| Versatility: Prime Lenses vs Zooms. When it comes to versatility, zoom lenses are said to be better than their prime optics counterparts. But too often we have heard of the usual debates about zooms vs. prime lenses in terms of performance and optical quality that most of us have never actually thought about the versatility factor in real shooting situations. In this issue, the focus is on the versatility aspect between two EF zooms against three EF prime lenses. The zooms are the EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM and the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM while the prime lenses are the EF 20mm f/2.8 USM, EF 135mm f/2.0L USM and EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM. Why are there no other prime lenses between 20mm and 135mm for this comparison? Simple. Both the two zooms are fast types, with constant f/2.8 maximum apertures and share the same 77mm filter thread. The three prime lenses used in this comparison were also fast types and shared the same 72mm filter thread although the EF 135mm f/2.0L USM was the fastest among the five tested. The EF 35mm f/2.0 AFD wide-angle and its faster sibling, the EF 35mm f/1.4L USM, were not selected for this comparison in versatility due to these factors: the former used a 52mm filter thread and the latter (72mm) was also two stop faster than the two zoom lenses were. When a photographer chooses an SLR system, whether based around zooms or prime optics, one of the most important aspects will be that the lenses are fully compatible with accessories such as filters and other add-ons. Having different lenses employing different filter threads will mean extra expenditure in these accessories of varying sizes. Of course, the EF 35mm f/1.4L USM will also fit nicely into the grouping of the three prime lenses since it also uses the same 72mm filter thread. Then again, to make the prime lenses selection to be as complete of what the two zooms have offered, a focal length of either 85mm or 100mm would need to be added as well, making the camera bag heavier. The focus of this issue is to verify whether the zooms are really more versatile than prime lenses when shooting in actual situations. First up would be the EF 20mm f/2.8 USM against the EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM zoom lens. As mentioned in issue No: 51 of Nuts & Bolts column, the former has an advantage against the latter when it comes to close focus capability on the same 20mm focal length. While the zoom lens cannot match the EF 20mm lens in this aspect, it can offer an alternative - by turning the focal length from 20mm to 35mm, you can get an angle-of-view similar to what the prime lens is capable of. These examples below show just that.
The zoom lens setting at 35mm is similar to the 20mm at its 0.3m distance. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . |
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