Optimus Prime....All Primes?

Braineack · Mar 5, 2015

My 85mm may be ever so slightly sharper than my 24-70 and 70-200 but it's not so sharp that i even notice the difference between any of them--all are more than acceptable.

but i hardly use it because it's so much less versatile and doesn't have VR and I can make up for 1-1/3 stops of light easy with ISO.

Derrel · Mar 5, 2015

It's pretty difficult to recommend prime lenses without some knowledge of what they would be needed for.

As far as sharpness differences between primes and zooms, these two pages show what's possible with both types on the new D810.

Best Primes on the D810 - DxOMark

Best Zooms on the Nikon D810 - DxOMark

It's pretty obvious: there are a handful of really sharp zoom lenses, but there are like 30 primes that are significantly sharper than zooms costing as much as $1699 to $7,000. The $6,999 Nikkor 200-400 VR is the same sharpness as the 50mm f/1.8 G-Nikkor.

bratkinson · Mar 5, 2015

As I improved my skills and gear using a DSLR, I started building my 'final answer' lens choices with both primes and zooms...All Canon L lenses except the 85 f1.8. After doing a number of event shootings as well as some personal photography, I found that the primes stayed mostly in the bag, so I sold 2 of the 3, keeping the 135 f2L. My 3 zooms are f2.8 (2) and f4.

Just this past Tuesday evening, I was shooting an awards ceremony at the middle school where one of my friends' daughter was getting an award along with 9 others. Had I not had the 24-105 mounted, I'd have missed a LOT of good shots. I tend to move around during events shooting everywhere from 'stage left' to 'stage right' to the aisles and at the rear of the room. I found the 24-105 worked well, except I could have used maybe 150mm a couple of times if I had a 24-150, for example. Shooting events that I had no prior knowledge of what was going to happen next, being able to immediately shoot regardless of the situation is imperative. On Tuesday, several times I had 10 seconds or less to move perhaps 10-15 feet and went from shooting at 105mm to 24mm for a reasonably close in shot. Changing lenses, even if I had one in my pocket, would be 25-30 seconds, taking care not to drop one in the 'heat of the moment'.

I have only one DSLR body. Knowing that experienced wedding photographers always have 2 bodies with lens mounted on them allows them to have one lens for longer shots and one for more close in. It gives them the ability to change from one to the other almost instantly. Obviously, it also provides backup in the event of a gear failure, as well.

In short, let your shooting style and requirements dictate what you need for lenses, not just a 'want' for a lens that can resolve 1mm lines 1mm apart at 100 yards distance or some other ridiculous statistic. But then, if you have lots of money laying around to satisfy your GAS disease (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), by all means go ahead and go for it!