In your photography adventure, you will most likely buy both a prime lens and a zoom lens at some point. If you are a beginning photographer looking to upgrade to a new lens, you are probably facing the decision of whether to choose a prime or a zoom. Which type should you get and what’s the difference?
Our friend Roger Cicala over at LensRentals recently decided to take on a few optical "platitudes" that he's always hearing, and see if the data can back them up. So, are "all lenses the same at f/8"? And is it true that you "don’t need primes because I shoot everything stopped down"? Let's find out.
I’ll begin by saying that I don’t only shoot with zoom lenses. I should also add that what I’m about to say is perhaps most relevant to other wedding photographers, particularly those shooting in a documentary style like myself.
The question of zoom lenses versus prime lenses is an endless debate in photography, and one that has never really been definitively resolved. Essentially, the whole thing boils down to what’s more important: image quality, or versatility.