Prime v Zoom: Have zoom lenses gotten so good that they can be used in place of prime lenses? I see in so many threads when there is talk about lenses the focus is on zooms. Somebody...

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Have zoom lenses gotten so good that they can be used in place of prime lenses? I see in so many threads when there is talk about lenses the focus is on zooms. Somebody is recommending this zoom or that zoom. Or someone is asking if they should buy this zoom or that zoom. What happened to primes? What happened to recommending to a beginner that they start with a 50mm?

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

For me it's the size. all my primes are much smaller and lighter than my zoom.

IMHO, I think you can focus more on composition when shooting with a prime...but that's just me...besides, you get more exercise zooming with your feet...I call it your foot zoom.

amehta Loc: Boston

Mac wrote:

Have zoom lenses gotten so good that they can be used in place of prime lenses? I see in so many threads when there is talk about lenses the focus is on zooms. Somebody is recommending this zoom or that zoom. Or someone is asking if they should buy this zoom or that zoom. What happened to primes? What happened to recommending to a beginner that they start with a 50mm?

An interesting set of questions. :-)

Yes, zoom lenses have gotten so good that they meet the needs in many situations. They also have an obvious convenience factor.

I do think a prime of comparable technology is still slightly better than a zoom. For many people, that slight difference is not worth the loss of convenience.

I think recommending a 50mm prime to a beginner was not always the best thing 40 years ago, and it isn't the best thing now. Completely my opinion, I think the 50mm is the most boring lens available. :-)

Ian826 Loc: Bangor. North Wales

Cdouthitt wrote:

For me it's the size. all my primes are much smaller and lighter than my zoom.

IMHO, I think you can focus more on composition when shooting with a prime...but that's just me...besides, you get more exercise zooming with your feet...I call it your foot zoom.

Agree but would that great shot in your avatar wait for me to get up close ?

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Ian826 wrote:

Agree but would that great shot in your avatar wait for me to get up close ?

I was standing only a few feet from him :-) like 4 feet.

http://douthittfamily.smugmug.com/2012/October-2012-Wings-of-Wonder

Skip to page 5.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Mac wrote:

What happened to recommending to a beginner that they start with a 50mm?

#1- If they choose a DSLR, most beginners don't start with a full-frame camera, so a 50mm lens is not the same "normal" lens from the 35mm film days.
("Normal" focal length is approximately equal to the diagonal of the sensor)
You would need a 35mm-ish lens for a typical APS-C DSLR, a 25mm for a micro 4/3rds.

#2- Most beginner DSLR cameras already come with an 18-55 or so zoom and they were probably already used to having a zoom lens on their other camera.

#3 Zoom lenses have improved a lot.

Back when I used only primes on my 35mm film camera, I rarely used a 50 but you do have to start somewhere and that was the supplied "kit" lens back in the day.

amehta Loc: Boston

Ian826 wrote:

Agree but would that great shot in your avatar wait for me to get up close ?

You could have a prime with a longer focal length.

Part of the use of primes is thinking about which lens best suits a particular situation.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

amehta wrote:

You could have a prime with a longer focal length.

Part of the use of primes is thinking about which lens best suits a particular situation.

The photo was shot at 153mm, therefore if I owned the 150mm f/2 (300mm in FF terms), I could have achieved this shot...it also would have been sharper, since the 150 is a SHG lens known as one of the sharpest lenses in olympus's lineup.

I was using the 50-200 with EC-14 at the time...which was no slouch of a combo.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

amehta wrote:

An interesting set of questions. :-) br br Yes, z... (show quote)

I don't know, convenience? Maybe. I guess it depends on what and why you're shooting.
I learned on a 50mm and it taught me how to work a shot. How to get what I wanted as opposed to just taking what was there.
Why do you think a 50mm is boring?

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

GoofyNewfie wrote:

#1- If they choose a DSLR, most beginners don't st... (show quote)

Your point #1 is well taken, on a crop sensor camera a 35mm would be a normal lens. On #2, you don't have to get the kit lens, you can buy the body and a lens. But maybe new buyers don't understand that or don't understand crop sensors. It just seems to me that zoom lenses have become the end-all when it comes to lenses.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Mac wrote:

Your point #1 is well taken, on a crop sensor camera a 35mm would be a normal lens. On #2, you don't have to get the kit lens, you can buy the body and a lens. But maybe new buyers don't understand that or don't understand crop sensors. It just seems to me that zoom lenses have become the end-all when it comes to lenses.

They just want to get in and start shooting with something and the kit zooms are practically free.
With the demise of good local camera stores, there is a lot of room for misinformation...(even on this site! LOL)
That being said, with a few exceptions, all I use now are zoom lenses, but they are really, really good ones.

amehta Loc: Boston

Mac wrote:

I don't know, convenience? Maybe. I guess it depends on what and why you're shooting.
I learned on a 50mm and it taught me how to work a shot. How to get what I wanted as opposed to just taking what was there.
Why do you think a 50mm is boring?

I think you would have learned the same things with a 24mm or 100mm lens. As a "normal" lens, the 50mm shows us what we already see. I think if a beginner starts with a different prime, they learn to see things from a different perspective, which can be valuable.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Convenience is certainly a big factor as is price. You can get a zoom with infinite magnifications, within it's range, for a lot less than 4 or 5 primes. For me, when traveling, zooms are the way to go simply because of the weight reduction.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

SonyA580 wrote:

Convenience is certainly a big factor as is price. You can get a zoom with infinite magnifications, within it's range, for a lot less than 4 or 5 primes. For me, when traveling, zooms are the way to go simply because of the weight reduction.

Sure, you can get a zoom with infinite focal lengths, but 1) Why do you need all those focal lengths? If you have 10-24mm lens how many times will you need 10mm, and 12mm, and 15mm, and 20mm, and 22mm, and 24mm, and everything in between? Yeah, ok, you got them, but what good are they? Wouldn't an 18mm prime do the same thing? And 2) What about quality and cost? Would and 10-24mm zoom have the same quality as an 18mm prime? And if it did, what would the cost comparison be?

amehta Loc: Boston

Mac wrote:

Sure, you can get a zoom with infinite focal lengths, but 1) Why do you need all those focal lengths? If you have 10-24mm lens how many times will you need 10mm, and 12mm, and 15mm, and 20mm, and 22mm, and 24mm, and everything in between? Yeah, ok, you got them, but what good are they? Wouldn't an 18mm prime do the same thing? And 2) What about quality and cost? Would and 10-24mm zoom have the same quality as an 18mm prime? And if it did, what would the cost comparison be?

An 18mm prime would not do the same thing as a 10-22mm zoom, but a 10mm prime and 24mm prime often would. When I do have used zooms, I generally found I was at one extreme or the other.