I prefer Zooms

For pretty much all of January and February, maybe even longer, I pretty much exclusively used one Prime Lens in my Photography. I even kinda liked it.

But after going back and using my Zooms again at the Oderteich last Saturday, I finally realized how much I actually limited myself by just using that Lens.

Using that Prime Lens for that long definitely brought out its Advantages. It was nice and tiny but also offered much more Sharpness than my other Lenses. That is because it only has one Focal Length. It knows exactly what it is at all Times.

Because there is a lot more Space inside a Lens that does not have to Zoom, it usually is also able to fit a way larger Aperture into a far smaller Body. My current Prime only opens up to ƒ/2.0, but there are some that go down to ƒ/0.95, and that is insane.

Prime Lenses really are great. But every Medal has two Sides, where there is Light there is also Dark, and so on.

With all the Advantages that Prime Lenses offer, some Drawbacks also come along. The biggest easily is their Limitation when it comes to Focal Lengths.

Even with multiple Primes, only a handful of Focal Length are available to use, and then you have to Change those Lenses all the Time.

Each Prime only offers one Focal Length after all, for example 22mm, 50mm or 85mm.

The beauty of Zoom Lenses is that they just offer a fixed Range and that everything in between goes. That flexibility is awesome.

Sometimes, changing your Focal Length is the only Option, not just to get something look like it is closer or to fit more into the Frame.

Zooming does not only help with your Composition, but even more so with the Immersion of your Art. A Wide Shot can feel more Distant, while a nice, Tight Closeup is the most intimate Form of Photography there is.

Just changing your Position and ‘Zooming with your Feet’ does not give the same Feeling that the Distortion coming with the use of a Wide Angle Lens like a 10mm from the exact same Spot.

I absolutely love all the Prime Lenses I have ever used, except for maybe the Franken 500mm. That Thing is just weird.

For my Day to Day Photography, I prefer Zooms though. They are easier to use but also much more versatile.

Sure, they are usually also Darker, offering only slower Apertures like ƒ/4.5-ƒ/5.6on my 10-18mm, but I usually do not go below ƒ/5.6 anyhow, depending on the Light.