Comments on: Prime vs Zoom Lenses: Which Lens Type Is Best?

By: Patrick sim

Patrick sim — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 09:28:41 +0000

Yes i have a hard time decide which len i want to buy. Recently I want to switch over to Nikon Z63 but can't decide which len i want.I have some Nikon F mount len
24-120, 24-70,,28-300,mm. Thinking of getting 28 -400 mm or 14-30mm
Thank you

By: Jack McGonigle

Jack McGonigle — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 12:06:46 +0000

I think you may have missed what I think is the main advantage to high-quality zooms, being able to crop in camera rather than in PP or “zooming with your feet” which I think is a horrible idea. Once I’ve found the desired perspective (camera position) I prefer to do cropping in the camera and, in most cases, end up with a better final image.

By: Wheely Wong

Wheely Wong — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 06:36:00 +0000

I have lost quite a few zooms through fungus, but yet to lose a prime. Within a month of use my zooms will have collected dust, rarely do my primes. Every time you zoom you suck in air through your lens, and often that air contains crap.
I love the versatility of the zooms, but here in the tropics they don’t last long. I always keep them in a sealed tub with good kitty litter in it. But sometimes I’m in the field for three days to a week, and that’s all it takes to have one infected and contaminated.
Don’t ever put a good lens in a contaminated bag or container, or you wont have it for long

By: Higbe33

Higbe33 — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 12:34:00 +0000

I find the lens I use the most is a Sigma 24-105 on a full frame camera.

By: Peter Lebengood

Peter Lebengood — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 00:37:00 +0000

I certainly can’t dispute the fact that prime lenses are still sharper and offer lower fstops. I have switched to zoom lenses as I do mostly wildlife photography and find myself in situations that prevent me from being able to use my feet to adjust framing of the shot. Zooms have come a long way for sure. I’m out on foot (shooting handheld) very often which can take me a long distance from my car. My preferred lenses are Pentax’s 60-250 f4 and 150-450 f4.5-5.6. My style of wildlife photography changes rapidly so the flexibility wins for me. However, if shooting long distances from a fixed location then I would definitely opt for a high powered prime lens.

By: Benny

Benny — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 02:39:00 +0000

In reply to walwit. I have an X-T10 ( Same light sensor as yours.) It came with a XF 18-55 Lens. The quality of the pictures are great, but I have since bought a prime 35 and Prime 28, and there is definitely a higher quality picture again. I prefer the 35 out of the two. I now want to buy a 60mm prime for its macro ability. As a beekeeper, I want to be able to focus right down to the hairs on thier bums.

By: Apostolis Tsi

Apostolis Tsi — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 07:56:00 +0000

I wouldn’t change my Tokina 11-16 for anything in the world. It’s like a like a prime and zoom lens all in one.

By: Kunal Malhotra

Kunal Malhotra — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 05:41:00 +0000

In reply to Russell Rusty Smith. Exactly, a prime lens allows you to get better sharpness as compared to a zoom lens. But it all depends upon your use and the kind of photography you are doing. If you are a travel photographer and want to avoid carrying multiple lenses in your backpack, then a zoom lens is an ideal choice.

By: Russell Rusty Smith

Russell Rusty Smith — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 15:38:00 +0000

I agree with the sharpness of prime lenses. If your manually focusing, a prime lens work for me. Primes only have one ring, the focus ring so I’m not switching between focus and zoom rings. My long lenses above 300mm are all prime lenses. It makes no sense to me that if you need a longer focal length of say 210 mm. I get a sharp image of a subject far away.

By: walwit

walwit — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 15:05:00 +0000

In reply to Kunal Malhotra. Thank you Larry, Kunal, I appreciate you answer my question.