prime or wide angle lens?

johnnyboy4711

HI All!
Would like to know your opinion on getting one of the above.
I would like to take group shots and or portraits and wondering which is better?
I know the prime is a fixey but what would all go for here?
tahnks
john
wide angles are serious dough!
sony alpha a350 user

PCPhoto

what size groups are you talking about ? large groups 25+ I would say go for the prime...but if the size of the groups change ie. 55+ or 8 I would say wideangle zoom.

I would normally opt for the wideangle zoom - but the quality in prime lenses is noticably better (my opinion - not factually based)

johnnyboy4711

nothing huge but big enough!
Would it be more practical to get a wide angle but the quality would suffer a tad?
thanks
john

AnCatDubh

digital or film / cropped or full frame????

for portraits a wide angle won't be terribly useful to you as at the wide angle it will make the cutest little button nose look like its been through 12 rounds with Mike Tyson pounding on it (size wise rather than the blood and brusing )

At a guess based on what you've put down, then you actually have two different requirements which you may need two different lenses to support.

Portraits should be taken with a good prime for sharpness and clarity of the image (yes you can get away with good telephotos too). But depending on how big the groups will be you may have to go quite wide. You can still think primes though - something like a 35mm prime or less.

What brand do you shoot? Your budget???

There are some very good telephotos about too. The current object of my desire is the pentax 50-135 f2.8 SDM - image quality, sharpness, and a nice range. Those that have succumb to this particular desire usually leave it more or less permanently attached to the camera.

You end up paying for quality - the above is likely to eventually cost me the guts of a grand but primes should be more affordable.

Tallon

AnCatDubh wrote: »

digital or film

AnCatDubh wrote: »

What brand do you shoot?

johnnyboy4711 wrote: »

sony alpha a350 user

:P

AnCatDubh

Tallon wrote: »

:P

Might have been edited in after the original post :P :P

(or my eyes could be deceiving me )

Fajitas!

Wide angle prime

johnnyboy4711

johnnyboy4711 wrote: »

sony alpha a350 user

john

kumate_champ07

prime means it doesnt zoom

I have a 28mm wide angle prime
and a 20-35mm wide angle zoom

wide angle is below 40mm ish, 20mm or below is ultra wide angle, above 40-80mm is normal, 80mm to 200 is short telephoto, 150 -400mm is long telephoto, 400mm and above is super telephoto


you can have a 400mm super telephoto prime lens

AnCatDubh

johnnyboy4711 wrote: »

john

lol @ tallon - maybe i did actually miss it in the original post. tum-de-tum...... nothing to see..... move along