Appreciating Standard Zoom Lenses
— brought to you by Tamron Philippines
With all the rising trends in photo gear technology nowadays, photographers, especially those just beginning to learn the craft, get so fixated on buying specialized lens variants. In fact, in photography forums and camera related facebook groups, the most common question raised by beginners is “What lens should I get next?” Many of them look for an answer that leads to buying telephoto lenses, or ultra-wide angle lenses, or the over-glamourized yet vague response of “get a prime lens” often pertaining to a normal (50mm) prime. This happens so much that so many people tend to neglect the fact that standard zoom lenses cater to a great chunk of their shooting needs.
STANDARD/NORMAL LENSES
Normal lenses are lenses that emulate the human field of vision which is said to be at around 43mm Commonly, manufactured normal lenses are at 50mm except for the recently released Tamron SP 45mm f/1.8 VC which is closer to the human FOV.
STANDARD ZOOM LENSES
Standard zooms offer the range that goes from wide angle (24) to the lower margin of the telephoto range (70). It is labeled “standard” because the middle of the range hits the normal lens range.
KIT LENSES
Kit lenses, most commonly manufactured as the 18–55 lenses in APSC DSLR cameras, are the most common and simplest forms of standard zooms. In reality, most of our first cameras as newbies came with such a standard zoom lens. However, because of the discovery that there are so many other lenses, the appreciation of the kit lens is often short-lived. In spite of that, the fact that the standard zoom always accompanies the basic DSLR kit must mean that it is the best lens to start with and it is safe to say that it is most essential.
APPLICATIONS
Standard zoom lenses offer a range that have infinite uses. It’s wider limit does wonders for wide field of vision uses such as shooting landscapes, interiors and group photos. The Telephoto limit of 70mm (50mm for APSC) is great for close up shots such as in portraits, still life and food. The range crosses the 50mm (35mm for APSC) and 35mm (22mm for APSC). Both of which are favorite lengths for travel and street photography. The list of uses go on and on depending on the photographer’s creativity.
LENS VARIANTS
Standard zooms come in many different forms and formats. The most common and simplest of which, as mentioned earlier, is the kit lens. Kit lenses are made at 18–55mm for APSC and 24–105mm for full frame cameras. They are simpler in such a way that they were manufactured with features and glass quality just good enough to produce a fair photograph.
That is why there are higher quality standard zoom lenses in the market. The most common and crowd favorite are the 17–50mm f/2.8 and 24–70mm f/2.8 in their respective formats. These lenses are favorite upgrades for the following reasons.
Better image quality
— A basic component of a sensible lens upgrade would have to be better image quality. These lenses were made with higher quality optics and motors that lead to sharper images and faster focusing. The two parameters ensure better photographic output and overall shooting experience.
Wider, fixed aperture at f/2.8
— One of the first complaints about kit lenses is that they do not perform very well in the dark. Them being variable aperture lenses means that the farther you zoom in, the smaller the aperture you get. Which means that the more you zoom in, the less low-light performance you get. Having a lens with a fixed wide aperture allows you to be more versatile in the dark.
Image Stabilization
— Standard zooms are good walk-around lenses. It has been explained above why the range that a standard zoom offers is versatile. That makes it a lens ideal for fast paced shooting in varying conditions. The addition of image stabilization eliminates the chances of wasted exposures because of camera shake, and at the same time, allows a slower shutter speed for added low-light compensation.
ZOOM LENSES VS PRIMES
This is a favorite debate among photographers. Many photographers advocate the use of prime lenses for many different reasons. Some say that primes are sharper than zoom lenses. This is true on a case-to-case basis. Of course, a masterfully constructed zoom lens would still be superior over an entry-level plastic prime lens. Glass quality is always the first parameter. In the same light, over-all lens design and the availability of a good focusing motor and image stabilization matters on both the prime and zoom lens.
The simple answer to the debatable query is that one lens is superior to the other in it’s own favorable condition. Primes provide superb images in shooting controlled situations such as in the studio but zoom lenses cater to your every need when your prime lenses are less than efficient. The best example would be when you’re shooting off a cliff. You’d rather have a zoom lens than take any step further, that’s for sure.
A good recommendation, if one would really like to have prime lenses, no matter which ones, is that in addition, one should always have a standard zoom ready for when the need arises.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S CONSTANT
Standard zoom lenses are probably the most under rated lenses in the industry especially among less experienced shooters. However, it is safe to generalize that a good proportion of the respected professionals always carry high quality ones. While other lenses such as Ultra-wide angle lenses, telephoto lenses and a wide range of primes offer unique benefits, standard zooms remain to be at the core of the photographer’s hierarchy of gear-needs. Experienced photographers may carry all these specialized lenses at different shooting conditions but the standard zooms are clearly the constants in the camera bag.
Tamron offer’s a wide selection of zoom lenses. Their best known zoom lenses are of course the premium quality standard zoom lenses, namely the Tamron SP 17–50mm f/2.8 XR Di II VC for crop sensor DSLR cameras and the Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD for full frame format DSLRs.
In addition, Tamron offers three wide-ranged walk-around lenses that also cover the standard zoom range namely the Tamron 18–200mm f/3.5–6.3 XR Di II VC, the Tamron 18–270 f/3.5–6.3 Di II VC PZD and the newest Tamron 16–300mm f/3.5–6.3 Di II VC PZD all for APSC and the Tamron 28–300mm f/3.5–6.3 XR Di for the full frame format.
