Shooting strategies #1: zoom or prime(s)?

I has been raining all day. Our visitors left before 1 pm and I decided to enjoy peace and silence for the rest of the day...

My friend is coming back to town tomorrow. He was kind enough to lend me a Fujinon 27/2.8 lens for a week. In my film days, I was a prime shooter. 40 mm has been my favourite FL since shooting with Olympus Trip 35 (which was, and still is, an exceptional camera). It is closest to human vision regarding angle of view. In film days, zooms were not so highly appreciated - primes just were faster, lighter and optically often superior.

And they still are, at least lighter and (usually) faster. With my X-M1 I naturally got a kit zoom, and was not expecting much. But I have to say that Fuji 16-50 is a serious piece of equipment. It is very light, body and bayonet are all plastic but it does indeed deliver some excellent pics, even fully open.

Perhaps I'm older and more lazy than before, but it feels more comfortable than old-fashioned leg zoom. FOV equals 24-72 mm in 35 mm terms, which is great for everyday use. X-M1 has so low noise levels that even the difference in max. aperture does not mean much. And, since X-M1 has no optical viewfinder, I find it somehow easier to compose with zoom via the tiltable screen. Of course there are optical viewfinders to attach to a flash shoe, I've seen some of those in use and they look very stylish and retro.

Limiting oneself to a single focal length is of course a great opportunity to learn photography. Masters of the art, Cartier-Bresson for example, did not use anything else than 35 and 50 mm lenses. But versatility is also a good thing.... Well, I'm not in a hurry to make decisions, my friend will not be needing that lens for another week or two. Someone might keep both of those lenses, but that's not me. I need to keep things so simple as possible. At least that's what I am telling myself :)