Choosing Zooms Instead of Prime Lenses
As noted in section 4 (page 15), lenses can be divided into two categories: zoom and prime. A zoom lens moves in and out, making the subject appear farther away or closer in the image (without the photographer changing position). With a prime lens, you must walk the camera forward or backward to change the size of the subject in the image.
Both zoom and prime lenses have their advantages. A professional photographer will often favor either zooms or primes, depending on their habits, subject matter, and personal style. The versatility of zoom lenses makes them a reasonable choice—but prime lenses are a joy to use and tend to be sharper (a big advantage!).
“The versatility of zoom lenses makes them a reasonable choice—but prime lenses tend to be sharper.”
Carefully study gear used by professionals working in a particular genre (wedding, sports, family photography, etc.); this is a good endorsement for the correct lenses to purchase. For example, most professional portrait/wedding photographers rave about their 70–200mm f/2.8 zoom lens. There may be other lenses in their gear bag, but this big daddy telephoto zoom is almost always part of the collection. The many layers of glass inside make the 70–200mm a hefty one to lug around and hold up to your eye for very long if you are not using a tripod.
Zoom lenses have their place, especially the sweet 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto. Another popular configuration in this category is the 24-70mm f/2.8.
Prime lenses are generally smaller in size and sharper in focus. They are often favored over zooms for professional work.
Focus is incorrectly placed on the girl’s button in this shot using an 85mm f/1.4 lens opened wide to f/1.4.
Although not perfect, the focus here on the face is improved, using the same aperture with a “focus and recompose process”—because she was rolling around too fast to move the focus point around the matrix. (More on different focusing methods later in the book).
The 50mm f/1.4 prime is a standard “go to” lens among portrait, newborn, and wedding photographers. Prime lenses are generally smaller than zooms and—of course—a lot lighter because there is not as much glass inside.
When shooting at the very wide apertures many prime lenses allow, there are some important focus issues to be aware of (be sure to check out the photo examples to the left).
Zoom Lenses vs. Prime Lenses
Primes are usually sharper than zooms, but not always.
Prime lenses are usually smaller than zooms and a whole lot lighter.
More light enters the camera through a lens with a wide aperture.
Wide apertures also produce dreamy bokeh in the background.
Is the expensive price tag worth it for your style of photography?
A variety of prime lenses in different focal lengths are needed to make up for zoom capability.
There may be a slight learning curve about the nuances of focus with certain primes.