With that constant marketing manipulation campaign Nikon is blanketing the world, a line has to be drawn against it, a preconceived strategy to counteract a disease caught on by most photographers – GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).
On the top most of our priority list, we need to first recognize that there’s only so much dry cabinet space we own, and that leaving our gears in the open humidity is just plain silly – not unless you want to end up having your gears crippled by the deadly wave of fungus found in the moist air. Can you believe it?! I manage to keep my key lenses and gears on a 30L electric dry cabinet! The remaining are always on the move with me as I travel the world for both work and leisure.
Most of us will begin with the standard zoom kit lens with that first DSLR we acquire. No big deal. For that minority twenty percent of us who actually graduates from the crowd, we typically move on towards the “zoom” path, where we systematically obtain a more and more powerful zoom lens, hoping that that would be the wisest strategy to adopt, economically. Bad move!!
Let me elaborate. To begin with, zoom lens, though convenient, destroys your desire for a keener “frame” perspective (something you need in order to get better quality moments). Secondly, zoom lens invite unwanted dust into your camera, like it or not, as you suck them in with each pump action performed by each zooming in/out action. Thirdly, the majority of the the zoom lens available (save the top pro zoom) are optically inferior and “aperture-ly” deprived compared to their prime siblings. And lastly, prime lenses when purchased collectively may still be cheaper and lighter than a combined zoom lens.
If you ask me today, I am primarily shooting with all my prime lenses. The zoom are often reserved for classroom instructions. That’s the result of the long road traveled and lesson learnt so that you don’t need to. A vital rule of engagement to note though – shoot only with one prime lens a day without changing it. This conditioning will help improve your photography – trust me.
Nikon Studio 