I was reading a social media site and the question came up about buying additional lenses beyond the zoom lens usually sold with a starter kit. I was amused when a considerable amount of interest and comments came from folks that espoused the wonderfulness of the “fixed focal length lens.” Pardon me? For those of us of a certain age, the fixed focal length lens was the ONLY type of lens available for many, many years. Of course it was the ONLY type of lens used by real photographers. Those new-fangled zoom lenses were only to be used by camera clubbing amateurs. No self-respecting photographer would consider using a zoom lens. (Well, golly, a real photographer used a view camera, so using a zoom lens didn’t really have an impact on us real artsy type photographers.) Now that zoom lenses are optically spectacular, I guess the only way to increase sales is to promote the single focal length lens.
I must admit that I am not the least bit interested in purchasing new cameras and such, so I don’t know if the manufacturers are ready to start promoting the “professional chrome finish” for camera bodies. If they aren’t already doing so, I think it’s going to happen real soon.
Comments