The right lens, every time

Matching the lens to the subject will help you to take your best-ever shots. Will Cheung explains more, as he asks – prime or zoom?

- Will Cheung

Which lens, any lens

The prime or zoom lens question has perplexed camera users for years and will probably continue to do so for generations to come. The simple reason for this is not because there is no correct answer, it’s because there are so many correct answers. There is no right or wrong and a massive amount of subjectivity.

Every photographer and photo situation is unique and there is no one size fits all solution. Budget, taste, practicalities, your imagination, how you prefer to work and what you shoot are among the many variables that come into play.

The thing to remember is that there are no ‘rules’ in photography, just guidelines, so regardless of the contents of your camera bag, practise with what you have and learn to exploit opportunities. It’s also a time to explore different approaches to re-energise your picture-taking.

While we live in challenging times, if you do have the budget, consider investing in a lens or two to help you expand your creative vision. This doesn’t necessarily mean the commitment and expense of a fast-aperture lens from the camera brand, and there are many value-for-money independent options out there. In particular, there has been huge growth in relatively affordable fast-aperture, manual-focus primes. They might not be the best optical performers especially at wide apertures, but they can give your shots an individual character so are worth considering for that reason alone.

In this feature, we take three popular subjects and mull over the pros and cons of which lens type works best, so whatever your preferred approach now’s the time consider your lens choice.

Street smarts