Optimus Prime-Focus

This is the third attempt to write a blog post about camera lenses. I hope that it it the one that gets published onto the blog, mainly because I’m getting a little miffed over the fact that this is the third attempt at writing a post on lenses. And even then this one only scratches the surface of a small aspect of them. That means more writing at a later date…

So you’ve decided to get a digital SLR. You go to the camera store, and the dude there pushes a Twin-lens zoom kit. They claim that you can take really good photos with them. Look in this booklet – see how good those photos are? They’re taken with the same lenses in that kit. The second you use them you’ll take awesome pictures. It’s as simple as that.

Well, sadly, 99% of the stuff that the people at stores like that tell you is crap. As I’ve said before, the thing that takes good photos is ultimately you. Thankfully though many lenses that are thrown with DSLR bodies are pretty good nowadays. (By the way, if you want to know how to take good photos have a look at this post that I wrote about photographic technique a few months back).

Even though kit zoom lenses are usually really good, they often lack the high aperture that is needed for good bokeh and low-light usage. You can spend a pile of cash to get a zoom that takes care of this, but you can also spend a very small amount of your money and get a prime-focus lens.

Prime-focus lenses are simply non-zooming – they have a set focal length. This may seem odd in a world of zoom everything, but there was a time when prime-focus lenses were all there was. You may be asking ‘But how can you use a fixed lens to compose a good photo?’ That’s simple – you become the zooming feature. If you want to remove things from the frame you move closer to what you want to keep. If you want to include more just do the same thing, but in reverse.

If you aren’t too fussed about whether or not you can control field of depth or shooting in low-light with no flash then I reckon you should stick to the zooms. They do a good job, and you can concentrate on taking photos instead of wasting money on lenses (like I seem to do).

If you are thinking about getting a P-F lens but are still a little unsure, do a Google search on Henri Cartier-Bresson. Throughout his photographic career he used only one lens – a 50mm prime focus. Have a look at his work. It’s the stuff I strive towards.

And if you’re dead certain about getting one I recommend either a 35 (for DX digital) or 50mm (for FX and film) one to start off. Brand new f/1.8 examples with autofocus can be purchased for as little as AU$150. Cheap hey!

If you’re serious about photography you should have at least one prime focus lens. It will make you think more about the photographic process a lot more than a zoom lens will, plus allow you to do so much more.

N.B. In saying this I use zoom lenses – I have a 35-70mm zoom that I use as a macro lens (I add the macro filters to it). Apart from that you’d be hard-pressed to find a zoom on my camera.