Zoom lenses these days are of such good quality that they are used by default. Most cameras in the market – even professional DSLR’s – are partnered with a zoom. But are they the best lenses to use? What about prime or fixed focal length lenses?
A significant advantage of using prime lenses is that they offer you more involvement with your subject material. You have to move to frame the image rather than just stand still and use the zoom capability. With zoom lenses the photography is more of an observer and less interactive with the subject material; especially so if the subject is people where there is no interaction. You can be a part of the action with a prime lens and more committed to the photograph. However, this is not to everyone’s liking, some prefer to take the voyeur approach. Admittedly, being involved with the subject material requires you to be comfortable with confrontational photography.
Another aspect is autofocus; if you don’t like autofocus, fixed lenses are far easier to operate manually than zooms.
There are many lenses of fixed focal length available and they are generally assigned to a group. There is the wide angle, normal and telephoto groups and these are useful for certain designated subjects. But this is not always so; here you can also step outside the boundaries.
Good portraits can be taken with an ultra wide angle, architectural can be shot on telephoto, so long as the photographer is aware of the distortion, compression and other characteristics of lens types.
Many of the world’s greatest photographs have been taken with fixed focal length lenses. So give them a try, you may experience a new world with your photography.