With zoom lenses, you can get your subject to appear closer or further away with the turn of a ring, and without changing the physical distance. Do you prefer In other cases, it stays within the same lens type while still offering a range variation. Or, if you want to have a shallow depth of field for better subject isolation in portrait photography or creating nice bokeh backgrounds (the ability to create background blur). it’s not always practical. In general, a fast professional zoom keeps a maximum aperture of f/2.8 throughout all its focal lengths. Prime vs Zoom Lens: What Lens Should I Buy? Typically, a prime lens has a maximum aperture between f/1.2 and f/2.8. determine what type of shooting you’ll be doing most often, you may decide to As you grow comfortable shooting with the kit lens that came with your new camera, you’ll start exploring other options for lenses. Path to Photography Expert, Get the 7-Day Prime lenses are much lighter than zooms because they have fewer optical components inside. Early Black Friday Deals for Photographers, Prime vs Zoom Lens: Prime Lens Pros and Cons, Prime vs Zoom Lens: Zoom Lens Pros and Cons. The second advantage of prime lenses is that a fixed aperture forces you to think more about your compositions and move to create the shots you want. There’s a wide variety of lenses from each camera manufacturer and also from third parties – so you can take your pick. For example, with a 35-105mm zoom lens would cover the whole range. The concept may seem overwhelming at first, but with a little practice, it will become second nature. So having a zoom lens to start will let you try out different situations until you’re ready to specialize. Thanks for subscribing! Depending on the type of shooting you do most often, a shallow depth of field may not be a high priority. It’s definitely a contentious topic in the photography community, so let’s hear in the comments below what type of lens you prefer to keep in your camera bag. The biggest pro of a zoom lens is that you aren’t limited to a single focal length. A prime lens is one where you cannot change the focal length (i.e, the field of view is ‘fixed’). For example, a 10-24mm is a wide-angle zoom lens. Pixinfocus is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. While the single focal length challenges you creatively, Many cameras sold in starter kits come with a zoom lens included. Prime lenses have many points in their favour, but I’ll get to those later on. There are two primary advantages to shooting with a prime lens. In truth, there’s no right answer to the question of lens selection in this instance. 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