Prime Lens VS Zoom Lens

What is a Prime Lens?

A prime lens is a lens that has one focal length only. They come in all focal lengths ranging from wide angle ones through to the longer telephoto ones.

What is a Zoom Lens?

A zoom lens is a lens that has a range of focal lengths available to the photographer in the one lens. These have become increasingly popular over the past few years as they are obviously a very convenient lens to have on your camera as they mean you can shoot at both wide and longer focal lengths without having to switch lenses mid shoot.

As you surf around different camera forums you’ll find people who argue strongly for both prime and zoom lenses. Each have their own fans and each will pull different arguments out about them. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons Zoom and Prime lenses:

Arguments for Prime Lenses

Let’s explore some of the common arguments for Prime lenses. Keep in mind that there are many prime lenses out there and that what follows are unashamedly generalizations.

1. Quality

while zoom lenses are improving considerably in the quality that they offer their users, prime lenses are known for being high quality and having the ability to produce clean, crisp and precise shots. This is an argument that often comes out in the prime vs zoom lens debate but it’s worth remembering that in every manufacturers range that there are some lenses (both zoom and prime) that are known for being exceptionally sharp and there are some that are known as being a little muddy. While it might be true that in general prime lenses are pretty high quality it shouldn’t be an assumption you make of every prime lens.

2. Price

prime lenses are generally simpler lenses in terms of construction. By the fact that they don’t need to zoom they generally have less moving parts and as a result they are generally cheaper to buy. Once again - there are many factors that determine the price of a lens (including quality) so not all prime lenses are ‘cheap’ (in fact some can be incredibly expensive at the Pro end of the spectrum) but do some searching around and you’ll find some that are definitely value for money. Renowned as usually being the cheapest lenses (but still not bad in quality) are ‘nifty 50′ lenses - or 50mm prime lenses, particularly from Nikon or Canon.

3. Weight

because of their simple construction you often find that prime lenses are smaller and particularly lighter lenses than zoom lenses in similar focal lengths. My two lightest lenses are my two 50mm lenses (I have the f1.8(pictured right) and the f1.4 - I’m still trying to work out which one to keep). They are great for heading out to locations where it is just not practical to haul lots of gear around with me.

4. Speed

in general prime lenses are faster (in terms of aperture) than zoom lenses. This is slowly changing as zoom lens improvements continue to be made by manufacturers but in the Canon range if you want extra fast lenses you’ll start with prime lenses (for example the 85mm and 50mm lenses for example). This allows you to shoot in lower light without the need for a flash.

5. Technique

one argument that gets pulled out against zoom lenses is that they make the photographer lazy. Instead of having to move around to find the best angle for the focal length they allow the photographer to stay in the one place and just zoom in and out. Some believe this sucks the creativity out of the process. I’m not sure about this one - while I do enjoy the challenge of using a prime lens (it definitely does mean you have to work harder and think about your shots a little more) you can still be a creative and hard working photographer with a zoom lens on your camera if you are aware of the temptation just to shoot from the one position all the time.

Arguments for Zoom Lenses

1. Portability (another perspective)

when prime lens proponents pull out the ‘weight/portability’ argument zoom lens lovers often argue that a point in favor of the zoom is that you only need to carry one lens instead of a range of lenses to have the same focal length range. Instead of carrying around a 14mm, 50mm and 85mm lens you could carry one lens that covers the full (or close to) range of focal lengths. You’ll also never have to change your lens and risk getting dust on your image sensor.

2. Price (another perspective)

similarly - while zoom lenses might be more expensive than prime lenses the cost of one lens in comparison to multiple lenses can often be comparable.

3. Flexibility

perhaps the biggest argument for Zoom lenses is the flexibility that the offer a photographer. They allow someone wanting to shoot at a variety of focal lengths the ability to quickly change perspective and add variety into their shots within a second (or a fraction of one if you’re a quick zoomer). This is ideal for many types of photography including weddings or sports where you have to constantly be looking for random shots and may not have the time (or ability) to physically move closer or further away from you subject.

So are Prime or Zoom lenses best?

Obviously there is a range of factors to consider and ultimately the decision will come down to a number of factors including the type and style of photography that you do, your budget, the need for portability, how often you’re willing to change lenses, the quality you’re after and the shooting conditions you’ll be shooting in.

My own approach with lenses is to go with both.
My Prime and Zoom Lenses

I’m lucky enough to have a budget that allows me this opportunity. I shoot with a Canon EOS 5D so these are all canon lenses - but I have a couple of 50mm lenses (see above) which are great for low light situations and those times when weight is a consideration as well as a 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens which is obviously for macro shooting but is also quite good for portraits (an added bonus).

I also have a few zoom lenses a 17-40mm, a 24-105mm (pictured above) and a 70-200mm which cover the full range of focal lengths that I generally shoot in.

As I mention above - there is generally a lot of variation between lenses (both prime and zoom). I find that there is especially a lot of variation in the zoom range of Canon (and I presume for other manufacturers too). Most DSLRs come with the option for a kit zoom lens which are generally of a much lower quality than a professional grade lens (in Canon Pro lenses are designated as being ‘L’ series lenses).

My advice to those shopping for a lens is that it’s well worth investing in quality lenses. The camera body definitely has an impact on the quality of your shots but lens quality is where you can really take your photography to the next level. Do some careful research before buying a lens and buy the best one you can afford (without re-mortgaging the house).


**Credit to http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/prime-vs-zoom-lenses-which-are-best/

Street Photography

Be Comfortable and Get Better Shots
If you're miserable you'll take miserable photos. That means wearing comfortable shoes that you can walk in all day. Good socks that wick moisture away from your skin will help prevent blisters. Loose fitting comfortable clothes will keep you comfortable. A good quality camera bag with a well padded comfortable strap will keep your shoulder from aching. You might even consider a small photo backpack. I stress the adjective small here. You don't want to stroll the streets with the kind of huge pack you'd take into the bush or up a mountain!

In hot weather carry bottled water or Gatorade and keep yourself hydrated. Powerbars go a long way toward warding off the effects of heat and exertion and I always carry one or two if I know I'll be walking or hiking all day.

It's also important to dress appropriately for the weather. But one advantage of street shooting over landscape shooting is when you're in the city there's always a place to duck in to get out of the weather. But just in case I keep one of those $2 rain ponchos they sell in the parks in my camera bag now - just in case. It takes up a lot less room than carrying a good raincoat.

But I'm Shy
A lot of photographers start out shooting people with lenses 300mm or longer. There's little chance of "getting caught" and you get unposed images because the person is unaware of your presence. You can get some great shots this way but why limit yourself? I'll use anything from 17mm to 400mm for street shooting.

Engage people in conversation. If you're shy start with street vendors, who make good subjects anyway. Buying a morsel or a piece of fruit from a street vendor will make them willing to mug for a shot - and it will get you used to chatting people up on the street. The same is true with street musicians. A dollar or two in the hat will make musicians more open to your getting up close and taking their photo. A five will get them to do damn near anything you ask!

Starting conversations is hard for some photographers. Try asking people about their city. What are the good places and things to shoot? It's an easy ice breaker. It will open doors for you and take you to places you'd not have discovered otherwise. Bartenders and waitresses are a great source of information. Every time I sit down to a meal or grab a beer on the road I ask the bartender, waiter or waitress where there are good places to shoot and what's interesting in the area. These folks see an endless stream of people everyday and it never ceases to amaze me what they can put me on to.

Sitting at a bar you'll be amazed at what the other patrons may chime in with as well. On my first trip to New England many years ago I asked a bartender about places to shoot while we were waiting for our table. The bartender was a dud, but the couple next to us were traveling in the opposite direction and recommended we check out a road called the Kancamangus that they'd driven the day before. They thought it'd be a great place for a photographer. On that small tip we changed our destination for the next day and were rewarded with one of the greatest drives in New England.

Credit to photogjunior
photoskool.net

To Be a National Geographic Photographer

Michael "Nick" Nichols, 52, National Geographic photographer. Here's the entire interview: Nick Nichols, uncut. As told to Kalee Thompson

Veteran National Geographic photographer Nick Nichols.

Talent is a given, but it has to be said that everything else counts for about 99 percent of success. I mean, you've got to have the talent, but then you've got to be able to sell yourself, you have to be focused, you have to be able to take rejections, you have to deal with cultures, deal with places. You have to be able to sleep anywhere, eat anything, and not be afraid of disease.

You need to be exploited. You have to work hard for somebody else for low pay early in your career. That's how you learn. I got my start with a guy named Charles Moore, who's a famous Civil Rights photographer. He did the pictures of the German shepherds attacking people in Birmingham, Alabama, and Martin Luther King being arrested. He's just got an incredible body of work about the Civil Rights movement. He's from the same little town as I am in Alabama, and when I was in college there, I knew his pictures, but I didn't know who he was—I didn't know he was from that town.

Anyway, word got out that this famous Life magazine photographer was coming back and he was going to come over to the school to visit, and I latched on to Charles like a puppy dog that decides it's going to adopt you.

He said, "Well, don't go to graduate school, come out to San Francisco and be my assistant." When I got out of school I got in my car and drove out across the country and went to his house. I only assisted him for a few months because he introduced me to the people that made my career take off. I learned more in a few weeks working for him than I had learned all through school. You can just learn so much so fast.

But you're getting exploited while you're doing it. These two guys who just went to Africa with me, Nathan and Frederic, they worked on my farm for four months at $10 an hour beforehand. That's not nothing, but Nathan is a qualified carpenter and he could have made $20 an hour. I just said, "Look, that's the way it is. If you want to do it, OK." And what I was trying to see out of that was what kind of teamwork they'd have and if they would be too competitive with each other, because they both want to be photographers at National Geographic. I don't get assistants to load my cameras; they've got to have skills like changing tires, and eating bad food, and climbing in trees. It's not like assisting a fashion photographer; my assistants have to have a lot of wilderness skills.

As he was leaving my office the first time we met, Nathan said, "I would swim through lava to work for you." And I thought, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. He wasn't saying, I love you, I love your work. Instead, it was, I'd love to work for you. So he put it in the right context. And when he and Frederic did work for me, the guys worked 16 hours a day and didn't care about themselves, about their own work or personal lives. And that's what I expect. Because that's what I did for Charles Moore in that certain period.

There are lots of ways that being exploited can add up to learning a lot about outdoor photography. For example, if you're a boating guide on the Grand Canyon, that's not being a photographer on the Grand Canyon, but it gives you access. One of the best photography books that ever came out of the canyon was by John Balustein, who was a dory boatman. Well, he was a photographer who wasn't making a living so he ran the river for maybe six years and made these great pictures.

As a photographer, you want to have a niche. You want to have something that's special to you, that you care most about. And not necessarily something exotic. You can't afford to go back to exotic over and over again. If it's in your backyard, you can. It needs to be something that you're just totally committed to, and it doesn't matter if National Geographic is going to publish it; you're going to do it anyway. You're driven to do it anyway.

I photographed caves for a hobby as I was growing up and learning photography in the South. As I matured as a photographer, I became well-known as a cave photographer. Then this cave was discovered in New Mexico called Lechuguilla, and it's incredibly spectacular. And I was the only one who could photograph it to the level of National Geographic. That's what brought me in the door. And once I did that story, which was a cover story, it just blossomed from there.

What got me to that point was passion. Passion is infectious. The day I walked into Manhattan with Charles Moore, I left with an assignment. I was 25 years old, I was freaked out, I left my cameras in the taxi, but I went to a new magazine called GEO that was just starting up and they gave me an assignment. I showed my pictures to the receptionist, and I ended up showing them five times that day—I got all the way to the main editor.

Simply taking images can be very fulfilling to the soul, but when you say that you want to make a living at it, be a magazine photographer, that's when this hard edge comes in. When you want to be published, and you want to have people buy your pictures, and give you assignments, another level of commitment comes in. You really have to be obsessed with making images.

YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES: For hot shot Nick Nichols, "it's about getting important things onto a rectangle."

For me, it's not about travel, it's not about having fun—it's always been about a fascination with getting important things onto a rectangle. I'm totally driven by the fact that my pictures have something to do with making national parks, that they can speak for things that can't speak for themselves. There's value that comes from being published. If I kept my photographs in a shoebox, they certainly wouldn't save any gorillas. And that's really my mission.

I do have the best job in the world. I'd like in some ways to keep it a secret. But, you know, the richest person on Earth probably tries to have a vacation that is in some ways like my job, and he can't do it. I think about Mick Jagger, because the Stones were always my heros, and I think, Wait a minute, with all the money they've got, they all go buy houses on boring beach islands and lay in the sand. If they go on safari, they can't get out of the Land Rover. I was trying to think of it, the richest person on Earth having a better deal than I do, and they can't. Because even with all the money on Earth, you can't buy the intimacy that I get with the subjects I'm approaching. My job is to look intimately at things. It's got lots of negatives, but I don't care. Three times a day somebody says that to me: "Hey, Nick, you must have the greatest job in the world." And, of course, that person wouldn't know I have that job unless I was bragging about it.

Photographs courtesy of Michael Nichols/NG Image Collection

This articel pasted from National Geographic.

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