Zoom lenses.

[mr mojo risin]

Should I get a Nikkor 35-70mm zoom lens or a Pentax 50mm f2.0 lens? Which would be better?

 

[voodoocat]

The 50mm is going to bar much sharper. Less elements. 35-70 seems awfully silly to me. I think it would be better to have a 28-80 zoom.

 

[motcon]

if you are talking about the nikkor 2.8d, then the difference between the two in terms of sharpness is negligible.

everything you need to know:
http://www.photodo.com/nav/prodindex.html

 

[voodoocat]

Well the Nikkor 2.8 zoom is in a completely different price range than a 50mm lens.

 

[mr mojo risin]

Is a zoom lens better than a non-zoom lens? What are you experiences? Which would generate a better photo?

 

[voodoocat]

Generally speaking fixed focal length lenses are sharper than zoom lenses. There are more elements in a zoom lens. Nikkor does make some very fine zoom lenses that rival prime lenses in sharpness. Also zoom lenses are not as fast as prime lenses. Usually you get F4-5.6.

 

[mr mojo risin]

Thanks for all the help, I think I'm going with a the Pentax 50mm lens.