The "zoom lenses are the devil!!!!" Poll

[FallisPhoto]

I never understood the odd notion that a zoom lens makes anyone lazy. By that reasoning, I guess AF, AE, in camera metering, and most everything else is laziness too.

Uh... if you have time to do it manually, then yes, it is.

Sometimes one can't get close enough, or back up far enough, to use a fixed lens. And my Nikon zooms are as sharp as most any prime lens. Has anyone tried to capture a fleeting moment while having to change lenses?

1. We're talking prime lenses vs zoom lenses here. Prime does not mean fixed.
2. If you have time to adjust a big honking zoom, then the moment is not exactly fleeting, is it?

Hey, using a camera is lazy. Pull out that pencil and paper and draw that portrait. But make sure you use a regular pencil. I think that mechanical pencils make you lazy.

Uh... Real artists use pens.

 

[Matthew Allen]

2. If you have time to adjust a big honking zoom, then the moment is not exactly fleeting, is it?

I love primes as much as the next guy but you can't pretend that zooming in or out takes as long as changing lenses. Even the 12x or greater zooms usually have a short enough throw that you can fully extend or retract them in less than a second.

Matthew

 

[pvdhaar]

It's only too bad there are no zoom lenses for RFs.. The only thing that comes near is a Tri-Elmar. If it were just a tad more affordable, I'd immediately go that way.

The possibility to crop without moving closer or further is just brilliant. This whole 'zoom with your feet' thing means you need to change perspective to fill the frame..

 

[minoltist7]

I use DSLR with zoom whether it required by situation, i.e. shooting fast-moving objects, or shooting events with external flash .
I use RFs with primes for "street" type photography and light travel

 

[FallisPhoto]

I love primes as much as the next guy but you can't pretend that zooming in or out takes as long as changing lenses. Even the 12x or greater zooms usually have a short enough throw that you can fully extend or retract them in less than a second.

Matthew

So who changes lenses? I usually change cameras. If I'm shooting small format, and if I am using SLRs, I usually have three with me.

 

[gavinlg]

Ease up turbos, it's a fun thread - I don't actually worship the prime lens on the little alter in my shrine room and fight off the little zoom lens that sits on my shoulder all day, I do use both.

My point was I enjoy using primes much more than zooms, and to hear what everyone else thought.

 

[M like Leica M6]

when you are in Iceland in the middle of winter, and a stiff breeze is coming off the waterfall, the last thing you want to do is change lenses......

...probably because it is completely dark anyhow? 😀

Take this norwegian joke as an explanation:


A prosecutor asks a defendant:

"What did you do during the night between September and April?"

 

[jonmanjiro]

Right... So I just received my nikkor 35 f2 to use on my d300 and fm2n... Ahhhhh... what a relief... I've been living with the 18-200 VR for the last couple of months as the only autofocus lens, and really, I hate zoom lenses.

I hate zoom lenses too, and I particularly hated the 18-200 VR! My copy was an absolute dog. I couldn't believe how bad it was from 70mm to 200mm. The prime lenses I compared it to ate it for breakfast, spat it out, them stomped all over it. I got Nikon to adjust it, and it did come back marginally better, but not enough for me to want to keep it.

I picked up a 35/2 after getting rid of the 18-200 VR. Great little lens!

 

[Ronald M]

tOO BIG, SLOW, expensive, too much distortion. Great for digital if you don`t like to change lenses. I just compled my set of Nikkor prime for the D200, 24 to 200mmm but retained the 12/24 18/70 and 55/200.
Trust me though, nothing is as nice as Leica M primes in front of tri x or Plus x. Zeiss glass is pretty good too, just different.

 

[narsuitus]

I primarily use zoom lenses on my digital cameras.
I primarily use prime lenses on my 35mm film SLRs.
I use zoom lenses on my cameras with a fixed zoom lens.
I use prime lenses on my cameras with a fixed prime lens.

Since none of the options fix my situation, I did not vote.

 

[caperunner]

I am quite pleased with my Canon FD 100-300mm f5.6 zoom + tripod or fence post. Very sharp.

 

[rxmd]

I particularly hated the 18-200 VR! My copy was an absolute dog. I couldn't believe how bad it was from 70mm to 200mm. [...] I picked up a 35/2 after getting rid of the 18-200 VR.

You two sound a bit like this: "I particularly hate minivans. Mine was an absolute dog. Everytime I wanted to haul more than 5 people or more than 1 ton of stuff, mine completely broke down. I picked up a Harley after I got rid of the minivan and now all my transportation problems are solved!"

Or in other words, how's the 35/f2 in the 70mm to 200mm range?

Philipp

 

[jonmanjiro]

You two sound a bit like this: "I particularly hate minivans. Mine was an absolute dog. Everytime I wanted to haul more than 5 people or more than 1 ton of stuff, mine completely broke down. I picked up a Harley after I got rid of the minivan and now all my transportation problems are solved!"

Or in other words, how's the 35/f2 in the 70mm to 200mm range?

Philipp

It's taken you two weeks to find this thread and comment? Things must be slow at RFF today 😉

Regarding the 18-200mm, I bought the hype of it being a great performer (for an 11x zoom), but it didn't give the performance I hoped for, so I sold it. I bought a 35/f2 with the proceeds, but that wasn't necessarily to replace the 18-200mm. Rather, I purchased a 35/f2 because I wanted a 35/f2. I've since purchased other lenses to cover the 70-200mm range.

I would never buy a Harley, but do sometimes hire a minivan when needed :angel:

 

[wolves3012]

I own just one zoom, a 28-200 and rarely use it (not least because I use mostly RFs). It has its uses for when it's not practical to "zoom with your feet". I read in a book somewhere "even if you own every lens in the line, use a 50mm unless there's a compelling reason to do otherwise" and I think that's good advice.

From simple optical physics, a zoom has more compromises than a prime, so a prime is inevitably better quality (all other things being equal). With modern zooms being so good, however, it's not that often that their lower quality will actually affect the end result so I'm happy to use them where demanded.

 

[dee]

I bought a Leica Dig 3 with the Leica f2.8 / 3.5 zoom

I am also using my Rokkors with it , somewhat inconveniently !

I also have prime K lenses for my Pentax K 10D which I love using .

I am beginning to become less '' compact / snapshot ''orientated with the zoom , and less quality conscious in that it seem to provide excellent images , the 4/3rds format and older processor probably being the limiting factor

But I find zooms and auto focus too distracting for my ASdee !

 

[Doug]

With RF cameras an fixed focal lengths, I'll try to find the best composition in the field of view I have, moving if possible and if time permits. I do have three zooms for medium format; a monster 55-100 f4.5 for 6x7, and for 645 format 33-55 and 45-85mm. These are particularly useful for more carefully considered compositions, often landscapes or cityscapes where you locate yourself as best you can for the perspective you want, and then zoom for the field of view for optimimum composition.

I have a tentative theory that zooms are most useful at the very wide angles and at the longer focal lengths.

 

[btgc]

So who changes lenses? I usually change cameras. If I'm shooting small format, and if I am using SLRs, I usually have three with me.

This is why I purchased another SLR body - to mount something longer on it while another has wide prime or 25-50 zoom. Maybe I'm wrong, but I want to try this way.

I can agree that zooms can be tricky to use, primes are easier - because of less controls. Maybe I have to grow up, don't care. Using zoom, I imagine FOV I want, set lens to desired setting and don't fuss with "zooming". Feet are still good enough 🙂

Finally, pictures are what count. If it works, let it be prime or mooz.

 

[cosmonot]

I generally prefer a zoom for anything longer than 80mm. I've got an old Tamron SP 80-200/2.8 that's tack sharp and got lots of use when I used to shoot sports every week. Size or weight never bothered me with lenses. Add a motor drive to the OM and it was a very balanced rig. Sometimes I'd add a 1.4x or 2x converter and then I'd pull out the monopod.

 

[user237428934]

From simple optical physics, a zoom has more compromises than a prime, so a prime is inevitably better quality (all other things being equal). With modern zooms being so good, however, it's not that often that their lower quality will actually affect the end result....

This may be still true for a Canon 35/1.4 that has a superb quality. But there were so many tests done where the Canon 35/2 and the Nikon 35/2 were compared to the high quality zooms like Canon 17-55/2.8 or Nikon 17-55/2.8 or Tamron 17-50/2.8. And the zooms won the quality battle by far.

 

[historicist]

I'm dead opposed to zoom lenses on my cameras, but purely on aesthetic grounds - I just don't like the look of big, long lenses.

I would imagine that wide most prime lens designs (at least for the normal focal lengths in the major SLR manufacturers) being so old, many a recent zoom would be as good or better in quality, but I still wouldn't use one.

Form over function 😉