Prime Dying?

[Battou]

You do surely have a point there. I wasn't totally clear in my last response, which was over-defensive, maybe a bit condescending. Sorry.

no need to apologize, I did not think it condescending, I was not aiming that particularly to you. Just kinda anchoring my post, You and Socrates said baisically the same thing, yours was just closer

 

[Alex_B]

Primes are not dying.

Just most primes tend to be rather high quality glass at rather high prices which not everyone can afford. telephoto primes are often a thing of pros and semi-pros only and hence are not discussed that much in the general public.

for many people a convenient zoom is just what they want. And zooms have become better over the last decade.

and there are new primes from time to time! but since the existing primes are already very good, they just need less updating than zooms

 

[Zoolfoos]

Battou said:
no need to apologize, I did not think it condescending, I was not aiming that particularly to you. Just kinda anchoring my post, You and Socrates said baisically the same thing, yours was just closer

Phew!

 

[Senor Hound]

I think zoom is a trend right now. Maybe it will teeter back to primes, maybe not. But right now photography is growing so fast they need some way to make people think they can get EVERY shot imaginable. When you tell someone they have a 50mm fixed, they don't really think about how versatile it is. When we look at something on paper, we forget that we could walk a few steps forward or backward and practically simulate the full spectrum of a kit lens (maybe more than a few steps, but my point stands).

Even if the primes were made at the same quality as kit lenses, I'd rather have a set of 4 primes over a set of 2 zooms. But that's just me... There's a level of simplicity with a prime lens that makes the photographic experience more fun.

 

[Helen B]

Primes are not dying.

Just most primes tend to be rather high quality glass at rather high prices which not everyone can afford.

Yes indeed. Leica produces a steady stream of improved primes, as does anyone making lenses for film or digital formats larger than 35 mm.

Best,
Helen

 

[Sw1tchFX]

From a marketing perspective, zooms are alot easier to sell then primes.

 

[usayit]

From a marketing perspective, zooms are alot easier to sell then primes.

Which is tied to what I and a few have posted. The general market doesn't understand the adv/dis of primes versus zoom. Most consumers (similar to car consumers) simply look at the numbers; horsepower (ignoring curb weight, torque) and Focal length range (ignoring CA, max aperture, etc).

As helen stated, most larger than 35mm format camera manufacturers still rely on primes. My guess is that the larger than 35mm formats are not marketed towards the general consumer. Considering the target market and the typical usage of a larger/medium format, I don't see a push for zooms. Leica is also advancing primes... too bad most are prohibitively expensive. Don't forget Zeiss too. They just released some excellent primes for K-mount, Nikon, and Sony.

Garbz pointed out a 18-70mm f/1.2 being released. This is no doubt going to be a seller due to the numbers (focal range and f/1.2 aperture). Thats Fine. But just as the Canon 200mm f/2.8 will outperform the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 (@ 200mm), I would bet the same will be true for the 18-70mm. The typical consumer will not (and is not willing to) understand this.

What the consumer wants is a 10-400 f/1 zoom with absolutely no loss in IQ (no need primes) and IS that will literally freeze the camera body in mid-air (no need to lug tripod). All this must fit in their back pocket.

Oh yeh.. add infinite storage of photos in-camera and a nuclear powered internal power generator that never needs charging.

 

[JHF Photography]

What the consumer wants is a 10-400 f/1 zoom with absolutely no loss in IQ (no need primes) and IS that will literally freeze the camera body in mid-air (no need to lug tripod). All this must fit in their back pocket.

Oh yeh.. add infinite storage of photos in-camera and a nuclear powered internal power generator that never needs charging.

That sounds great!!! Where I can I get me one of those?


Jason

 

[Helen B]

...

Garbz pointed out a 18-70mm f/1.2 being released. This is no doubt going to be a seller due to the numbers (focal range and f/1.2 aperture)...

I thought that Garbz was using irony to point out that nobody is releasing such a zoom. Very fast zooms, such as the Angenieux f/1.1 16-44, do exist for movie cameras, but they have limited coverage. That Angenieux is for 16 mm film.

Best,
Helen

 

[Phranquey]

I don't think good quality primes will be obsolete, but....

With the newer cameras delivering ever better images at higher ISO's, the need for a faster prime is beginning to become obsolete. IMO, my 28-70 f/2.8 on the D2Xs at ISO800 delivers better images than a 50mm f/1.4 on a D70 at ISO200 did. Why carry extra weight in the bag when the short range zoom does the job....my $0.02.

 

[usayit]

I don't think good quality primes will be obsolete, but....

With the newer cameras delivering ever better images at higher ISO's, the need for a faster prime is beginning to become obsolete. IMO, my 28-70 f/2.8 on the D2Xs at ISO800 delivers better images than a 50mm f/1.4 on a D70 at ISO200 did. Why carry extra weight in the bag when the short range zoom does the job....my $0.02.

By your logic,

- the 50mm f/1.4 on the D2X at ISO800 will probably be better than the 28-70mm on the D2X.

and

- the D3 with the 24-70mm at ISO1600 will probably deliver better images than the 50mm f/1.4 on the D2X at ISO800

and

- the D4 (whenever it comes) with the 24-70mm at ISO25,000 will probably better than the 50mm f/1.4 on the D3 at ISO1600.

and so on and so on....

the logic just doesn't fit. Thats like saying my dodge is faster than a ferrari with an empty gas tank which inturn is faster than the Veyron on an empty tank which inturn is faster than a jet on an empty tank.

Noise is a factor based on the camera's sensor and image processor not the lens. The better lens (usually prime) will always be better regardless of the camera. A comparison only makes sense if the camera they are attached to are the same.

 

[usayit]

I thought that Garbz was using irony to point out that nobody is releasing such a zoom.

Ah... I didn't realize.. I thought Garbz was referring to some Nikkor that I hadn't heard about yet.

makes me wonder...

Is it easier to design and manufacture a faster zoom on a smaller format?

 

[Phranquey]

Thats like saying my dodge is faster than a ferrari with an empty gas tank which inturn is faster than the Veyron on an empty tank which inturn is faster than a jet on an empty tank.

????

OK.....

 

[Garbz]

I don't think good quality primes will be obsolete, but....

With the newer cameras delivering ever better images at higher ISO's, the need for a faster prime is beginning to become obsolete. IMO, my 28-70 f/2.8 on the D2Xs at ISO800 delivers better images than a 50mm f/1.4 on a D70 at ISO200 did. Why carry extra weight in the bag when the short range zoom does the job....my $0.02.

Since when does upping the ISO give you a narrow depth of field. f/1.4 has nothing to do with speed. Heck it's only 1/3rd of a stop faster than f/1.8 but we are still willing to spend $400 more for that number, and I tell you know it's definitely not so we can shoot with a slightly faster shutter speed.

 

[passerby]

I don't the primes will die per se. Some of those primes will become very specialized equipments used in certain time and location by specific users. Studio is good examle.

I myself chose zoom lens for daytime, and when the light fall I use the cheap prime.