THE JOY OF PRIMES
David Taylor extols the virtues of the fixed focal length prime lens
T
he path of least resistance is a path that
it’s all too tempting to follow. Take buying
a lens for a DSLR or mirrorless camera, for
example. The path of least resistance would be to
buy a zoom lens. And why not? Zoom lenses are
incredibly useful tools that make life far easier for
the photographer.
The biggest advantage of a zoom lens is of
course the fact that the focal length can be altered.
This makes it easier to create a variety of different
compositions with a simple twist of the zoom ring,
often without moving position at all.
Another advantage of a zoom lens is that it cuts
down the need for tedious lens swapping. (Which
has the added advantage of reducing the risk of
the exposed sensor getting dusty.) The ultimate in
convenience is the ‘superzoom’, a lens with a huge
focal length range; from wide-angle at one end to
telephoto at the other. For a lot of photographers a
‘superzoom’ is the only lens they ever need.
And of course zooms reduce the number of
lenses that need to be packed into a camera, freeing
up space for important stuff such as a plentiful
supply of sandwiches.
So that’s settled then, zooms are the best things
since sliced bread? Actually… not so fast. There’s
another type of lens that should be given serious
consideration: the prime lens. A prime lens is one
that has a fixed focal length, such as 35mm, 50mm,
or 100mm. To cover the focal range of a typical
zoom requires two, three even four different prime
lenses. This makes buying primes a potentially more
expensive option. It also means changing lenses
more frequently. And, there’s a greater chance that
the wrong lens is fitted just when the photographic
opportunity of a lifetime presents itself. Oh, did I
mention that it’s harder work using primes? Rather
than turning a zoom ring, a photographer may
need to physically move to achieve the perfect
composition. Imagine that.
Oddly enough though that’s the beauty of a prime
lens. The relative inconvenience of a prime lens
forces a photographer think about his or her
photography more. On the upside, with practise it
quickly becomes easy to ‘see’ compositions that
suit a particular prime lens. A photographer can
become so attuned to the characteristics of a prime
lens that he or she can compose a shot even before
picking up the camera.
Prime lenses have one other big advantage
over zooms. Zoom lenses are optically more
complex than primes lenses, and so have far
more compromises in their design. The biggest
compromise is the aperture range, with zooms
lenses lumbered with a relatively small maximum
aperture - which may even vary as the lens is
zoomed through its focal range. (It is possible
to buy zooms with large maximum aperture, but
these lenses tend to be both heavy and very, very
expensive). Prime lenses on the other hand generally
have large maximum apertures - f/1.4, f/1.8 and
so on. This is makes them particularly useful when
shooting in low-light conditions - allowing faster
shutter speeds and helping the camera’s AF system
remain fast and accurate, or when limiting depth of
field is a key aesthetic decision.
Personally I like primes lenses and always have
one or two in my camera bag. It’s worth it, even if it
does mean going hungry later in the day.
Shot with a 55mm prime lens at an aperture f/1.8, this is the sort of soft,
limited depth of field image that can be tricky to shoot with a zoom
autumn 2019 | Outdoor focus 15