Prime vs Zoom Lenses...

Hello

What is the difference between Prime and Zoom Lenses?

Are Prime Lenses with fixed focal length while Zoom lenses have variable FL?
What are the pros and cons for a Prime Lens?

Thanks for your attention.

Regards

--

'If I could tell the story in words, I would have not lug around a camera' Lewis Hiene

You are correct -- primes are one focal length and zooms are variable.

Advantages to primes:

• better picture quality
• cheaper
• lighter
• smaller
• faster maximum aperture

Disadvantages to primes:

• less convenient

The best quality zooms these days (L zooms) come very close to the quality of primes but are MUCH more expensive. You can get L zoom quality in a prime for around $300.

--
Todd Walker
http://www.toddwalker.net
http://www.twphotography.net
http://www.pbase.com/twalker294

Hey thanks for your post,

So what do you recommend:
-to have a larger aperture (f/1.4,1.8) but with fixed Focal Length? or
-to have a smaller aperture (f/2.8) but with variable FL?

Canon doesn't seem to have a lens which has a f/1.8 which has variable FL. Maybe a f/2.8 one.

Any suggestions?

Regards

--

'If I could tell the story in words, I would have not lug around a camera' Lewis Hiene

likair said:

Hey thanks for your post,

So what do you recommend:
-to have a larger aperture (f/1.4,1.8) but with fixed Focal Length? or
-to have a smaller aperture (f/2.8) but with variable FL?

Click to expand...

Well that depends on if you are willing to sacrifice convenience for a larger aperture. There is no substitute for a fast lens and in those situations where you need 1.4 or 1.8, you gotta have it. In low light, there is a huge difference between 1.4 and 2.8 -- two full stops as a matter of fact. That means if the 1.4 lens will use a shutter speed of 1/60, the 2.8 needs 1/15. The fast lens will get a sharp shot and the slow lens will not (because of camera shake.) I say if you are interested in low light no-flash photography then the fast prime is the only way to go. If you don't have any primes yet, get the 50/1.8 (which is quite cheap,) and experiment with it.

likair said:

Canon doesn't seem to have a lens which has a f/1.8 which has
variable FL. Maybe a f/2.8 one.

Click to expand...

Correct, there are no zooms faster than 2.8. The cost to produce such a lens would be astronomical.

--
Todd Walker
http://www.toddwalker.net
http://www.twphotography.net
http://www.pbase.com/twalker294

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/app/pdf/lens/EFLensChart.pdf

http://sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_chart.asp

Canon's best lenses are their "L" line, and Sigma's are their "EX" line. The fastest zoom lenses are generally f2.8 max. You need to decide which FL you need and then go from there. You might want to simply start off with the Canon 50mm f1.8 for $70 and use it for a while until you learn what FL you like (zoom with your feet for a while) and your style of shooting. It's a low cost, good prime that will teach you a lot.

--
http://www.pbase.com/fstopjojo/lenstests

“98% of all lenses are better than 100% of all photographers.” Michael Reichmann

Hey

Thanks a lot for your posts...

Yes I heard a lot of POSTIVE comments regarding the Canon Prime 50mm lens. It has a large aperture of 1.8 and has a very sharp output with good contrast!! What about the f/1.4??

But unfortunately its fixed lens and I wanted a zoom lens with fast aperture. I thought it makes quite a difference between a f/1.4/1.8 and a f/2.8 and so I was confused.

Difference between Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the other one with f/1.4? Apart from having USM and the price which the latter one is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE!

What about the Sigma Zoom 28-105mm f/2.8-4 and the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC?

Thanks for your feedback

Regards
--

'If I could tell the story in words, I would have not lug around a camera' Lewis Hiene

Unfortunately, there is no replacement for either. Even a fast F2.8 zoom just doesn't quite cut it for low light indoor work, and it doesn't have the same creamy background effect F1.8 or F2.0 can provide.

The on the other hand, the flexibilit of a zoom is something you can give up either, particularly if you're walking about with your family and can't fuss over changing lenses often.

Thankfully, that's why we have SLR and the option to have the best of both.

likair said:

Hey thanks for your post,

So what do you recommend:
-to have a larger aperture (f/1.4,1.8) but with fixed Focal Length? or
-to have a smaller aperture (f/2.8) but with variable FL?

Canon doesn't seem to have a lens which has a f/1.8 which has
variable FL. Maybe a f/2.8 one.

Any suggestions?

Regards

--
'If I could tell the story in words, I would have not lug around a
camera' Lewis Hiene

Click to expand...

You have many good choices in standard zooms. Some are f2.8, or, you can opt for a slower Canon lens with IS (image stabilization). But the point is that you have many choices that many people will attest to. For every lens, you have haters and lovers. But here are some zooms to consider and their respective user recommendation % from FM. You can see they are all fairly close in user recommendation. If you go to the Canon primes at FM, you'll see the % are in the 90%+.

Canon 24-70 f2.8 84%
Canon 24-105 IS [too new]
Canon 17-85 IS 84%
Canon 28-135 IS 86%
Sigma 18-50 f2.8 85%
Sigma 24-70 f2.8 83%
Tamron 28-75 f2.8 83%

You can go to fredmiranda.com and read user reviews of each of these lenses.

likair said:

Hey

Thanks a lot for your posts...

Yes I heard a lot of POSTIVE comments regarding the Canon Prime
50mm lens. It has a large aperture of 1.8 and has a very sharp
output with good contrast!! What about the f/1.4??

But unfortunately its fixed lens and I wanted a zoom lens with fast
aperture. I thought it makes quite a difference between a
f/1.4/1.8 and a f/2.8 and so I was confused.

Difference between Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the other one with f/1.4?
Apart from having USM and the price which the latter one is MUCH
MORE EXPENSIVE!

What about the Sigma Zoom 28-105mm f/2.8-4 and the Sigma 18-50mm
F2.8 EX DC?

Thanks for your feedback

Regards
--
'If I could tell the story in words, I would have not lug around a
camera' Lewis Hiene

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/fstopjojo/lenstests

“98% of all lenses are better than 100% of all photographers.” Michael Reichmann