In recent years, zoom lenses have been taking over the hearts of many working professional photographers as the more obvious, versatile choice. With the latest image sensors producing amazing quality, even at extremely high ISOs, it makes sense why more people have been leaning towards the convenience of zoom lenses. Zoom lenses have also gotten impressively sharp – most, even some cheap kit lenses, are sharp enough for day-to-day needs and also boast effective image stabilization systems.
Some of the modern pro-grade lenses offer image quality that matches or even surpasses primes lenses in the same focal range. Despite all this, prime lenses haven’t really lost their desirability. Sony, Nikon, and Canon have been rapidly updating and expanding their lens arsenal with new and better choices. Third-party manufacturers like Sigma and Tamron are stepping into the game with confidence.
Thanks to this, choosing between a zoom and a prime lens is now harder than ever. In this beginner guide, I talk about prime versus zoom lenses in detail, explaining their differences, along with some image samples.
Table of Contents
What is a Prime Lens?
A prime lens is a lens with a fixed focal length (also commonly referred to as a “fixed lens”). What this means is that such a lens has a set angle of view that can not be changed. The only way of enlarging your subject and making it fill more of the frame is by physically getting closer to it. In turn, the only way to fit more into the frame is to step back.
Prime lenses have a single specified focal length, like 50mm. They come in all kinds sizes and focal lengths, from fisheye to super-telephoto. Here are some of the most popular prime lenses for different camera mounts:
| Mount | Lens | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon Z | Nikon 50mm f/1.8S | $2697 |
| Canon RF | Canon RF 85mm f/2 Macro | $500 |
| Sony E | Sony 35mm f/1.8 | $750 |
| L-Mount | Panasonic Lumix S 85mm f/1.8 | $500 |
| Micro Four Thirds | Panasonic Lumux 42.5mm f/1.7 | $400 |
| Fuji X | Fuji XF 50mm f/2 | $450 |
What is a Zoom Lens?
A zoom lens, on the other hand, has a variable focal length. By turning the zoom ring, you move optical elements inside the lens to achieve a different angle of view. This means that you can make objects appear larger by turning the zoom ring in one direction, or fit more objects into the frame by turning it in the opposite direction.
Zoom lenses have two specifications that represent the two extremes of the zoom range, like 70-200mm. Such a lens may act as a 70mm focal length lens, a 200mm focal length lens and everything in-between. In addition, zoom lenses could also have variable aperture ranges.
On many consumer zoom lenses, you will often see something like f/3.5-5.6, which represents the maximum aperture of the lens at different focal lengths. For example, a lens like Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 will have a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at the shortest focal length of 18mm, while at the longest range of 55mm, its aperture will be limited to f/5.6.
On the other hand, most professional-level zoom lenses will have a single maximum aperture throughout the zoom range. Here are some very popular zoom lenses for different camera mounts:
| Mount | Lens | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon Z | Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 | $1700 |
| Canon RF | Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L | $2500 |
| Sony E | Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II | $2300 |
| L-Mount | Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art | $1100 |
| Micro Four Thirds | Olympus 12-100mm f/4 PRO | $1300 |
| Fuji X | Fuji XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R | $1200 |
Advantages of Prime Lenses
So why do we need fixed focal length lenses? Here is the list of main advantages primes offer over zoom lenses.
Cost
Many modern prime lenses are significantly cheaper than their zoom counterparts. A 24mm f/2.8 lens will set you back around $400, while a 24-70mm f/2.8 will cost $1900-2300. Even if you cover focal lengths between 24mm and 70mm with fast primes like 35mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8, you will still end up paying less.
Thus, with prime lenses, photographers on a budget have the chance to experience world-class optics at a fraction of a cost of those expensive variable focal length lenses, and there is no need to make compromises with cheap, lower quality zoom lenses all the time.
Size and Weight
Surprisingly, many beginners often desire monstrous lenses like 70-200mm f/2.8 with image stabilization. True, these lenses are extremely sharp, have insanely fast autofocus motors and can survive plenty of abuse. However, they are also much more noticeable due to their sheer size, and their heavy weight can cause back and neck pain and even long-term injuries.
Prime lenses offer something of a compromise – they trade versatility in favor of size and weight. A while ago, I decided to go with a 85mm f/1.4 lens instead of a 70-200 f/2.8 and never really regretted this decision. Having only big lenses may sometimes mean you will leave your camera at home instead of taking it with you wherever you go.
Learning Factor
Many photographers believe that being forced to “zoom” in or out using the old-fashioned way, by walking, is a good way of learning composition and finding better angles. It also supposedly helps one get used to a lens better and use it to its full potential.
I partially agree with this and I can say that my 50mm prime has helped me in some regards, but in all honesty, such a restraint can be equally damaging to your learning process. I believe it is important to have at least one zoom lens if you are a prime shooter, and vice versa.
Creative Control with Faster Apertures
Most fast, professional zoom lenses, such as 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm, have a fixed maximum aperture of f/2.8. Fast, professional prime lenses on the other hand, can go as wide as f/0.95. For this reason, they offer not just better light gathering abilities, but also shallow depth of field, which can result in photographs with beautifully rendered background highlights known as “bokeh“.
Many beginner photographers often wonder why they do not seem to be able to get beautifully separated subjects when using their kit zoom lenses. Due to the small maximum aperture and lower quality lens optics, it is often impossible to get good-looking, “creamy” backgrounds with consumer zoom lenses.
Low Light
A fast prime lens will allow you to shoot subjects in low light environments without introducing blur, thanks to a larger / wider aperture. Due to typically simpler optical designs, prime lenses can easily “open” up to f/2 or even f/1.2.
Such lenses will let in twice to three times as much light as a fast professional zoom lens with an aperture of f/2.8. While many zoom lenses feature optical image stabilization systems to help you in low-light conditions, such systems are useless if you have a moving subject.
Sharpness
These days, both zoom and prime lenses are fairly sharp. But for longer focal lengths, zoom lenses tend to lose sharpness near their maximum focal length. This is especially true with lenses that go up to 500mm or 600mm, where prime lenses in this category always outdo zoom lenses.
This is sometimes also true with cheaper zoom lenses that go very wide, which sometimes are weaker at their widest focal length.
Thus before buying a lens, it might be worth checking out our lens reviews, although most modern lenses are indeed sufficiently sharp.
Zoom Lens Advantages
If everything were in favor of prime lenses, no one would use zooms. Despite their extra weight and cost, they are extremely popular and can be very convenient to use. There are several areas where even the best fixed focal length lenses have no way to beat a good zoom. Below are the advantages offered by variable focal length lenses.
Versatility
The most obvious reason for buying zoom lenses is their versatility. Zoom lenses can be great when a photographer needs to be sure he can handle a variety of different situations: you can go from wide-angle to telephoto in a quick turn of the zoom ring without the need to physically move. Landscape and wildlife photographers, for example, are often limited to a particular spot or area, so being able to zoom to an area of interest can be invaluable for properly framing a shot.
Image Stabilization
Modern zoom lenses often offer 3-4 stop image stabilization systems, be it Canon’s Image Stabilization (IS), Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR), Sigma’s Optical Stabilization (OS) or Tamron’s Vibration Compensation (VC). Even if you have an f/4 lens you can still get sharp images when shooting non-moving subjects in dark environments. Thanks to the image stabilization technology, your lens will make some of its internal optical elements move and shift to counter camera shake, which lets you use extremely slow shutter speeds.
Image stabilization is not just limited to zoom lenses. Some of the newer fixed focal length lenses also boast image stabilizer technologies, such as the newly announced Canon 35mm f/2 IS.
Lastly, do keep in mind that image stabilization can be present on lenses or camera bodies. Most mirrorless cameras and Pentax DSLRs have in-body image stabilization (IBIS), although for longer focal lengths, lens stabilization is still superior.
Portability
A single zoom lens can replace two or three prime lenses. This also means that you only need to worry about moving around with a single attached lens. A single zoom lens might save you from carrying a large backpack. In a way, certain zoom lenses allow you to reduce weight, because you don’t need to bring several primes to cover the whole range. Less lens swapping also means cleaner sensor and optical elements.
Prime Lens vs Zoom Lens: Which Should You Get?
Now that you’ve seen the advantages of each type of lens, which kind should you get? It all depends! If you’re going after very shallow depth of field, a prime lens would be ideal. That’s especially true on smaller sensor cameras such as micro four thirds cameras, where depth of field is not as shallow as with full-frame cameras at the same apertures, assuming that the focal length and field of view are the same.
But, if you need a single lens for a variety of applications, a zoom lens would likely be better. That’s why most wedding shooters simply love 24-70mm f/2.8 zooms, since this range on a full-frame camera can do almost everything from group shots to portraits.
Generalist wildlife shooters also love zooms such as the new Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3, since it can capture a wide variety of subjects from large mammals to birds. Specialist wildlife photographers love primes like the 600mm f/4 because its speed, image quality, and fast aperture help a lot with smaller subjects like birds.
And some lenses like true macro lenses are only available as primes! So, whether you get a prime or a zoom depends on your application. Although zooms produce amazing images and are versatile, there’s simply no substitute for owning a high-quality fast prime!
Final Words
Beginner photographers are often faced with a choice between buying a fixed focal length lens or a zoom lens. As you can see from this article, both have their advantages and disadvantages, so choosing between the two can be quite difficult indeed.
It takes time to realize which gear suits your style of shooting better. Some people end up with a single “do it all” superzoom lens, while others swear by their prime lenses and refuse to ever touch a zoom lens. As you learn how to use your gear overtime and start ironing out your photography skills, it really does not matter what you pick, as long as it does not stop your creativity.
Do you prefer primes or zooms? Let me know in the comments!
I prefer various focal points so I would use a zoom lens. I am a beginner at using my canon EOS system and taken a few pictures. I never really paid that much attention to the lens as long as the picture was a great shot. But reading up on the lens, I like the zoom over the prime.
First of all ,I do events photography the lens that I used most is a zoom 28-200 , plus a powerful on camera flash.Todays camera flash has e-TTL, this way you always get the correct exposure. Even if you used a prime lens , you always cannot control the source of light , so some shot taken taken even with the best primes , is over exposed or under exposed. What Im saying is that even with the most expensive prime lens, or the most expensive equipment, its the skill of the photographer that really matters.
Thank you for this! And one other thing – thank you!!
Very good article.
I have gone the zoom route for the incredible versatility. Many many situations do not allow to zoom with your feet.
I have bought 3 zooms and all are top quality zooms from 10 to 400mm.
I do have 2 primes, a fisheye and a 100mm f2.8 L macro.
For me this works great but I believe everyone should make their own choice.
Again a good article.
Thank you.
Very informative as always.
However, newcomers to this hobby would not be prepared to spend lots of money of Canon L lens if they have little knowledge of how to use their gear competently so it would make more common sense to not just show expensive lens like the the two you used to entice us to open your post!
I started years ago and used kit lens until I learned from experts like yourself what to do.
Competent I am now ( in the wise words of Yoda…), I understand that it is the person behind the camera and not expensive L lens which get the job done.
Nevertheless, if you have the money falling from a tree…
Three I have.
First of all I would like to thank you for the great information you gave, it’s very helpful for people how to select their lenses suitable for their needs.
Though I’m not a professional photographer but still I would like to discuss some issues about prime and zoom lenses which may not exactly like you told us here.
I think the key factor which decide the price, size and weight not because of it’s a prime or a zoom, but really depends on the maximum aperture which decides the optical quality and performance of a lens.
Let’s talk some true fact: the wieight of one 24-70 f2. 8 zoom is much more lighter than the total weight of the 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 70mm when take them all to caver the same focal length, and the price of these four primes, say not so fast just take f1.8 will overpass the price of 2470f2.8. Therefore it’s not always true that zoom lens is much more expensive nor weighs much more than the primes for the same range of focal length.
Those fast primes, say those telephotos which have focal length more than 100 mm normally are much more expensive than the zooms of the same focal length range. You see one 100mm f2and one 200mm f2 ou f4 are not cheaper than a 70-200mm zoom: Sony 100-400 mm zoom is cheaper than Sony 400mm prime and Sony 200-600mm zoom also is cheaper than one 60mm prime!
So what’s the really reason? If we analize then we will find out that all the decisive point is lying on the maximum aperture of the lens but not because of whether it is a prime ou zoom. We all know the nikon 58mm f0. 95 noct costs 9000 dollars and it’s a standard prime and it’s much more expensive than the nikon 2470f2.8 zoom!
By the way all the professional mainly using fast primes for taking high quality images not for cheaper price, since fast primes have bigger aperture therefore not onlyelp in dim light situations but also provide shallower depth of filed and sharp image across the frame. Normally lenses with focal length less than 100 mm in most cases may weigh less than the zoom in the same focal length range, but those of 100mm up mostly are not so light than a zoom.
These are my own thoughts and hope to have your comments enven criticism.
Agreed. After getting bit more into photography, I am not happy about the kit len, specially it can’t go below f4 most of time, replacing it with a fast ones cost so much but adding a couple fast primes (like 24mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.8) with only a couple hundred dollars offer so much more for walk around shootings and more chances for creativity.
Great article, thanks!
Hi,
I am planning to buy Nikon D5600. I prefer to click candid shots. It can be person, landscape or traffic, I shoot birds rarely. Monuments are of utmost interest to me to tell history. May I know what lenses should I buy.
Most comments from from subjective consumerist mentality. Some are thoughtful, logical and correct. Just clickbait anyway and technically makes little sense and of course the grammar ‘ gotten ‘ etc. ( a meaningless contradictory term ) It is of course American, not English
I am a beginner and i own a canon 750d with 18-55 lens. Thinking it is inadequate, i have a plan to buy a zoom lens. Have two options, both used lens
1. Canon 55-250
2.Canon 75-300 f/4-5. 6
Please help me choose one. And also is it advisable to buy a used lens?
buy the canon 100 to 400 usm f4.4 / 5.6 you wont be dissapointed ,I have been using one for 6 years now on wildlife coupled with a canon 7d and just love it