# Do you go through stages of loving primes or zooms?



## willrobb (Jan 16, 2012)

Before my current set up I went through a few kit zooms and basic primes. 

I currently own six lenses and bought them in this order:

17-40mm f4L (July 2007)
24-70mm f2.8L (June 2008)
70-200mm f2.8L (Nov 2009-before this I had an old 80-200mm f2.8L since 2006)
50mm f1.2L (Jul 2010)
100mm f2.8L HIS (Jan 2011)
Sigma 85mm f1.4 (Dec 2011)

Thinking about it, I went trough the zooms first to cover all the bases I really needed, then got primes to address specific needs, mostly for portraits and product shots where I wanted greater DOF. I'm in no rush to buy any more lenses soon, but when I do it'll be more primes as I do prefer the IQ. 

I was wondering if other people went through buying phases like this or do something more mixed? No specific reasons for asking, just chilling out on a Monday evening when I don't have much to do work wise


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## squarebox (Jan 16, 2012)

I can't say that i'm through any phases cause I just started picking up lens but my lens buyign pattern was this

18-55 Kit
18-200 wanted zoom and knew nothing about quality
10-22 wanted wide
50mm 1.8 Didn't buy but borrow a friend's for about 3 months... at first i hated it, but after i learned how to use the lens i thought it was awesome, albeit a little long on my kiss x4
35L the prime I want *yeah for B&H shipping to japan... and it only took 3 days!
50m 1.4 for those parties when you are just too far

going forward my next lens will probably be one of the L zoom lens to replace my 18-55 or 18-200 

but i'm definitely in a loving prime mood now... Probably i'll get frustrated with primes as i'll keep switching lens.


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## elflord (Jan 16, 2012)

willrobb said:


> Before my current set up I went through a few kit zooms and basic primes.
> 
> I currently own six lenses and bought them in this order:
> 
> ...



Started with one prime (the 50 f/1.4) and one zoom (the 15-85). Since then I've sold the 15-85 and it's been all primes


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## JR (Jan 16, 2012)

I am actually going through the opposite phase myself willrob! When I started to shoot seriouly again about 18 months ago after a 10 year pause, I tried a few zoom but quickly moved to primes for their better IQ and low light capability. To be honest I also found prime lens to force me to think better what picture I was going to be taking (even for familily event) and this helped me with shot composition (I do mostly portraits). So in order I got:

50 f1.2L
85 f1.2L II
135 f2L
70-200 f2.8L IS II - majority of use is at 200mm but find the zoom very useful...
24 f1.4L II

Now I am better able to visualize what each focal lenght will give me. I am also planning to get the 35 1.4L II as soon as it launch. 

HOWEVER, i am now in a phase where I am craving for a 24-70 (or 24-105) zoom for the flexibility of it and not needing to carry so many lenses all the time! I am still debating between the 24-70 and the 24-105 to fill that gap (weight versus IQ and low light again!). I am not in a rush so I will wait to see the new 24-70 mkII before making a decision, but I am definitively feeling the need to use more zoom now for more flexibility and keep the prime for specific occasion.

I really though the prime lens approach made me a better photographer, all be it an amateur one, but still a better one! 8)


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## willrobb (Jan 16, 2012)

JR said:


> I am actually going through the opposite phase myself willrob! When I started to shoot seriouly again about 18 months ago after a 10 year pause, I tried a few zoom but quickly moved to primes for their better IQ and low light capability. To be honest I also found prime lens to force me to think better what picture I was going to be taking (even for familily event) and this helped me with shot composition (I do mostly portraits). So in order I got:
> 
> 50 f1.2L
> 85 f1.2L II
> ...



Hey JR,

I agree, I think using primes does make you a better photographer as it limits your options in some way and you have to think a bit more. Also, better IQ and nicer bokeh really helps. The way I see it is that zooms are a safe option that give you everything you need, but with primes you can add a little bit something more special if you have the right lens on at the right time.

Before my current line up I had just started working as a photographer and was using film, I used a canon 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.8 a lot and had an old Tamron zoom (think it was 19-35mm) but the primes were most used. Soon I had to start shooting digital as I was losing work without a DSLR and I was so impressed with L lens zooms they were my go to lenses for a while as soon as I got some, but now I am cutting down my media work (where I mostly use zooms) and increasing my private clients (where I mostly use primes) I am enjoying getting more and more into primes again. I still wouldn't get rid of any of my zooms though, although I prefer the IQ of my primes the versatility of the zooms are the winner.

Recently when I travel and I'm not shooting assignments I am happy just with a point and shoot and my 50mm on my 5DmkII without the battery grip. Nice to travel light...


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## Axilrod (Jan 16, 2012)

I bought my 5D Mark II in Nov 2011, and the madness began:
(in order)
50mm f/1.4 (first one I grabbed)
35L & 50L - paid $2400 for the pair from a wedding photographer that had switched to Nikon
85mm f/1.8
16-35mm f/2.8L II
24-70mm f/2.8L
70-200 f/2.8L IS - Traded the 35L and 85 1.8 for this one for some reason
100L
135L
35L (2nd copy)
14L II

I sold all the zooms except the 16-35 (which I'm about to sell), but I'm not gonna lie there are times I really wish I had a 24-70 to walk around with, switching lenses can be a bitch.


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## JR (Jan 16, 2012)

willrobb said:


> Recently when I travel and I'm not shooting assignments I am happy just with a point and shoot and my 50mm on my 5DmkII without the battery grip. Nice to travel light...



Yeah one of the main reason I want to get the 24-105L is for travelling. Bringing several primes on a familly vacation is just not practical - especially if they compete for luggage space with my wife!


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## smirkypants (Jan 16, 2012)

Zooms are practical family sedans and primes are impractical but fun convertibles.


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## briansquibb (Jan 16, 2012)

I go through phases where my shooting style changes - and so the lens choice follows. Recently went into the background blur phase - so out went the 7D's and in came the f/2.8 lens (plus the 50 f/1.4). Prior to that I had a landscape phase and prior to that was candids and portraits.


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## unruled (Jan 16, 2012)

my order
17-50 2.8
85 1.8
50 1.8

.. I need a telezoom next, probly macro after that. My overall preference is for primes cuz I got hooked to the fast f stop, light weight and iq/cost.

different lenses for different purposes I guess, but primes are awesome and force me to be more creative.


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## drmikeinpdx (Jan 16, 2012)

I keep trying to find zoom lenses that focus accurately and give good sharpness, but it's a real crap shoot, as they say. You never know if you'll get one that is inherently sharp and focuses well with your camera.

Prime lenses seem to be both more reliable in the focus department and generally give sharper images. You can also use a little Micro Adjust if needed and if your body offers it.

The only zoom I am currently happy with is a Tamron 28-80 F 2.8 that I bought via Craigslist for $260, so price does not seem to be a factor in my experience.

I recently rented a Canon 24-70 F 2.8 and it was a joke. Horrible focus shift with zoom variation. I assume the internal mechanism was worn. Both of these lenses were used on a 5D classic.

I have given up trying to find a zoom that will work on my 7D. It is currently at Canon service for the third time along with the 17-55 2.8 Canon zoom that has terrible focus shift with zoom changes. Oddly enough, the 7D body works fine with prime lenses.


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## neuroanatomist (Jan 16, 2012)

Definitely buying a mixed order of zooms and primes for me, starting form the beginning when I purchased a good, fast general purpose zoom and a faster prime for portraits.

My history:


Buy T1i/500D, 17-55mm f/2.8 IS, and 85mm f/1.8
Buy 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS
Buy 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
Buy 200mm f/2.8L II (used)
Buy 300mm f/4L IS (used)
Buy 7D
Sell T1i/500D
Buy 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS
Sell 300mm f/4L IS
Buy 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II
Sell 200mm f/2.8L II
Buy 24-105mm f/4L IS (used)
Buy 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 DO IS (used)
Buy 85mm f/1.2L II
Sell 85mm f/1.8
Sell 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 DO IS
Buy 5DII + 24-105mm f/4L IS kit
Sell 24-105mm f/4L IS (kept the new one)
Buy MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro
Buy TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
Buy 16-35mm f/2.8L II
Sell 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
Buy 35mm f/1.4L
Buy 135mm f/2L


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## 00Q (Jan 17, 2012)

I can truely represent a noobie buying pattern: (lenses I have sold are labelled [SOLD])

1) 450D with 18-55 kit lens. [SOLD]
2) Tamron 70-300 (wanted zoom). [SOLD]
3) Sigma 18-200 OS ( hated changing lenses, knew nothing about image quality) .[SOLD]
4) Sigma 18-50 f2.8 ( found out about fast lenses, YEAH!!! ) .[SOLD]
5) Sigma 70-200 OS f2.8 ( realised 50 is not long enough ) [STILL IN BAG]
6) Sigma 10-20mm (wanted wide) .[SOLD]
7) Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 ( curious about this lens)[SOLD]
8 ) Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 ( 18-50 was a bit short) [SOLD]
9) Sigma 8-16 ( better image quality than the 10-20, wider zoom )[STILL IN BAG]
10) Canon 24-70 ( better image quality)[STILL IN BAG]
11) Canon 24-105 ( curious about this lens ) [SOLD]
12) Canon 50 1.4 ( Tried prime, but hated it ) [SOLD]
13) Canon 10-22(curious about this lens, realised my sigma 8-16 is better)[SOLD]


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## willrobb (Jan 17, 2012)

Axilrod said:


> I bought my 5D Mark II in Nov 2011, and the madness began:
> (in order)
> 50mm f/1.4 (first one I grabbed)
> 35L & 50L - paid $2400 for the pair from a wedding photographer that had switched to Nikon
> ...



When I was reading you got the 35L and 50L for $2400 I was well impressed, then when I read you traded the 35L I was momentarily shocked until I saw you got a second copy : You certainly have did a lot of shopping, nice one.


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## willrobb (Jan 17, 2012)

JR said:


> willrobb said:
> 
> 
> > Recently when I travel and I'm not shooting assignments I am happy just with a point and shoot and my 50mm on my 5DmkII without the battery grip. Nice to travel light...
> ...



Ha ha, the luggage space competition with the wife is a hard battle. When we move back to the UK in March this year I'm going to have to persuade my wife to put her handbag in a suitcase and carry one of my camera bags....wonder how that suggestion will go down? Maybe we'll get a compromise and she'll put my 70-200mm f2.8L in it's case, a body and my Sigma 85mm in it's case in her bag.....her bags sure are big enough to carry a lot of stuff


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## willrobb (Jan 17, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> Definitely buying a mixed order of zooms and primes for me, starting form the beginning when I purchased a good, fast general purpose zoom and a faster prime for portraits.
> 
> My history:
> 
> ...



That is a mighty list indeed. You could probably do well out of renting some stuff out on the side. I think you have more equipment than most UK based camera stores  I'm interested to hear what your next purchase will be.


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## neuroanatomist (Jan 17, 2012)

willrobb said:


> Ha ha, the luggage space competition with the wife is a hard battle. When we move back to the UK in March this year I'm going to have to persuade my wife to put her handbag in a suitcase and carry one of my camera bags....wonder how that suggestion will go down?



I've found that kids are helpful that way. You buy them a ticket each, and you get to use their carry-on allowance for more gear. ;D


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## willrobb (Jan 17, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> willrobb said:
> 
> 
> > Ha ha, the luggage space competition with the wife is a hard battle. When we move back to the UK in March this year I'm going to have to persuade my wife to put her handbag in a suitcase and carry one of my camera bags....wonder how that suggestion will go down?
> ...



Ha ha, never thought on it that way....unfortunately not enough time to produce kids in the next couple of months :


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## JR (Jan 17, 2012)

willrobb said:


> Ha ha, never thought on it that way....unfortunately not enough time to produce kids in the next couple of months :



No but you get start practicing though - lol 8)



neuroanatomist said:


> I've found that kids are helpful that way. You buy them a ticket each, and you get to use their carry-on allowance for more gear. ;D



So funny, cause this is exactly what I had to do with my Think Tank carry on luggage on my last family vacation: it counted as my 20 month old baby girl luggage - although I did not make her actually carry it around in the airport


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## telephonic (Jan 17, 2012)

My list is not as long as neuro's for sure, but at least I have something to tell.

Here they are (chronological order, from ca. 2008 until now):
EOS 500N (yes, N as in New)
Sigma AF 28-200/3.8-5.6 UC blah blah...
EF 50mm/1.8 -> The only one I bought new
EOS 20D
EF 200mm/2.8 II L USM

The first two was my Pop's, from ca. 1996. I wanted to throw away my old man's Sigma when I used the nifty fifty the first time. :
The second time I wanted to throw away his Sigma was when I bought the 20D; it just won't work (Err 99) stopped down. Luckily it's my Pop's, and currently is the only solution to my wide-angle needs so I ended up using it in several occasions.

My plan dream is a 5DII + Zeiss 21/2.8 8) but my much more realistic plan is EF 20-35 USM or EF 20/2.8.

I love some zoom lenses, but I love all primes unconditionally (well, unless it cost me an arm and a leg to buy) :


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## Axilrod (Jan 17, 2012)

willrobb said:


> Axilrod said:
> 
> 
> > I bought my 5D Mark II in Nov 2011, and the madness began:
> ...



Yeah at the time I still had the 24-70, and with the 16-35 I just felt like I didn't need a dedicated 35mm lens, so I traded it and the 85 1.8 for the 70-200 f/2.8 IS. 

The guy at the local camera shop told me if I ever wanted to sell it he would take it off my hands, and one day a few months later he called telling me he had gotten a 35 1.4 and 85L II from an estate of a photographer that had died. They were both never taken out of the studio, so I went to the shop, he gave me $1600 for the 70-200 and I paid another $1200 and got the 85L II and 35L. They were both so mint, the 35L was from 2001 and looked so much better than the first copy I had from 2006. I mean it looked brand new, as did the 85L.

I never realized I had traded a 35 and 85 (1.8) for the 70-200 and ended up trading it back for another 85 and 35L haha


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## branden (Jan 17, 2012)

Oh my, the gear I've gone through over the years ...  lament for sold gear

in approximate order:
* EF-S 18-55 (the original) - SOLD
* Tamron 70-300 (the 2004 version) - SOLD
* Sigma 10mm fisheye - SOLD
* 28-135 - SOLD and good riddance
* 24-70L - SOLD (I miss it)
* Nifty Fifty - SOLD (and then later purchased another)
* 135 Soft Focus - SOLD (outclassed by the 135L, although not to shabby itself)
* 70-300 DO - SOLD and never looked back
* EF 20mm - SOLD and not missed
* 70-200 f4L IS - SOLD because it's ostentatious
* 180L - SOLD because it weight a thousand pounds
* 85 f/1.8 - SOLD and slightly missed
* 28 f/1.8 - SOLD because it halates
* 50 f/1.4 - SOLD for greener pastures
* EF-S 18-135 - still got it! although I'll probably sell it soon
* EF 35-70 - SOLD because I don't know why I even bought this ancient thing
* 200 f/2.8L - SOLD in lieu of 135L
* 35 f/2 - SOLD and I sort of miss it
* 100 macro - SOLD and not missed
* Zeiss 2/50 - my baby <3
* 100 f/2 - SOLD and not missed
* 24L - on its way out the door
* 135L - still hanging on!
* Zeiss 18 - RETURNED within the 30 days (I'm learning!)
* Nifty fifty - not going to sell it this time 
* 16-35L - on it's way here right now!
* 24-105L - will probably get this in a couple weeks

This list does not include rented or borrowed gear, which is also lengthy. I don't know why I've worked my way through half the Canon lens catalog over the years -- I mean, I know in my head that it's the photographer that makes the picture and NOT the gear. But for some reason I always feel limited by what I've got, and that if I just sell lens X to finance lens Y then I'll finally have the right gear for my shooting style. 

On the flip side, I actually feel like my shooting style has evolved greatly over the years, and I've been good enough about selling what I no longer need that the gear I have tends to match my style at the time. I spent a long time in primes learning how to shoot and what works well at specific focal lengths, but now I'm coming back around to zooms just so I can have less stuff and focus more on composition and less on gear.


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## shinyknights (Jan 17, 2012)

I just got into photography last November during Black Friday. Since then, I've acquired a total of four lenses.

EF 24-105mm f/4 L
EF 100mm f/2.8 L macro
EF 85mm f/1.8
EF 50mm f/1.4

I'm finding that I am liking primes for their big apertures. I do a lot of indoor/night photography and am a big fan of getting that bokeh. I'm hoping to upgrade these primes to the L lenses as I learn more and develop more techniques.


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## willrobb (Jan 17, 2012)

JR said:


> willrobb said:
> 
> 
> > Ha ha, never thought on it that way....unfortunately not enough time to produce kids in the next couple of months :
> ...



Practice makes perfect and all that


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## pwp (Jan 17, 2012)

smirkypants said:


> Zooms are practical family sedans and primes are impractical but fun convertibles.



+1 for the laugh.

For sheer practicality and a consistently higher percentage of commercially viable keepers I just keep going back to the zooms. With constant time constraints and the flexibility offered by high quality zooms, plus the minimized mass/weight of having three f/2.8 lenses in the bag that cover from 16-200mm, in my business the zooms rule.

Like others I fall in and out of love with primes. The two I find it hard to leave at home are the 24 f/1.4II and the 300 f/2.8is. Others languish in the lens cupboard, left behind because I know they'd most likely be dead weight in the bag. I know this may not be a typical experience, it's just a particular "practical family sedan" working reality.

Paul Wright


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## smirkypants (Jan 17, 2012)

pwp said:


> smirkypants said:
> 
> 
> > Zooms are practical family sedans and primes are impractical but fun convertibles.
> ...


You can't take the kids to soccer practice in that Zeiss 25/f2, but damn that 70-200/2.8 drives like a minivan and is about as sexy. The Zeiss makes me want to bust out the Chuck Taylors and hang out in coffee shops in Soho.


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