drawn to the extremes in focal lengths, either really short or much longer than normal. The 50mm I tried for portraits, but this focal length distorts the proportions of the face when you try a tighter framing.
Ok, and an image with wide open f-stop at last – I simply couldn’t help it.
Markus, this prime lens work has me wanting to dig out my own primes. I think that in itself is a testimony to your recent photographs. 🙂
@Earl: I am glad that you enjoy these images. Since I re-started SLR photography in 2009, I almost exclusively used zooms, and I have no reason to complain about the results I achieved. The flexibility they give is great, especially with only one camera body (there’s a reason why pros usually carry more, especially when it comes to photojournalism or the like). With a prime, especially a tele lens (85mm becomes 125mm-e) you learn to restrict yourself to sceneries that match that slightly compressed perspective, and you will try to use the new possibilities of shallow DoF, blur and bokeh. This is not allround photography any more, but if it matches your preferences, it can open up a whole bonanza of photographic opportunities. At least it does that for me.