Zoom vs Prime.

While out shooting a CEO today, I processed this test frame of James just for grins and giggles. It has nothing to do with my ramblings today…

One thing that has been noticed recently… as the cameras get better and better… the weak links begin to show themselves. Some once faithful and trusty lenses are turning out to be a big ‘maybe not so much’. More and more I am reverting to the shooting style of days gone by: Prime glass. Back in the day, zoom lenses were always considered inferior when sharpness, contrast,  and color integrity were concerned. Then as auto focus became prevalent, and glass was made better, with all sorts of exotic coatings and three letter acronyms that few of us understood, zooms became acceptable. Some even were perceived to be better than the primes of the same focal length. But, alas, I am believing that is not true for the current crop of technology.

As digital cameras out resolve their earlier film counterparts, it becomes clear that ALL older glass is inadequate. I recently took full advantage of the technology of my cameras to calibrate the bodies to each lens for focus accuracy. Wow. What an amazing difference in auto focus ‘success rates’. Though all that resolution testing of each lens I own really made the poorer performers stand out… as they say in Australia, “Like Dog’s balls, mate!” And even the zoom glass which I previously would have hailed as magnificent is starting to be viewed as a bit shabby. Canon has been realizing this and slowly replacing all their zoom glass with new versions. Rumors about a new 24-70/2.8 aka a Series II are floating around. And not a moment too soon as this is the lens that is slowly falling out of favor with me. When I compare the results, on sharpness, with my primes in the same range, it is hard to go back. For me, in this age where mediocrity seems to be the new excellence for many, I am happy I still strive, and occasionally obtain, excellence…

Keep making those excellent primes dear Canon.