dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

I have a couple of zoom lenses which I don’t use very often but when I do I noticed that images on a wide angle side are softer than images on telephoto side (even at f5.6 or f8). Is it just me or it’s common? Thanks in advance.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

It depends on the lens and on the camera it's being used on.

THIS is the MAIN reason people LOVE prime/fixed focal length lenses.

And while zooms HAVE improved over the last 30 years or so with a REAL leap in quality over the last 8-10, a good prime lens WILL STILL out perform a zoom at it's focal length in almost every category.

It's physics and optics. ;)

amehta Loc: Boston

Zoom lenses are not uniform in their image quality across the focal length range, and they tend to do worst at the extremes. What you are seeing is not surprising.



:thumbup: :thumbup:

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

As Cholly said, depends on the lens camera combo. In general primes will be better, but I'm happy with all my zoom lenses. Olympus Zuiko HG (high grade) and SHG (Super high grade) zooms are some of the best made.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

^^^Yep!

You can't beat a good zoom in the field.

Now a studio shoot where everything is controlled is a different beast altogether.. but for flexibility a quality zoom is HARD to match.

That's why you can spend months finding the "sweet spot(s)" for a particular zoom/camera combination for use in certain situations.

Great if you have the time or are doing it for fun. NOT so good if you have a deadline to meet and have to rent a lens or two to get the assignment done. :(

Still a good zoom and a great find. :thumbup:

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Any time one makes a general statement, it will be wrong some of the time. Physics remain the same; optics change as the design tools improve.

dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

I agree. Most of the time I use 35mm or 50mm, recently I purchased 85mm. They are compact, light and fast. These three will take care of almost everything I want to shoot.

Thank you for your responses.

amehta Loc: Boston

The physics at work in todays lenses is different than lenses from 25 years ago.

amehta Loc: Boston

Primes rock! :thumbup:

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

You DO know that the phrase "Optics" as used in the context of my post is defined as the study of light and it's interaction with matter....

One SHOULD know these things before they make general statements. ;)

:mrgreen:

Crwiwy Loc: Devon UK

It is common. A prime lens is designed and optimized for that focal length. A zoom lens is a compromise design to cover the range of focal lengths.

When you consider that some zoom lens have a range of 15x the manufacturers do a very good job.

After years of lugging around a 35mm camera with range of lens - I personally prefer my modern 18 - 270mm superzoom.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

There are zooms better than primes - but you have to spend a lot to get them ....primes give the most bang for the buck.

Kuzano

What Cdouthitt says is true, and one of the reasons I shoot Olympus.

I use 1 prime in mzuiko glass. The 17mm f2.8 and the AOV equivalent is 34mm. I use 1 M.zuiko prime for portrait... the 45mm f1.8 for a 90 mm (best portrait length) equivalent.

For a zoom, because all pana m4/3 fit Oly (same sensor same mount), I use the Panasonic Lumix G Vario (leica) with Mega OIS, 100-300 f4-5.6 for equivalent 200-600.

All these lenses (as in ALL) total approx $1200.00 based on current retail new. With the 14-42mm kit zoom and my E-PL5 16mp PEN coming in at $499 new, in addition to that $1200 for three new lenses.

That puts me at a range equivalent from 28mm to 600mm with some fast prime glass, and very good glass overall.

Plus the whole kit weighs less than one Canikon full frame kit with ONE lens.

Total outlay $1700. Images, excellent. Not for everyone, but Pros are starting to pick up Olympus as alternates to what they have been shooting. Mostly for a light alternate, but often saying the Olympus ends up being their "go to" kit going out the door.

My next investment may be the plug in high resolution EVF for my E-PL5, at about $250, or an EM-1 body. Problem with the EM-1 body is that Oly always has another body coming up, and the upgrades in Oly bodies are often more creative and more feature rich than most other MFR upgrades, which I usually call "upDATES".

That's what has kept me shooting predominantly OLY since 1972... most creative company I see in the market.

I've dabbled in both Nikon, and Canon, even in digital, even full frame, but Oly has been in my bag more than any other camera/lens maker for the last 40 years.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

The Sigma 18-35 you show is awesome! I have had it for a little over a month and I love it.

sbesaw Loc: Boston

Below shots were shot in studio environment on location in a home and in a business. I didn't know all this info so I shot with a zoom. That's probably why they are not too sharp :D :D :D