Evil zooms....

[BillBingham2]

My problem with zooms is size, speed, distortion and often sharpness. Over the years there have been some great zooms (e.g. Nikkor 80-200/4.5) but they are rare. Lots of the newer super zooms are just too big feel right being a 24mm lens.

On the positive side of things there are some interesting lenses in C-Mount that might work very well on the 4/3M mount.......... both prime and zoom!

B2 (;->

 

[Al Kaplan]

Some of the C-mount glass might have the covering power but the C-mount itself might cause vignetting.

 

[hawkeye]

It isn't an issue of zooms vs. primes really, it's about shooting and seeing. Whatever lens is on my camera I set my vision to match the focal length. That's the big difference between SLRs and RFs. With a RF I am looking and visualizing images and THEN raising the camera to my eye.

With an SLR even with a prime I am thrown off when I see an image and when I lift the camera to my eye see the image out of focus in the viewfinder. Then as I focus the original vision often gets lost.

A prime lens sets my frame. A zoom invites re-imagining the image often to the detriment of my initial response to the scene.

Zooms work great for dispassionate photography. Stuff for record, stuff for fooling around. Stuff that's well composed and totally vacuous.

Hawkeye

 

[historicist]

I personally don't like zooms but more because of they way they look on the camera (relatively big and bulky) than any consideration of optical qualities or the virtues of being able to choose focal length on the fly.

But then I'm the kind of person who would probably be happy always using 50mm lenses.

 

[user237428934]

I personally don't like zooms but more because of they way they look on the camera (relatively big and bulky) than any consideration of optical qualities or the virtues of being able to choose focal length on the fly.

But then I'm the kind of person who would probably be happy always using 50mm lenses.

Bulky? Not so much more than the corresponding fixed angle lenses (at least for canon dslr).
I own the 17-55/2.8. Weight 645g, Size 83.5x110.6mm. There are only two fixed angle lenses (AF) in that range outperforming this lens.
35mm/1.4 L Weight 580g, Size 79x86mm
24mm/1.4 L Weight 550g, Size 83.5x77.4mm

This isn't such a big difference, I think.

 

[dee]

I have recently dee'scovered that the fixed window of my Kievs / M 8 is good for my ASD which love constancy ! Zooms only worsen this problem . I always liked primes , but this may have been 'cos good fast zoms , back in the 70s were big money !
HOWEVER , when chasing kids , the fully auto everything zoom on the Leica DIG 3 is much easier !
Pending a fast lazy auto all 50 mm [ 100 on the Dig 3 ] of course !