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Why Do I Need A Prime Lens?
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<blockquote data-quote="480sparky" data-source="post: 294694" data-attributes="member: 15805"><p>To put all this into perspective, I decided to do a little testing, along with adding the known information about 6 lenses.</p><p></p><p>I chose 50mm for this test for two reasons: It's about as common a focal length as you can get, plus I own three zooms that cover 50mm and three 50mm primes.</p><p></p><p>So, the contenders are:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/50mmzoomvprimecontenders.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Left to right:</p><p>Nikkor<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'"> 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D</span></p><p>Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S</p><p>Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D</p><p>Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G</p><p></p><p>As I was near the Iowa capitol building earlier today, I thought that would make a nice test subject. I found a common place to shoot it from, with plenty of sunlight for the comparison shots:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/50mmzoomvprime.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Since you'd need to download the full-scale images to really see the differences between them, I'll spare you that process and post both center and corner, 100% crops from all 6 lenses.</p><p></p><p>To make this a fair test, I used a tripod with a remote, and chose ISO 100 and f/8 for all the lenses. As the lighting changed slightly between lens changes, the shutter speeds will vary slightly. But being in the sun, the shutter speed was high enough to not be a factor.</p><p></p><p>I let the five AF lenses auto-focus, and used the viewfinder rangefinder to focus the Series E lens.</p><p></p><p>And so, here's the results:</p><p></p><p>28-200 AF-D:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/128200center.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/128200corner.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>24-85 AF-S G</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/22485Center.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/22485Corner.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>24-120 AF-S G</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/324120center.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://s214.photobucket.com/user/480sparky/media/Photography%202/324120corner.jpg.html" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>50/1.8 Series E</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/450Ecenter.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/450Ecorner.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>50/1.8 AF-D:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/550Dcenter.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/550Dcorner.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>50/1.8 AF-S G:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/650Gcenter.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/650Gcorner.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>As you can readily see, the primes are sharper and have better contrast. Issues such as distortion, vignetting, etc. are not part of this comparison.</p><p></p><p>So here's the specs:</p><p></p><p>Size:</p><p>Nikkor<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'"> 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D</span>......................78 x 87mm</p><p>Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............73 x 72mm</p><p>Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................84 x 103mm</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......33 x 63mm</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................38 x 64mm</p><p>Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................53 x 72mm</p><p></p><p>Weight:</p><p>Nikkor<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'"> 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D</span>......................520 or 555g, depending on age</p><p>Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............415g</p><p>Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................708g</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......135g</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................155g</p><p>Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................185g</p><p></p><p>Filters:</p><p>Nikkor<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'"> 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D</span>......................72mm</p><p>Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............67mm</p><p>Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................77mm</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......52mm</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................52mm</p><p>Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................58mm</p><p></p><p>And, of course.......Price:</p><p>Nikkor<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'"> 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D</span>......................Out of production: Used street prices vary from $130 to 250.</p><p>Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............New: $600 Used: $325</p><p>Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................New: $1300 Used: $850+</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......Out of production: $50 street price.</p><p>Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................New: $135 Used: $80-100</p><p>Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................New: $220 Used: $125</p><p></p><p></p><p>And THAT's why everyone should have at least on prime. Maybe not 50mm, but a prime of a focal length they use a lot... whether it be 20mm or 28mm or 35mm or 85mm or 100mm or 200mm. Primes just can't be beat on this field.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="480sparky, post: 294694, member: 15805"] To put all this into perspective, I decided to do a little testing, along with adding the known information about 6 lenses. I chose 50mm for this test for two reasons: It's about as common a focal length as you can get, plus I own three zooms that cover 50mm and three 50mm primes. So, the contenders are: [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/50mmzoomvprimecontenders.jpg[/IMG] Left to right: Nikkor[FONT=Helvetica] 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D[/FONT] Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G As I was near the Iowa capitol building earlier today, I thought that would make a nice test subject. I found a common place to shoot it from, with plenty of sunlight for the comparison shots: [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/50mmzoomvprime.jpg[/IMG] Since you'd need to download the full-scale images to really see the differences between them, I'll spare you that process and post both center and corner, 100% crops from all 6 lenses. To make this a fair test, I used a tripod with a remote, and chose ISO 100 and f/8 for all the lenses. As the lighting changed slightly between lens changes, the shutter speeds will vary slightly. But being in the sun, the shutter speed was high enough to not be a factor. I let the five AF lenses auto-focus, and used the viewfinder rangefinder to focus the Series E lens. And so, here's the results: 28-200 AF-D: [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/128200center.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/128200corner.jpg[/IMG] 24-85 AF-S G [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/22485Center.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/22485Corner.jpg[/IMG] 24-120 AF-S G [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/324120center.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://s214.photobucket.com/user/480sparky/media/Photography%202/324120corner.jpg.html[/IMG] 50/1.8 Series E [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/450Ecenter.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/450Ecorner.jpg[/IMG] 50/1.8 AF-D: [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/550Dcenter.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/550Dcorner.jpg[/IMG] 50/1.8 AF-S G: [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/650Gcenter.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc172/480sparky/Photography%202/650Gcorner.jpg[/IMG] As you can readily see, the primes are sharper and have better contrast. Issues such as distortion, vignetting, etc. are not part of this comparison. So here's the specs: Size: Nikkor[FONT=Helvetica] 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D[/FONT]......................78 x 87mm Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............73 x 72mm Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................84 x 103mm Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......33 x 63mm Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................38 x 64mm Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................53 x 72mm Weight: Nikkor[FONT=Helvetica] 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D[/FONT]......................520 or 555g, depending on age Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............415g Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................708g Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......135g Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................155g Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................185g Filters: Nikkor[FONT=Helvetica] 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D[/FONT]......................72mm Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............67mm Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................77mm Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......52mm Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................52mm Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................58mm And, of course.......Price: Nikkor[FONT=Helvetica] 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-D[/FONT]......................Out of production: Used street prices vary from $130 to 250. Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S...............New: $600 Used: $325 Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR G.........................New: $1300 Used: $850+ Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E, early version......Out of production: $50 street price. Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D.............................New: $135 Used: $80-100 Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G..........................New: $220 Used: $125 And THAT's why everyone should have at least on prime. Maybe not 50mm, but a prime of a focal length they use a lot... whether it be 20mm or 28mm or 35mm or 85mm or 100mm or 200mm. Primes just can't be beat on this field. [/QUOTE]
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