Hello, I just was wondering about prime lens and wanted to know what makes them so important for portraits or photography in general. I have a Nikon D3100 and I've been using the kit lens 18-55mm so far; the images are good but I know they could be better. So then my friend let me borrow his Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-S DX and a 50mm f/1.4 AF-S; both which I very much like but I had some questions about them...
1) I'm still a new photographer but I tried testing the image quality between the three lens and I'll admit, I don't see much of difference in image quality; maybe I'm doing something wrong or cause I'm still a noob to photography/lens/camera. The other two primes lens definitely have better/faster AF, build quality, bigger aperture, etc. but I still can't much of an improve on the image quality, which to me seems the most important.
2) What makes primes lens so essential? As a beginner to photography I like the 18-55mm because it allows me to use the zoom and control my composition, but I know that prime lens are "better' but I guess I don't know why, the photographers I know use prime lens as they're default lens and they always carry it around, but for me I thought the 18-55mm would be better because it's more versatile. Are they really worth the money?
3) My friend let me try out her Canon 85mm f/1.8 EF USM on her Canon T2i and the images came out WAY better than either of the three mentioned above! I don't know if its the camera body or the lens, but even a simple snapshot the image quality was amazing. I did some research on reviews on the Canon 85mm and the Nikon 35mm and 50mm and all three of them had amazing reviews/ratings but if I had to choose one, it would be the Canon 85mm hands down; plus its cheaper (Nikon 50mm is about $500 and the Canon 85mm is about $420). I guess my question if what makes the Canon 85mm SO much better in image quality than the 35mm and 50mm, because its focal length is 85mm (does the Nikon 85mm AF-S compare to the canon's)? Don't get me wrong I love my Nikon camera and lens, but it just seems that the Canon 85mm is cheaper, great build quality, 1.8 is good enough, fast/quiet AF, and the image quality is a amazing.
The help one either question would be VERY helpful, I'd really want to understand the importance of prime lens!!
Thanks
0ptics
1) I'm still a new photographer but I tried testing the image quality between the three lens and I'll admit, I don't see much of difference in image quality; maybe I'm doing something wrong or cause I'm still a noob to photography/lens/camera. The other two primes lens definitely have better/faster AF, build quality, bigger aperture, etc. but I still can't much of an improve on the image quality, which to me seems the most important.
2) What makes primes lens so essential? As a beginner to photography I like the 18-55mm because it allows me to use the zoom and control my composition, but I know that prime lens are "better' but I guess I don't know why, the photographers I know use prime lens as they're default lens and they always carry it around, but for me I thought the 18-55mm would be better because it's more versatile. Are they really worth the money?
3) My friend let me try out her Canon 85mm f/1.8 EF USM on her Canon T2i and the images came out WAY better than either of the three mentioned above! I don't know if its the camera body or the lens, but even a simple snapshot the image quality was amazing. I did some research on reviews on the Canon 85mm and the Nikon 35mm and 50mm and all three of them had amazing reviews/ratings but if I had to choose one, it would be the Canon 85mm hands down; plus its cheaper (Nikon 50mm is about $500 and the Canon 85mm is about $420). I guess my question if what makes the Canon 85mm SO much better in image quality than the 35mm and 50mm, because its focal length is 85mm (does the Nikon 85mm AF-S compare to the canon's)? Don't get me wrong I love my Nikon camera and lens, but it just seems that the Canon 85mm is cheaper, great build quality, 1.8 is good enough, fast/quiet AF, and the image quality is a amazing.
The help one either question would be VERY helpful, I'd really want to understand the importance of prime lens!!
Thanks
0ptics