Thought I'd weigh in with my own kit here (monkey see, monkey do... ;-)
- LowePro Magnum 35 bag
- OM-4 (for chromes)
- OM-1n (for negatives)
- T-32 w/Bounce Grip 2 (optional -- oftentimes I leave it home)
- 21mm F/2.0 MC
- 28mm F/2.0 MC
- 50mm F/1.4 MC
- 50mm F/1.8 MC
- 90mm F/2.0 MC macro
- 200mm F/4.0 MC
- 300mm F/4.5 MC (optional)
- whacks of filters for various situations
- Manfrotto Art. 055 tripod with quick-release plate, in padded shoulder bag
(known as "Bogen" in the U.S. -- don't know the item number, though)
Why the close duplication of the 21 and 28 lens focal lengths, and the complete
dupe in the 50mm focal length?
I find that the 21, while a fabulous lens, tends to "stretch" scenes in the
corners. For most applications, it's unimportant, but when you've got a group
shot of people and you're trying to fill the viewfinder, it can be annoying to
have faces and heads at the edge of the shot get "smeared" along a visual axis.
The 28mm controls this distortion more, IMHO.
As for the 50s, the 1.4 is a wonderful low-light lens (in fact, I'm looking for
a 1.2), but the 1.8 seems to produce sharper images to my eye, even when both
are stopped down. I hope someday to test out the 50/2.0 macro, which I've
heard puts all the other 50s to shame (even the 3.5 macro) in terms of
resolution.
The 90 is just fabulous. Got it less than two weeks ago, and I can tell you
it's staying in my bag until someone pries it from my cold, dead fingers. :-)
Others on this mailing list have weighed in with opinions about the 200mm
(mostly trashing the lens, although I seem to remember at least one person
saying it was a fab lens). I think it's fabulous, certainly, and have captured
some very nice hand-held images with it. I'd like to try it with a
high-quality teleconverter someday.
The lenses from 21 - 200 plus a single body (the OM-4, usually) make a nice,
light kit to my mind, and you can capture a huge variety of photo ops with
them. The 300 I only take when I *know* I'll need it, though I've regretted
not having it a couple of times this year already...
Garth
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