For professional photography instructors and amateurs alike, the choice between a prime lens and a zoom lens has always been a difficult question. While prime lenses are traditionally more suitable for film than zoom lenses, there are some great cine zoom lenses out there, which can make choosing a lens difficult for someone who shoots professionally with PL glass, as it does for those who just want to buy Own your own beginner’s first lens kit. Let’s first review the advantages of each lens type before looking at what each of them is best suited for.
fixed focus lens
Prime lenses offer a very traditional way of shooting. Before the advent of zoom lenses, this was of course the only way to shoot, so many of the cinematic effects we see in movies today were established by early DPs using prime lenses. Primes are used as much as ever on professional film sets these days, and I highly recommend having them as part of your tool kit, especially if you’re going for a cinematic look. The main advantages of fixed focus lenses are:
- sharp
- faster aperture
- Reduce costs
- More portable
For me personally, the most important item on this list is a faster aperture. It’s rare to find a good zoom lens with an aperture lower than 2.8, which means if you need low-light shots, you’ll almost certainly need to look for a prime lens. There are many affordable prime lenses, like the Rokinon cine lenses, that offer apertures of 1.4 or lower and also deliver sharp images – sharpness being one of the other great advantages on this list. Because prime lenses are only designed to be sharp at one focal length, manufacturers can more easily make their prime lenses truly sharp, as opposed to zoom lenses that need to be set to capture sharp images at variable focal lengths.
If cost is a factor for you, prime lenses become more attractive, as they always cost less than comparable zoom lenses. It’s worth emphasizing “comparable zoom” because there are still some primes that cost tens of thousands of dollars and zooms are available for almost free, but when comparing the same brands/optics, zooms are always more expensive. The size of prime lenses also makes them ideal for photography and travel, as they require less glass and are generally much smaller than zoom lenses. Anyone who has shot with the famous Canon 70-200 lens will resonate with this!
zoom lens
Although zooms are less traditional than prime lenses in film settings, they are still widely used in productions of all sizes. Many of my favorite directors and DPs use (or have used) zoom, and for good reason. They have many advantages over prime numbers, including:
- Versatility
- Easy to use
- Professional lens
- Cost (sort of!)
There’s no doubt that zoom lenses are more versatile than prime lenses because you can effectively get many different focal lengths in the same lens. This makes it perfect for burst shooting, documentary shooting, or any other situation where you can’t stop and change lenses. It will ultimately save you time and allow you to set up more easily between shots, making your shooting life easier. That said, I wouldn’t use zooms just for this reason, as they may not be the best choice for your scene for other reasons, and you don’t want to choose glass just for convenience.
Certain types of professional shots, such as Grand Slam zoom, are only possible with a zoom lens. If you want to shoot a specific type of shot, or if you’re going for a certain look (like 70s movie theaters, heavy use of zooms), then a zoom lens can be a very good choice and the only way to achieve that look. Although prime lenses are less expensive than zoom lenses, you also need to consider the cost of purchasing multiple prime lenses versus purchasing one zoom lens. If your needs are limited and you only need one lens to cover all situations, it may be more efficient and cost-effective to purchase a good zoom lens.
Prime Minister VS. skyrocketing
As I outlined above, both lens types obviously have their pros and cons. As with most other gear, it depends on what you’re using it for and what your creative goals are. If you’re a traditional shooter and want to mimic the look of a movie as closely as possible, prime lenses can’t be beat. Another benefit of shooting with a prime lens is that it really does make you a better shooter. When your creative options are limited, you need to learn to think like a camera, moving around the room to find the best spots and angles for your shot. When using zoom, it’s easy to recompose just the lens and get a usable but imperfect result. Also, if you’re going to be shooting a lot of low-light scenes, you’re probably better off with a prime lens, as they always offer better low-light performance. While this may not be a rule, I would generally say that primes are better suited for scripted narrative filmmaking. Finally, if you do decide to use a prime lens, it doesn’t hurt to have a zoom lens in your kit when you need it.
Zoom, on the other hand, is ideal for those filming events, documentaries, and other parkour-style content. They’ll be faster, easier to use, and greatly improve the chances that you’ll be ready to capture the perfect shot on the fly because you won’t have to fumble around changing lenses every few shots. If you do plan on using the zoom in a narrative setting as well, try to find lenses that have internal zoom (in other words, they don’t move when you zoom in and out), as these lenses work better when rigged with a follow focus Frame and blackout frame. Like I recommend using a zoom in your kit if you primarily shoot with primes and vice versa. Unless you spend more on the lens than the car, you’re not going to get a really fast zoom lens. The fastest affordable zoom lens currently available is the Sigma 18-35 F1.8, which is a huge technical achievement considering that most zoom lenses are at least 2.8 (if not 3.5 – 4). A fast lens is in your kit (preferably 35mm or 50mm 1.4 or 1.2). This way you can shoot with zoom throughout the day, but won’t be stuck when the sun goes down and you still have a few shots left to take.
I hope this helps out those looking to purchase a lens in the near future or expand your kit in some way. Investing in the right glass is important as your lenses will outlast your camera by many years, so choose wisely. Try to have a versatile kit with primes and zooms, but lean more toward primes for narrative and more toward zooms for documents.
If you’re in the market for more than just lenses, check out my article Build a movie camera for under $1,000.
