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Get primed up with a prime lens


A prime lens, as its name suggests, is a classic – a non-fussy, off-the-rack, simple piece of photographic machinery.

Unlike the standard lens you get on a compact camera or conventional DSLR, which includes a zoom, a prime lens is fixed – it comes with one focal length and that's that.

Now these lenses themselves come in a number of fixed lengths, so there's a variety of choice in which fixed length suits your style of photography – or you could opt to build up a number of fixed lenses to give you greater flexibility.

So why should people invest in prime lenses? To make your photobooks sparkle with imaginative pictures, that's why.

Prime lenses are fantastic for two reasons. One, they bring a definitive sense of quality. For the most part they come with less moving parts, meaning developers can put their focus on producing superior optics through higher quality glass.

Two, prime lenses have much larger apertures than other lenses. This makes them incredibly fast, which in turn means that photographers can use a very high shutter-speed without having to worry so much about light, or lack of.

Which means you can capture "the moment" as near enough as possible. In short, it is split-second photography, which, if you use a continuous shooting option, increases your chances of getting the perfect shot.

Put the two together and you get a very powerful, versatile and first-rate lens.

What photographers will notice about prime lens is the incredible depth of field that is created. Because the aperture is so wide open, the background effectively vanishes, leaving all the concentration on the subject.

The cult fashion blog the Sartorialist is a good example of how this lens is used to perfection – the photographer puts all the attention on the person and their colours and beautifully blurs the background. And because he usually shoots on the street, the natural light adds to the atmosphere of the picture.
 

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