frjeff wrote:
I currently have the 24mm f/2.8 and the 50mm f/1.8. All NIKKOR.
I need/want either the 85mm or 105mm to better fill the frame. I do not do portraits, but do cityscape, landscape, etc.
Help me with my decision please.
Way back in the days when zooms were soft, I had six primes in my bag.
24mm f/2.8 Nikkor
35mm f/2 Nikkor
55mm f/2.8 macro "Micro Nikkor"
85mm f/1.8 Nikkor
105mm f/2.5 Nikkor
135mm f/2.8 Nikkor
My "go to" lens at least half the time was the 35mm, as a walkabout, street, events, and landscapes lens
I used the 55mm on the copy stand, in the studio for product photography, or for copying paintings for artists. Sometimes it was a portrait lens (waist up, two people) or a landscape lens.
The 24mm saw the least use. Either it was a bad copy, or a bad design. It was never sharp. I tried four of them, none of which satisfied. I used the one I kept for parties, events, and an occasional landscape. Funny; on Micro 4/3 now, 12mm is a favorite. But my zoom is tack sharp at that focal length, which offers the same field of view as 24mm on full frame/35mm film.
All the tele lengths were great for portraits, but the 105 saw the most use for that.
85mm worked for stage events, street, basketball, and candids at events. Now, on Micro 4/3, I use 43mm for the same things (and for documentary interviews).
135mm worked for candids, outdoor sports, and landscapes.
Frankly, in 2022, zoom lenses can be rather incredible tools. Most lenses have been re-designed for mirrorless cameras, taking advantages of many advances in optical designs, glass making, coatings, electronic controls, motors, and more. Primes are still fantastic tools, but less versatile than zooms.
On Micro 4/3, an equivalent full frame focal length range of 20mm to 100mm at a constant aperture of f/1.7 can be had with just two lenses, made by Panasonic using Leica glass and lens formulas. Both look identical, are about the same weight, handle the same, and work equally well for stills and video. Both are amazingly sharp, especially from f/2.8 through f/5.6. Those two lenses replace 20mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85 or 90mm, and 100 or 105mm primes, without giving up anything other than razor-thin depth of field (of dubious value at those focal lengths, anyway).
My own kit now includes three stabilized lenses:
12-35mm f/2.8 zoom (24 to 70mm zoom equivalent)
30mm f/2.8 1:1 macro lens (60mm macro equivalent, but with a 4:1 equivalent magnification)
35-100mm f/2.8 zoom (70 to 200mm zoom equivalent)
These lenses do nearly everything I need. I occasionally rent faster primes or the 100-400mm (200mm to 800mm equivalent).
You don't say what camera(s) you are using. If you are using a mirrorless, at least check out reviews of the latest zooms for that mount. If you're over 65 and applying thinking about zooms you learned in the 1950s or '60s, it's time to revise that knowledge base.