Zoom versus Prime: Have zoom lenses improved to the point where they are nearly the same quality as prime lenses? I am shooting film cameras and have been using zooms a lot. Maybe I am...

dinosaur39 Loc: Harpers Ferry, WV

Have zoom lenses improved to the point where they are nearly the same quality as prime lenses? I am shooting film cameras and have been using zooms a lot. Maybe I am just lazy?

jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

Zooms have improved a lot but so have primes.

CurreyPhoto Loc: Reddick, Florida

dinosaur39 wrote:

Have zoom lenses improved to the point where they are nearly the same quality as prime lenses? I am shooting film cameras and have been using zooms a lot. Maybe I am just lazy?

I change during a shoot from a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and a Nikon 135 f2.0, both shot at f4.0. When going through the pictures at the end of the day, I can't tell by looking at them which were shot with which lens. I hope that helps.

pedalmasher Loc: Seminole, FL

CurreyPhoto wrote:

I change during a shoot from a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and a Nikon 135 f2.0, both shot at f4.0. When going through the pictures at the end of the day, I can't tell by looking at them which were shot with which lens. I hope that helps.

I have the same experience with my two Canon L lenses, a 100-400mm and a 100mm prime. When using the Canon at 100mm, I find no difference between the two lenses.

hollidaypr

The zoom lens on my XS-1 runs from 24 to 624. The same lens does macro and super-macro down to less than .5 inch from the lens. The images coming from this camera are outstanding. I would say that this is, hands down, an amazing improvement over prime glass. My backwards-compatible Pentax k100d uses all my Pentax primes, but I find I don't want to carry around all that glass, and the images don't seem as good as I remember from my film shooting days anyway. So, nostalgia gets the Pentax out, but I do all my serious shooting with the XS-1 or my X-100.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

An aspect of shooting with prime lenses that has not been mentioned is composition. While it is possible to compose beautiful shots with a zoom, the primes force you to pay meticulous attention to what is, and is not in your frame at a specific distance from your subject. It helps me. That could be, however, just me. I like prime lenses. They are also, in general, faster than zooms which is less of an issue when using cameras that can handle high ISO numbers.

hollidaypr

I agree. This is why I use my non-zoom Fuji X-100. It forces me to compose using the two-feet zoom method: two feet walking closer to the subject.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

ebrunner wrote:

An aspect of shooting with prime lenses that has not been mentioned is composition. While it is possible to compose beautiful shots with a zoom, the primes force you to pay meticulous attention to what is, and is not in your frame at a specific distance from your subject. It helps me. That could be, however, just me. I like prime lenses. They are also, in general, faster than zooms which is less of an issue when using cameras that can handle high ISO numbers.

Such a great point! Composition isn't mentioned nearly as often on this site as "tack sharp" :) Technology has become more important than art.

majestros Loc: Miami, FL

Generally the difference is that primes are much cheaper for equivalent aperture/sharpness. I think a $3k 70-200 will give you as good of pictures at 2.8/85mm as an 85mm prime will for $400. Plus with the prime you get 1.8, only one zoom on the market has a 1.8 constant aperture.

Not that they don't exist, but I haven't seen any other zoom under 2.8 when looking at lenses to buy.

amehta Loc: Boston

dinosaur39 wrote:

Have zoom lenses improved to the point where they are nearly the same quality as prime lenses? I am shooting film cameras and have been using zooms a lot. Maybe I am just lazy?

Last month, I shot a wedding and used two zooms, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR I. Because of the constraints of where I could shoot from, the zooms made more sense than my primes. There were plenty of sharp shots, but there were also quite a few which were just a little soft, and I think that had to do with the focusing being slightly slower/less accurate with a f/2.8 lens than a f/1.4. I switched to primes when I got the D800 because the zooms just didn't cut it. Once the camera and lenses were that good, I was of course challenged to improve too. :-)

Shooting with primes is both easier and harder. You have to compose with your feet, but since you're forced to slow down, you have time to make sure things are right.

And we can't forget the 2-3 stops of light! Even the f/2.8 zooms do better stopped down a notch. I have no hesitation shooting the 85mm f/1.4 at 1.4, though. Or the 24mm f/1.4. Of course, the 300mm is a whole different world...

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

hollidaypr wrote:

The zoom lens on my XS-1 runs from 24 to 624. The... (show quote)

Holliday, I too used to carry around a monster of a big and heavy XS-1, but I gave it away, when a little kid showed me that my iPhone did everything it did but better!! So where will it stop!? :lol:
SS

Jus kidding

Rumaweigh Loc: Richmond VA USA

Image quality is not the only possible difference. Primes tend to be faster (lower f-stop) and digital cameras focus better with faster lenses (as far as I know all digital cameras focus with the lends wide open). So in low light primes allow autofocus to work better.

amehta Loc: Boston

Rumaweigh wrote:

Image quality is not the only possible difference. Primes tend to be faster (lower f-stop) and digital cameras focus better with faster lenses (as far as I know all digital cameras focus with the lends wide open). So in low light primes allow autofocus to work better.

Yes, and Canon is becoming even more explicit about this. In their higher-end AF units, the center spots are "double cross type", but only for f/2.8 and faster. That includes almost every prime until about 300mm, but only a handful of zooms.

amehta Loc: Boston

Linda From Maine wrote:

quote=ebrunner An aspect of shooting with prime l... (show quote)

One aspect of the composition which is easier with a prime for me: I can see the scene through the single focal length on the camera, so I don't have to wait to see what the camera shows me for a particular focal length. That lets me see the scene more completely, becoming more aware of the background, and seeing what I could include if I went closer.

When I shoot with a zoom, I'm so busy figuring out what focal length to use, I may forget about the background.

amehta Loc: Boston

hollidaypr wrote:

The zoom lens on my XS-1 runs from 24 to 624. The... (show quote)

The specs on that camera are pretty sick!