My Surprising Return to Prime Lenses

Hello folks.

I am in no way suggesting that zoom lenses are without value, silly or out of place. I own many zooms and find them super convenient when I will be in situations where I expect to have to crop in camera. But through some review of my image library, I discovered some interesting realities.

If I think of my likely most carried lens, the 70-200 f/2.8, I found that the vast majority of the images were made at 200mm. On my 24-105, they are ⅔ at 105mm and ⅓ at 24mm approximately. With the 16-35 they are at 16mm or 35mm.

Maybe this just means I am lazy or sloppy, but as I work to get it right in camera, I find myself zooming with my feet more than the zoom ring. Sounds dumb I know. I sold my 14mm to help fund the 11-24 and regret it every time I take that monster out. 11mm is too wide for most of the images that I make, and I tend to use it around 14mm most of the time.

Interesting.

So while I no longer have the 14mm any longer, I have been testing myself with primes to determine how much I think that I am losing not having a zoom. I have accumulated a lot of primes over the years and have no compelling reason to trade or sell them for the latest RF lenses. I lose nothing in image quality, so why spend more money?

While I don’t have a fixed 200mm, I do have a fast 300/2.8 and I have yet to find it too long for where I would have used the 70-200. When going a bit wide, the 35/1.4 just works for me, whether on the mirrorless R5 or my old Leica. I own both a 50mm and 85mm and while they are both f/1.2, I rarely use either, and the same would be true for the 90mm on the Leica. All are superb lenses, but I just don’t find the same number of use cases for any of them.

Perhaps it’s because I find myself stuck in any genre other than people photography and for me, that 35mm is a winner. Sure it’s very fast, but my most commonly used aperture is around f/8 so the lens speed isn’t a driving coefficient.

Perhaps I am more picky these days, perhaps I spend more time thinking about where to be for the composition that I desire than just zooming for hope. Certainly working with the natural constraints of a fixed angle of view makes me think more about the image.

I’m not saying that this road is right for everyone, but these days, primes are serving me better. I sometimes wonder what I missed in the past screwing around with zooms.

Please become a member on Patreon to help support this channel. A big thanks to all the existing Patreon members! Send in comments or questions, I read and respond to all. If you shop with B&H Photo Video, please use the link on the main page as it pays me a small commission and does not cost you anything to do so. Thanks again and we will see each other again soon.

NO AI CRAPOLA WAS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS ARTICLE. THE IMAGE IS LICENSED FROM A HUMAN PHOTOGRAPHER