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

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

  • I will not use a massive zoom lens no matter what. Primes all the way!!!

    Votes: 63 23.7%

  • I will use a zoom lens only if the situation requires it, otherwise Primes the other 98% of the time

    Votes: 156 58.6%

  • I will use zoom lenses more often than prime lenses, they're more versatile

    Votes: 42 15.8%

  • Prime lenses? What are you.... 80? (I only use zooms)

    Votes: 5 1.9%
  • Total voters
    266
historicist said:
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 😉
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Perhaps you should use a nice wooden pinhole. Nice material and a nice form 😉

I agree with you about the look of a zoom lens. I own the Canon 17-55/2.8 and together with my evil DSLR it's just an ugly package.

But I prefer function over form (a little) so I carry my ugly package around.
 
I have used a mix of RF and SLR cameras for many years. I picked up an inexpensive zoom lens for my Pentax Spotmatic years ago, and, after trying it for a while, I found it to be so useless that I swapped it for another prime. That turned me off on zooms. A few months ago I bought an Oly E-510 with a good Zuiko 14-54 zoom, the equivalent of 28mm-108mm in terms of full-frame 35s. This lens is so sharp that it amazes me. While I have tried some of my Pentax primes on the 510, the zoom is still my preferred way to go.

Jim N.
 
historicist said:
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 😉
Click to expand...

I prefer function over form, so when I need a big honking zoom, I'll use one. When I need the sharpest lens possible I'll go with a prime. The situation I'm in determines the lens. One wouldn't use a 70-210 zoom for street shooting, or a 28mm prime at an air show or out railfanning.

Too each their own I guess...
 
When it came to choosing a zoom lens in the past, I would carefully choose a lens with a reputation of being excellent optically.

Canon 28-50/3.5 SSC
Canon 80-200/4L
Angenieux 70-210/3.5

Else, I prefer my prime lenses. This is especially applicable to wide angle lenses.
 
zooms work best when the long length divided by the shorter length is a whole number, preferably 2.

Check out one of the 4 or 5 variations of the 43-86 Nikkor zoom.
 
When I've used zooms in the past, I always ended up using either the short or the long end. So I thought I might as well just use primes instead ....
 
I voted that I wouldn't use a massive zoom lens ever... being that I sold my otherwise beautiful Canon 24-70L recently... but I would occasionally use a small light weight zoom that was decent enough... maybe. Primes are more fun to work with IMO.
 
ahhh... geez... that is no fun. Even though I am always confronted with the truth that there is no magic in photo equipment... the search is still exciting sometimes... and I still take photos while on this journey... so it isn't completely a waste of time or money.

>>Personally, l neither seek nor find any inspiration in lenses or cameras.
 
btgc said:
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.
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When you are paying a model $50,000,000 per minute, every second counts. Okay, $100 per hour, but still.
 
I have a sweet spot for OM (SLR) glass - I have 28/3.5, 24/2.8 and 21/3.5 and am currently looking for a good 18mm Zuiko. I use the small Zuikos most of the time - if I had 2 bodies, perhaps I would have stuk with primes only, however the lens that stays most of the time on my 5D now is Contax 35-70. Amazing lens that is better or on par with most primes within that range. Yes, it is slow (3.5) and has a short focal range, but the results are fantastic. If all zooms were like that (or EF 70-200/4 IS), I wouldn't have had nothing against them.

For MF and RF - primes all the way, of course.

Bottomline is - depends on the particular zoom and the application.
 
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