Adam Trahan: Nikon Nikkor 35-200mm f3.5-4.5 AI-S

Zoom Nikkor 35-200 f3.5-4.5 AI-S

s/n 204561

I’ve grown accustomed to zooms for their adaptability. Of course, the choice to use a prime is preferred yet a prime lens, compared to a zoom lens is limiting. I have come to the conclusion that although minimalism is a school on its own, essentialism is just as important. Take a picture with a fixed focal length or a zoom lens. It’s your choice. My choice is to have choices. If I want a prime, I’ll use a prime but a zoom lens supports options.

My style of photography is often dynamic and sometimes everyday, I have a camera with me. When an opportunity presents itself, opportunity becomes opportunities. It’s exponential and at the same time everything a prime can be if we have discipline. I like options. I like minimalism I prefer essentialism.

A zoom lens offers more with less.

Yes, I can take pictures with a 28, a 35 or even a 50, but try to bring in a distant view? Zooming in with your feet isn’t always an option. I want a lens with options if carrying day to day. Yes, they are big, bulky and imperfect and I’m not a professional photographer, however, my photography isn’t bad and neither are zoom lenses.

I have a camera that I prefer a prime bolted onto yet that camera becomes a much more versatile tool with a favorite zoom. That camera is the Nikon F3. I prefer a 1.2/50 on it yet I have taken some of my best pictures using a zoom that is far more limiting.

Zooms are not my favorite, I prefer a prime lens. It’s a fixed focal length that helps me focus on composition, it’s a lesson in composing or capturing a picture with a limited view and all that goes with that.

The F3 and the 35-200 are dating right now. I’ve got a roll of Kodacolor 100 that I’m shooting my first images with. I am struggling with my kit right now, I just bought a F6 so the primary use of the F3 may be changing. My FE2 has B&W in it and I love shooting it yet it’s not going to show me what I want. I think the 1.2/50 will get mounted back on the F3 and the 1.4/50 will go on the shelf and the 35-200 will go on the FE2. The FA is a daily carry and gets a 28 or a 50 pancake to keep it tight.

So the F3 and Kodacolor are going to show me what I like about this lens.