Assembling a kit

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Recently, I've been thinking a lot about my camera gear. I don't think my lens purchases suit my needs. I have an Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm VR that I use mostly for landscape and portrait photos, a Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G that I use when I'm out and about and a [AF-S DX Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8G][50mm[ that I rarely use but for portrait photos.

I'm reading an [old article by Ken Rockwell about who to assemble a camera kit. As I read through the lengthy article I started thinking about my camera kit. I feel as though I need more lenses even though I know that I have lenses that I rarely use.

For most people, a wide zoom and a tele zoom is all you need, and maybe one fast fixed lens in the middle for really low light.
A common error is to carry any two lenses whose functions duplicate something in the other lens. If you bring a 17-40mm zoom, then don't bring a 28-105mm zoom because you're duplicating the 28-40mm range.Ken Rockwell

My 18-55 mm covers some of the range offered by the 35 mm prime and 50 mm prime. There is overlap. Yes, the primes are faster than the 18-55 mm but I realize now that in most lighting situations I don't need the faster lenses. Following Ken's advice, I think I want is the Nikon AF-S Nikkor DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED and the AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED.

When I want to go out and shoot some landscapes or architecture I could take just the 10-24mm, my camera body and my tripod. Nothing else. The 35 mm would serve my needs for close up family portraits. I can use my feet as zoom or crop in Adobe Lightroom. I'm not sure I need a 70-200mm zoom. Most of my photography is landscapes or portraits. I think I could get buy with an 85 mm f/1.8 G prime lens although I'm not sure I need anything that fast. With studio strobes I find that I'm shooting at f/8 most of the time anyway.

So in reality I think my kit would consist of the D5100 body and two lenses -- the 35mm prime and the 10-24mm zoom.

Author: Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale. #nobridge