Ismail Amir Photography & Graphic Design: power of the prime (an article)

and i am talking about prime lens. they've been around for quite some time before zoom lens were introduced. something tells me they're here to stay.

so.. the sharpest lens that Canon manufactured turns out to be the cheapest.

confused?

it's not really a surprise. prime lenses are cheap because they only need the focal length to be the sharpest at just one point. hence, the prime lens. it's a recipe for mass production. that is why a prime lens is cheaper compared to a standard zoom lens.

so, does this mean that a standard zoom lens is not sharp enough? no, not exactly. the standard zoom lenses nowadays are sharp enough and the quality is improving slowly.

if a standard zoom lens is sharp enough, why do i need a sharper lens? overkill?

well, let me ask you this: are you satisfied with good enough? if you are, then stop right here and click on another post to read. if not, continue reading...

nowadays, digital cameras (referring to dSLR) come with their corresponded kit lens. kit lenses are usually the standard zoom lens. the most common one is 18-55mm lens. the manufacturers thought that the lens would be a good starter lens since it covers the basics of photography. which is, going from 18mm (wide angle) to 55mm (slight telephoto). later you'll be bedazzled by the power of the standard zoom lens and you will probably start starving to death just to buy a wider wide angle lens or a farther telephoto lens.

little do us new generations know. back then, prime lenses were the 'kit' lens. instead of zooming with the lens, they zoomed with their feet. "manual zoom" sounds more professional.

nowadays, us lazy ass photographers rely more on our optics to get the shot that we wanted. we should have instead repositioned ourselves for the shot.

for those who are virgins to prime lens and raised by zoom lens, i seriously recommend you to try it. you'll be amazed at the quality you get for a measly RM300 that you once considered to be a rip-off.

the quality and sharpness is so amazing, and the 'bokeh' effect can be utilized by your creativity since the aperture value is at a standard f1.2-1.8. mine is 50mm f1.8.

let's just say that what you see is what you get.

here are some pictures i took using my 50mm f1.8 II canon prime lens. a treat for my mum since it's her birthday. nothing fancy, just waffles at A&W. (click on the pictures for a larger view)