Zooms Vs. Fixed focal lenses

Everybody knows the advantages of zoom lenses. Zoom lenses include many different focal lengths in one lens. They allow more precise cropping without having to move back and forth. There are however, several disadvantage with zooms. One major problem with most zoom lenses is their close focusing ability. This is can be a real problem with wide angle shots. Some wide angle zooms focus down to only 8 or 9 feet, but most fixed wide angle lenses can focus to about 10 inches or less. There are wide angle zooms with much better closer focusing ability available. They are more expensive but worth the extra money. Zooms are not as sharp at every focal length compared to fixed lenses. This can be corrected by stopping the lens down a couple of stops, but this is not always possible especially in telephoto range where you need all the speed you can get, and telephoto zooms set at their longest range are not as sharp as fixed focal telephotos.



Minolta Maxxum 9, 300mm f-2.8 APO, 2x APO teleconverter. Fuji Velvia 50 at f5.6, shutter speed not recorded. Centerweighted metering on aperture priority. Bogen Tripod and ball head.

Many zooms are a bit shorter at their longest, and a bit longer at their shortest setting. A 24-85mm lens for instance, might be a 26-80mm. The longer end is not really a problem, as there isn't much difference between an 80mm and an 85mm lens, but at the wider settings there is a big difference in every millimeter. Fixed focal lenses also include hyperfocal scale which are f-stop numbers written on either side of the focus mark on the lens. These scales are used for setting the lens to the hyperfocal distance for different f-stops. The hyperfocal distance is the point where from half that distance to infinity are recorded sharp. By setting the infinity mark over the f-stop marks, you can find the distance for any f-stop. Zooms are also slower than fixed lenses. A 50mm lens for example, has a maximum aperture of 1.4 while a zoom set at 50mm is only f-4. This is not much a problem at shorter settings since you will almost always stop down to gain depth-of-field, but at telephoto settings you need a fast aperture since longer lenses are usually used for fast action photography such as wildlife and sports. The main advantage of zooms, and that is having different focal lengths in one package, outweighs their disadvantages. Whether to go with a zoom, fixed, or both types of lenses is a personal choice. It depends on the type of photography you do and how much weight you want to carry. You might want to consider carrying a fixed focal wide angle lens with closer focusing capability as well as a wide angle zoom. A telephoto zoom can be used for easier cropping and carrying, while a fast fixed focal lens can cover your fast action shots. I personally love both types of lenses. My zooms cover half of my subjects, but the other half would be very difficult and in some cases impossible without my fixed focal lenses.

Canon EOS A2, Tamron 200-400mm f-5.6,  Fuji Provia 100, 1/250 sec at f5.6. Spot metering on aperture priority. Bogen Tripod and ball head.