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January 30, 2008

[ IN THE PRIME(S) ]

A PLAINTIVE EMAIL came the other day from a reader who has been looking at the sample images from test cameras that we post in

The Gallery.

“Love your sample photos, particularly the sharpness of the detail. I have the Canon 400d twin lens kit and do not seem to be able to get this clarity. Is it me or the lens?”

Here’s the sad truth of the matter. Canon’s RRP for the 400D body with two lenses – an 18–55mm and a 75–300mm zoom – is $1350. It is a bargain. You are getting a camera with lenses of film-equivalent focal lengths of 29mm to 480mm. That is amazing, until you consider that the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens that we have been trying for the past two months costs $1000 on its own. And the 60mm lens we have also been using sells for $750. So two lenses for $300 starts to look a little improbable.

The cheap kit zooms are made down to a price. Construction is flimsy, optics are just acceptable and resolution, auto focus accuracy, colour fidelity and contrast are all compromised. They take acceptable photos – the gear is always secondary to the photographer’s skill – but to get the picture that zings it helps to have a good lens.

Back in the olden days we bought a 35mm single lens reflex camera with an f1.8 or, if we were feeling rich, an f1.4 50mm lens. We stuck with that combination until we could afford a 135mm medium telephoto lens and a 28mm wide angle. These days the best zooms can cover the 28 to 135mm range with excellent image quality, but such a lens costs $1500 or more.

There are no bargains in lenses, only cheap lenses. Third party prime lenses from Sigma, Tamron and Tokina tend to be cheaper than the OEM optics and they are of excellent quality and that is as near a bargain as you can get.

There is something luxurious about a really great prime. For our Nikon D80 the preferred lens is the Micro Nikkor 60mm. It is compact, beautifully made, lightning fast to focus and sharp as a tack. The equivalent lens for our Canon 40D is the Canon macro EF-S 60mm f2.8 and it is also a beauty. Sigma, Tokina and Tamron all make outstanding 100mm macro lenses.

However, we have fallen in love. The object of our fickle affection is the new Olympus Zuiko 150mm f2 lens. (300mm film equivalent – focal length multiplication is 2X with the Four Thirds system.)

This superb lens is compact and fast. Resolution is excellent and images are sharp with good colour and contrast. It is a compact 160mm in length and it is heavy because it contains a lot of glass and mechanicals.

We took it to the Zoo and had the best day ever photographing the animals in what look like close-ups. We have never seen a zoom lens of comparable focal length that can give these results. Sadly it will only fit an Olympus or a Panasonic/Leica. And it costs $3470!

The moral of the story is this: before being seduced by the camera-two-lens bargain kit think carefully about what you are getting. A camera body plus one good 60mm macro prime beats two indifferent zooms any day.

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Posted by terry at January 30, 2008 05:28 AM

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Posted by: Victor Pugatschew at January 31, 2008 01:10 AM

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