Prime lenses, zoom lenses, fixed apertures, focal lenghts, it can all get a little but confusing when it comes to buying your new camera lens. These days there are lenses for every single speciality you can think of. Which makes it even harder when it's fianlly time for you to buy a new lens.
Don't worry because we're here to help! Today we are going to provide you with our honest opinons on the two most used lens types in videography. The Prime Lens, and the Zoom Lens.
So if you're in the market for a new lens! This is the blog post for you!
Which is Which?
So for all the beginners who might not know what zooms or primes are, we'll break it down for you really quick. Starting with zoom lenses, these allow you to zoom in and out between two different focal lengths. An example of this would be a 24mm-70mm. With this lens you will be able to use the entire range of focal lengths between 24mm and 70mm.
Prime lenses are the polar opposite, as they have a fixed focal length. You might be thinking that this makes them less useful, but they come with thier benefits that we'll get into later. An example of a prime lens would be a 50mm. With this lens you will only be able to use the fixed focal length of 50mm, therefore to zoom in or out you would have to physically move your position.
Pros of Zoom Lenses
Starting with the most obvious pro, we have the zoom feature. Being able to zoom and change between focal lengths in a heartbeat can really help in situations where you need that versitility. There are situations in videography where the scene is constantly changing, for example sports. Zoom lenses are perfect for these types of situations as you don't have to mess around wtih changing lenses, but instead can just zoom accordingly.
Another pro of zoom lenses is they free up space in your camera bag. Seems like a small benefit, but as you aquire more equipment over time, you don't want to be carrying around 5-6 heavy lenses on every shoot. If you think about it, zoom lenses are three or more lenses in one, so if you can choose a zoom lens over three different prime lenses, you're going to... right?
Pros of Prime Lenses
Prime lenses, without a doubt, are much sharper than zoom lenses. And this is one of their biggest pull factors for videographers and film-makers. Being able to produce the sharpest image possible in full 4K RAW video is going to knock the socks off people at the cinema. But is it just as important for the average user? Well, yes! The sharpness prime lenses produce will be a driving factor in your production and post-production. The last thing you want is to film a 45 minute interview, just to find that the face of the subject is just slightly soft.
Not being able to zoom comes with many more benefits, one of which is being able to maintain a lower constant aperture. Its very rare to find a zoom lens with a aperture lower than f/2.8, however, prime lenses have apertures of f/1.4 or lower! How does this help you? Well it means in dark scenes you can open your aperture up to that f/1.4 and then won't need to increase your ISO as much! Low apertures also allow for creamy backgrounds and stunning bokeh in your images.
Lenses we Recommend
Starting with zoom lenses, there are three lenses which almost create a holy trinity. With these three lenses you can nail almost any situation with ease. The three lenses in question are the 16-35mm f/2.8, the 24-70mm f/2.8, and the 70-200mm f/2.8. These lenses do all cost upwards of £2000, so for more budget friendly options, look at the 24-105mm f/4.0.
Prime lens recommendations are more based on individual circumstances. But the two which are most used in TV and Film are the 35mm and the 50mm. The 35mm is a very close representation of what we see as humans. The 50mm is a super cheap lens anyone can pick up and makes for a slightly larger than life cinematic look
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