Dave, I'm not arguing your points at all. I am not concerned about the optical quality specifically. It has more to do with me. Years ago, I moved from a Practica screw mount match needle body to a Canon A-1 (quite a jump). While the body was quite capable, I found that it wasn't my style. I almost quit taking pictures. I finally sold it and got an Olympus OM-1 with 50mm lens. I think the point has more to do with usage and style rather than the ability of a zoom or prime to produce a great image. I'm with Shel where I find that I personally work better with a prime than a zoom. Not that I couldn't do it with a zoom, but more that I enjoy more the prime and I feel that *I* - not the lens - takes a better picture.
With all of that, as I mentioned, there are many good cases for a zoom. I mentioned a few. Probably more of a style kind of thing. I have the same Tokina ATX-pro 28-70 f2.6-2.8 and find the optics and build good, but quite flare prone. It balances very nicely on the MZ-S with battery grip. Bruce Dayton ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Hatfield" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 11:40 AM Subject: RE: Only using my prime lenses - I promise > I don't know, Bruce (et. al.). Seems to me that zooms are finding their own > spot in today's photographic world. Years ago the argument for using primes > centered on the fact that they were generally a higher quality lens that > what you could find in even the highest priced zooms. I don't believe that > to be the case anymore. Today's technology and production have brought zoom > quality to a point that, if placed side by side, few if any could pick out > shots made with primes as opposed to those made with zooms even at the > highest magnification. > > Zooms are a great tool. They allow me to compose, shoot and recompose at a > moments notice without having to waste time finding just the right spot to > shoot from (assuming, of course, that my next shot will be from the same > angle). The creative process still resides with me. It's only the > equipment that is different. I still have to determine the best angle, > framing, exposure, etc. for each shot whether I use a zoom or a prime. If I > use a good quality zoom then the quality of the shot will come directly back > to my capacity as a photographer, not to the nature of the lens. > > I currently carry four lenses in my bag > the Tokina ATX-pro 28-70 f2.6-2.8 > (my "normal" lens), a Tokina ATX-pro 20-35 f2.8, a Tokina ATX-pro 80-200 > f2.8 and the Sigma 105 EX f2.8 macro (my only non-zoom) used primarily for > macro shots since it produces 1:1 without attachments. The quality of these > lenses easily matches even the best primes and none of them releases me from > having to think about how I'm composing my shot. They simply allow me the > ease of altering that composition without having to dig in my bag so often. > > Zooms? I love 'em!! > > Dave Hatfield - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
