Prime lenses are fun
I try not to think too much about gear but some stuff just fascinates me. I don’t know why. It gets me excited about photography sometimes, particularly when the creative half of my brain needs a break. And it feels good to nerd out from time to time.
When I was into cycling, it was bike gear - carbon fiber frames, frame geometry and rigidity, components, clothing. I never could afford the truly latest or greatest, but it was fun reading about all of it and splurging when I could.
Now that I’m doing photography, naturally, I find cameras to be very interesting, cool machines. I love how today’s camera technology, barring all of the fancy digital implements, is not really that different from the first inventions over two hundred years ago. Cameras in all shapes and sizes, digital or film or otherwise, are elegant tools.
I’m nowhere near qualified enough to get into the many technological nuances and marvels common to modern cameras, but I would like to touch on my love affair with prime lenses from creative standpoint.
When I first got interested in photography in 2020, my seasoned photographer friend Tomas raved about prime lenses. We were half drunk at a New Year’s Eve party, and I thought “why would anyone ever want to limit themself to one focal length?” especially when primes often cost more than zoom lenses. It made no sense to me then, and didn’t for a long time.
After a couple of years using zoom lenses exclusively, my old nerd brain remembered that conversation and I began researching primes.
Of course it didn’t take long for me to give the “Nifty Fifty” a try, especially since it is consistently the least expensive full frame prime lens on the market from the major manufacturers (the exception might be the 40mm “pancake” - I can’t remember which is cheapest). It must be really easy to produce a fast 50mm f/1.8 prime. To be honest, I was pretty underwhelmed while using it - the focal length “normalcy” just didn’t excite me - and so my self-teaching pressed onward.
The 85mm f/1.8 also seemed inexpensive despite its reputation for high quality, so I pulled the trigger. Now THIS was a lot of fun to use. Right away I was taking it out to do street photography and a couple portraits for friends. Eventually, as my creativity evolved, it found its way into my hiking bag.
Now that I shoot Fujifilm, I enjoy primes of a few different focal lengths. Today I took them all out for a spin, calling it “Prime Day” (gross, I know), and really had a great time. I enjoy their simplicity, and when I’m “in the zone” I find that I don’t actually miss the ability to zoom one.
Prime lenses are typically “faster”, but for the type of photography I do the wider aperture affords shallower depth of field and lets in more light. So, I am able to blur out distracting elements much easier by stopping down to f/1.8, for example, where my zoom lenses can only go down to f/4 or f/5.6. By letting in more light, I can also use a faster shutter speed and maintain lower ISO, which is fantastic for freezing leaves that move with the gentlest breeze.
Where primes truly benefit my photography, though, is that they force me to walk around a lot more, maneuver up and down, side to side, lay down or stand on something to get a taller perspective. They make photography even more challenging, and I find this helps me to find flow a bit faster (with the added benefit of helping me to improve in the field).
Today, for example, I worked several scenes that featured lots of distracting elements. With a zoom lens, I easily could have drilled into the subjects to get branches out of the frame, or zoomed out to incorporate the distractions in ways that would benefit the photo. Or, at the very least, I could have stood in one place to get the photographs I wanted.
None of that was possible with the lenses I had available; instead, I was forced to use my body and my mind to make more compelling images.
At the moment, I’m not sure how many images I made today are very good, but that wasn’t the point. Today’s exercise was all about enjoying the process, finding flow, and training my intuition. Prime lenses were the perfect tools for today’s exercise, and I am glad they’re a part of my kit. I’m glad I listened to Tomas that New Year’s Eve.
“Standing in the tall grass thinking nothing” - Modest Mouse
It is me, standing in tall grass, buttoned up, sweaty, and covered with OFF!® Repellent which I hope does not chemically melt my expensive shit.
