Which is better, a fixed focus lens or a zoom lens? What is the difference?

Fixed focus lens and zoom lens have their own advantages and disadvantages. Each has its own advantages.

1, different weights

One of the biggest differences between zoom lens and fixed focus lens is the weight. Most zoom lenses contain more lenses than fixed-focus lenses, some have more than 20 lenses, while fixed-focus lenses are generally between 6 and 20. This means that the weight of fixed-focus lens is much smaller than that of zoom lens, and the size of zoom lens is generally larger than that of fixed-focus lens. In terms of price, the zoom lens of the same level will be slightly more expensive than the fixed-focus lens.

2, clarity and quality

In recent years, zoom lenses have been greatly improved. They can be used to create excellent images, but fixed-focus lenses always have a slight advantage. The main reason is that the fixed-focus lens only needs to perform well in a single focal length, while the zoom lens must cover multiple focal lengths, which means that the zoom lens is always more prone to distortion and chromatic aberration.

3. Focusing ability and shutter speed

At this point, the fixed-focus lens completely wins. Generally, the maximum aperture of a zoom lens is f2.8, and here I think of only one exception, Sigma 18-35mm f 1.8. Although the aperture of f2.8 is enough to shoot a beautiful depth of field effect, it is still not as good as a fixed-focus lens. As for the shutter speed, because the aperture of the fixed-focus lens is large, you can use a faster shutter speed when shooting a dark picture.

4. Focusing speed

This difference is not so obvious. Nowadays, the interior of zoom lens is very complicated, which can cope with most daily situations. Photographers working in professional fields, such as sports or wildlife photographers, often need the best autofocus response speed to capture fast motion. However, for most of them, high-end professional zoom lenses are already fast, even surpassing some fixed-focus lenses.

If you want to shoot portraits, still lives and landscapes better, you can use a fixed-focus lens in addition to the zoom lens, because the fixed-focus lens has a larger aperture and can get more light when shooting indoors. However, to learn to control the aperture size, if shooting outdoors, you can also consider using the 18- 105mm zoom lens, which will have greater flexibility in framing and composition. It is recommended to choose two shots according to different scenes during the trip.

Generally speaking, a portrait lens is a lens with a focal length of about 85mm to 135 mm when used on a fuselage with a frame of135. If converted into APS-C frame, it refers to the lens with a focal length of 50mm to 85 mm Because these focal lenses have moderate working distance, deformation control and depth of field when shooting portraits, the works they shoot are easy to be recognized by everyone, so some people call them lenses.

But many people are used to shooting portraits with wide-angle or even ultra-wide-angle lenses. The lens of 12-24mm is a wide-angle portrait lens commonly used in APS-C format. For beginners who have just entered the field of portrait, many photographers will advise them to start with a medium-long focal length lens. Because it can be used to easily shoot a blurred background, it can simplify the background and highlight the theme.