TP: Your greatest regret in photography - the one

My biggest regret is buying zoom lenses in the mid to telephoto range (i.e. excluding 16-35 and anything that reaches beyond 300mm). As I see video reviews cropping up of the new FE 70-200 2.8 II, with reviewer waxing lyrical about the amazing close-up portraits and great background separation, I'm reminded of how easy it is to be sucked into this. But ultimately they're advocating for the 135 1.8. Personally, primes make me a better photographer. I guess you could argue that I'm therefore a bad photographer if I need constraints to do my best work (and you're probably right) but it's the paradox of choice - the more choice we have, the harder it is to make the right one!

Until only the last year or so, I've always felt I needed zooms in the bag to make sure I had every possibility covered. In the early days I'd shoot a wedding with 24-70 and 70-200 because I was told these were 'wedding essentials'. But now with the confidence to do things my own way, I love running with 35, 85 and 135 primes. The difference from 35 to 85 to 135 is small enough as to be negligible, and I simply love the 90% of images from these three - versus the 90% mediocre I get from 24-70 and 70-200.