All photos edited with my Lightroom Preset Packs which are available here: www.digitalfilmactions.com/lightroom-presets#/new-amalfi-lightroom-preset/ And thank you so much for watching!

Spot on with control vs lack of control of the situation. Personally I love primes as well but another downside you didn't mention, is changing lenses all day can lead to dust getting into the body and onto the sensor that otherwise wouldn't have the chance if a zoom was fixed in place for the whole day.

Great points. We personally choose to use 24-70 in most cases people photography, unless it is sports of course. But in portraits, we found it to be best and more versatile. On the other hand we also have 50 mm and 85, but once again, it is all depending on the situation, since if the room is not big enough and we shoot indoor, 85 at times doesn't give us enough room to step back to do a shot with more background, but do get nice close ups with great bokeh. We do love the glass on the primes, but of course any telephoto lenses tend to give us more versatility, so all depends on what the situation is and what we want to accomplish, as per what you said. Thank you, great points.

I did not even use a camera in my life once, yet I have watched half of your videos. I love your voice and smile

I've always been a fan of your work, I'm always so amazed seeing your work :)

I got the Tamron 28-200 a few months back and it pretty much lives on my camera now. I do primarily landscape and street photography so low light isn't an issue. If I were back doing live music in small dark venues I'd haul out the primes for sure.

Great commentary on the why to each, especially the point on lack of control of a situation vs a controlled one. That's the best reasoning I have heard on the why on this topic that has been discussed forever. I love the look of fast primes but hate changing lenses and as mentioned here in the comments, DUST. Usually don't realize there's dust on the sensor from moment between lens changes, until I get back and look at the images on a screen and that's always frustrating. So I have gravitated to high quality zooms for most of my shooting, and keep a few favorite primes for 'controlled' shooting events.

That first point is the best advice I’ve heard when comparing the two!!

Great video as always with loads of examples! I can't say whether I favour either zoom or primes. I find I use both almost equally - it all depends on the job I require of them. Landscape, wildlife, airshows almost always require a zoom for flexibility, whereas everything else have been done with primes. There's always a tool for the job.

I was definitely a "never zoom" filmmaker up until recently. I think zoom lenses today are so good, and if you're running around in challenging environments, in situations where you need great flexibility, especially for filmmaking, zoom lenses are so much more convenient. Especially now that so many of them are fast. At least relatively fast, so many of them are 2.8 across the focal range. I find with my black Pro Mist filter, I can get the look that I want to match my vintage lenses as long as I really do the work in DaVinci Resolve when I get into post. I've actually come to really appreciate my zoom lens much more, as I've been shooting a feature film by myself for the past six months, and it has been a seamless experience. Having said that, I still love my vintage primes, for sure. :-) All of our gear is useful, it just depends on the situation. Awesome video as always. ;)

I love both now lol. I was a prime guy but since using the Tamron 35-150mm I now use both. I can handle most sessions with my 50 f1.2 GM and the Tamron 35-150mm 😊

Primes are often much cheaper when you're getting high quality used gear. That's a big reason to think about them

I spent a long time in newspaper photography and a fast zoom lens made life so much easier but I find that for portraits and wedding work very fast primes, f2 or better, deliver much better quality. It’s always better to start with a good image out of the camera than trying to fix things with software.

This is why the Canon 28-70mm f/2 is remarkable. You get one less stop than a 1.4, but a full 1 more than 2.8. Throughout the whole range. It's a tank, but not that much more weight than 85 1.2. Which is my preferred portrait lens, but that 28-70 gets the job done A LOT.

I don't get the numbers for some photos. 35mm 1/1000 f2 ISO 400 Why do you get ISO 400 if you can go down with the shutter speed like 1/200 and get ISO 100? It's a portrait shooting, nobody's running.

Full control for bridal photography, but only half-control for wedding. For wedding, my personal suggestion is 24-70 zoom & 135 prime, or 2 cameras with 2 primes such as 35 & 85, to reduce frequent change of lens.

A nice 24-70 f2.8 is all I need.😍 Have a graduation shoot in a few weeks. Can't wait. Love your videos Julia.😊

Another issue in Wedding. Many photos are taken for bride + groom only, max aperture such as f1.4 or F1.8 has too shallow DoF, and we have to reduce aperture to f2.8 or F4.0. The primes are not able to present the best advantages.

Many thanks Julia for sharing your personal experience with "either or" !!; I have been on the roller-coaster of trying to learn / figure out which spec lens is best for me; your clarification has provided very valuable "food for Lens thought" !!!

True that ! Sometimes it more about convinience. On a recent trip to a hill station, i used only my Z 24-200 leaving my primes & even 70-200 too in the hotel 😊

This subject touches on an important learning process. People's brains don't come with "photographic (2D) vision", from birth. We need some 10,000 tries to catch a ball before we are good at it. Or 10,000 times crossing the rod in a busy city, before we can do that on our own - generally not below 10 years of age. We also need to learn to "see" perspective and how it impacts the depiction in 2D of 3D things we shoot. Here too, the 10,000 rule applies - and we need to do that consciously. If you went to art school and took perspective drawing class then you know about the "vanishing points" and what their distance, and the horizon, do for the resulting perspective. You will also have become aware about "compression" caused by being farther away from the "viewpoint" that is assumed in your drawing. But having been taught, trained in, these fundamentals does not mean that your brain can "see" this in the real world. If you want to develop your "vision" and ability to use perspective as a tool, then a zoomlens does not help. You would use it as a crop tool and may never think about perspective in the first place. A prime lens teaches perspective very fast and you'll learn a number (focal length) with what you see. This is not just important in architecture or landscape photography but also in photographer-directed posing of models with features (that your sitter might consider imperfections) that are either highlighted or subdued by the perspective you chose as photographer. For your brain to develop that "seeing" ability, you need an awareness of the relation between distance, angle, focal length (image angle) and the subject's features. Or you hire perfect models only and remain carefree about this all.

Excellent comparison video. I personally prefer primes lenses. However, I shoot with prime and/or zoom lenses. For my APS-C digital cameras, I use the following prime lenses: 16mm f/1.4 23mm f/1.4 23mm f/2 56mm f/1.2 135mm f/2 I also use the following zoom lenses: 16-55mm f/2.8 50-140mm f/2.8

Sensor size matters a lot to where the tipping point is between choosing zoom or prime. On a crop sensor camera (mine is Fuji X-T5) you rarely get better than f2.8 on a zoom, which is notably worse than f2.8 on a full frame camera. So it then becomes a clear that a zoom won't work in some situations. But on a crop sensor zoom lenses are small enough to carry more easily.

As a portrait, landscape & event photographer I use the Tamron 35-150mm / 16-35mm / 150-600mm & 85mm f1.4

For my amateur hobby stuff, 1 or 2 compact primes take the prize because they make me likely to bring a camera with a big sensor everywhere. The exception is the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 on APS-C - it’s the same size as my FF 1.8 primes, and is the first time I’ve had zoom versatility in a compact setup! I’ll travel with that and one f/1.8 or f/1.4 prime for the bokeh.

I love the 24GM + 50GM + 135GM combo. The absolute best for full body portraits, low light and fast action, yet could still fit them all in an everyday bag with just a 3-slot Hakuba soft case. Personally, I find that the control vs. lack of control expression is the opposite when it comes to lighting, having a fast prime is invaluable when there's a lack of control in light, especially in low light scenes (e.g. running into situations where I'm using 1/125 ISO6400 f1.4, if I'm using a f2.8 zoom I would either need to drop my SS to 1/30 @ISO6400, or bumping the ISO to 12,800 and use 1/60, which both isn't desirable as there would be a lot of motion blur from my subject and more noise.) On the other hand, when I'm in a studio with controlled lighting, flattering background and decorations, a 24-70 f2.8 zoom may be a better choice.

I'd love to see you talk about filters you use on your lenses. I've not found many on KZfaq talking about with weddings or subjects specifically.

I'm surprised you are still getting these questions. But you summarised it up nicely Julia. We just need to go out there and assess our situation, then we know what is best. But don't we all wish we had an inventory of lenses at our disposable and unlimited cameras too 😆 at that rate, i'll have to win a lottery to enjoy that type of luxury. thank you for sharing👍

I needed this one. Your videos are amazing as always! ❤

I like to carry a combination of primes and zooms. On the long end I gravitate towards zooms, but the 35 GM has replaced my 24-70 and if I need wider I'll take my 20 G. I have considered the Sigma 16-28 as a wide option but the 20 G's fast aperture has come in handy many times for indoor photos and astro.

As someone that shoots weddings by myself zooms are easy for me. I'm not a big fan of working out of my camera bag to switch lenses it's a pain for me. But primes the images look better if you are after the bokeh. I did shoot weddings with film and used 35mm equivalent on medium format I think might have been a 50mm? I had no problems. There are good and bad about primes and zooms. Over you really know how a lense works for you then that might be your lense.

I shoot only weddings. 80% of my images are on RF f2.8 24-70. 20% on RF f2.8 70-20. No need for primes. If I got a prime it would be a RF f1.2 50 for pre-wedding bridal for the dark or unattractive rooms they get ready in.

My 28-75mm isn't my favourite lens for the image quality. But it's so versatile that I end up using it a lot on the field.

mist filters help with the dreamy look and add some softness too

Get a 35mm, 85mm, these too lenses will give a lot of versatility and a 70-200 maybe the lenses to complete your bag

Im really love your content so much. From Nigeria 🇳🇬

for street and sports/events I like to use zooms too. same issue. limited where you can stand and things happen fast, no time to keep switching lenses

Capture one styles!! Please!!! Have been waiting forever!! Pleaseeeee 🥺

We need those special Julia Trotti Capture One styles!

Another awesome video - great tips too! As an event photographer, I usually play it safe with the holy trinity of lenses. But I do also carry the 24mm and 85mm (and times a 50mm) lenses. Yes, the bag is heavy but only when I'm carrying the bag to the location. When I'm running and gunning though, it's the 24-70 & 70-200 (with the 16-35 in my pocket/small bag). Question: Do you think the Tamron 35-150mm is good enough to replace the 24-70 + 70-200?

Prime lens are superb when you want to be discrete & travel light. I feel comfortable taking my nikon zf 40 mm lens. Its versatile & compact. I also have the 24 to 120 f4 but its a lot bigger. I need to use it more if I travel

Thank you for this very informative video! 🙏🏾

It might just be a thing with my dopey brain, but I really struggle using zooms. For a professional shoot, I find I'm either shooting wider at 24, 28, or 35 for most of the time, and then occasionally going all the way to the longest end, say 70....before then reeling it back to something like 24 again. So even though I have a whole range with zooms, I still only use two focal lengths for the most part with a zoom lens. So given that, it's why I shoot with two primes for 99% of my shoots. For personal travel, I take my Sony A7C with the 24 f.2.8 and the 50 f2.5. With these two lenses I can cover pretty much all my bases while keeping things light. I know 50mm as a max seems limiting, but if there's a groovy bird high up in a tree when I'm out in about, I'm cool with using the camera in my brain ;)

I own both primes and zooms and to be honest I'm using zooms alot more, that's maybe I'm doing many events like football and parkruns eta. But the primes I'm definitely using for Communion and Confirmation portraits next week. Great video by the way.

I have a 24-105mm lens, and a 100mm macro lens. My 24-105mm lens is way more versatile than my 100mm lens. But I get such great close up shots of blossoms in the spring time with my 100mm lens.

Depends where you work , my main cons is crud on sensors , i was forced into buying zooms as the crud blowing about around mountains in bad weather , changing lenses was a problem and 2 bodies wasnt an option ,

I have 5 lenses for different scenarios. 20mm 85mm fixed lenses for portraits, 14-24mm 27-75mm zoom lenses for traveling, and 100-400mm zoom lens for the moon, the sun, and wildlife photography. Plus a mini drone.. I pretty much cover everything with my gears. I love how they are waiting to be packed in my bag whenever I need them :)

Thanks for another great and very useful video. All makes sense to me! Can you tell us what your tripod/monopod set up is? Which equipment etc. Many thanks

I am so looking forward to the Antarctica vlogs!!!

Love your work ma'am ❤

Very solid advice! ❤

Thanks Julia. You answered my question. I'm going to sell my 135mm for a 70-200.

Very nicely presented.

I love your work.

I started out with primes.. but after getting the 70-200 and 24-70 gm the only thing I like primes for is aperture

Whoops!; just watched the video again and didnt realise I had already viewed it !!!!; regardless, was worth watching again !!!

Prefer use Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8

I like prime lenses for than zooms but after my recent trip, I might get a 24-70. I feel like carrying the one zoom lens would be more convenient than lugging around multiple primes.

Im a prime lens head, using 21 35 50 85 and 135. I’m looking for a 100 macro and a 14-16 mm to complete my kit. I usually plan my shooting day so that I have carry 1 to 2 lenses. I wish there was a zoom 35-100 f1.8. Maybe one day.

im going on a trip to Europe next month.. I have sigma 24-70mm and sigma 35mm f2. I feel like bringing the 35mm only because of its size and weight. hope I won't regret not getting the versatility of the zoom lens though hahahhdjb

I love how u pronounce "captcha"

A Combination of a zoom lens and 1 prime I think serves the best (in one camera body system /full frame of course)... I use the 24-150 focal length, And a 16mm for prime...

If you shoot in Nigeria ,then you understand that you can’t do weddings with just primes.I have every focal length from 20-200mm primes but 24-70 is a must for wedding when you don’t know what to expect .

Distance. If it's difficult to move around and get close to your subject, you will need a zoom. After that, there is personal preference.

Hey Julia, what about the Tamron our upcoming Samyang 35-150? I think that could be a great option?

I feel like the tamron 35-150mm could potential cover her main focal lengths.

thanks for great sharing. 😍😍

Hey Julia, thanks for the video 😊 could you please help me: is it worth to switch from canon r6 to Sony a7 iv? I’ve been Sony a7 iii shooter for 4 years and then decided to move and try r6 and I really like the camera. But lenses..I’m tired of use adapted EF lenses (pretty big and heavy) and don’t like RF lenses (1.8 feels like crap, 1.2 is too much for me in weight and price , also 2.8 zooms cost crazy amount of money). Really miss Sony’s lenses and Tamron/Sigma lenses as well. How is a7iv vs r6 from your point of view?

el lente SONY 24-70 G2 CREO QUE ES EL MEJOR PARA LLEVAR UNO SOLO

Primes are sharper and have more clarity and resolution, but zooms are more than adequate for most jobs. They're heavier than primes. Personally, I use a Nikon 14-25 on one body, and a 24-120 on another. That way I have 14mm-120mm available without changing lenses.

Hi Julia If you had the opportunity to get two of these lenses, which one would you choose and why? Thanks for your work I love it!!!! SONY GM 50MM 1.2 SONY GM 50MM 1.4 SIGMA 35MM 1.4 DGDN

Here in South Africa 🇿🇦, it is superzoom territory as one don't go near lions; they don't brush, so their breath is stale. Steer well clear. I drool for that new Canon RF200-800mm bazooka, and their RF1200mm prime. But that's daydreaming for now.

I only shoot with Canon L zoom lens. I've never had a problem with my images not being sharp.

Any chance of a review of the Viltrox 75mm 1.2?

Julia It is subjective for which focla length But if you Becki and chris youtube Video in regards of 85mm Lens. It is not fun lens.

i always use zoom lenses because telephoto primes are too pricey for me. and i love extreme compression. i shoot portratis over 400mm generally. also people are wild life to me, i don't like to get close.

After using only prime for a few years now.. The only thing I dislike zoom over prime is I dislike when the barrel extends. With that said.. now I only use prime and 70-200 gmii.. because that zoom has internal focus.. barrel doesnt extends.

I love you Julia❤😊

Where can I see your wedding work? 😍

Tamron 35-150mm is perfect.

Hi Julia, a fan from Italy here! If possible, I'd like to ask you your own opinion on this situation. My current kit is Sony A7III + Samyang 135mm 1.8, Sigma 65mm DG DN C f/2 (really hope you're going to review it sometime), Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 and Tamron 28-200mm (watched your review on it). I was considering the sigma 35mm f/2 DG DN C. Now considering your huge experience with 35 mm focal length, would you say that f/2 is not really enough? Considering that I also have the Tamron 28-200 which is about f/3.2 at that focal length, if I'm not mistaken. Plus, would you say it's worth to buy a 35mm if currently owning a 65mm and a 135mm? Thank you in advance if you're going to answer and cheers!

I’m waiting for your Samyang 35-150mm review!!! 😜

I got Sony 70-300 and a 50mm 1.8

Zoom for indoors. Primes for low light in and outdoors

Can you try the Meike 85MM 1.8 AF FE the budget portrait lens :D

Tamron 35-150mm f 2-2.8 the best Zoom Lens

do you have a recommendation for 200mm and longer lens? i need a really long zoom for concerts/stadiums

Prime Lens !

I tried many zoom lenses. They are not for me. They aren’t fit my shooting style. I have traveled in Japan carrying 5 prime lenses and I love them !!

Good and sharp zooms are more expensive than prime lenses. From hobbyiest point of view, spending significant amount of money for top zoom lenses is unacceptable. So for wildlife photography, macro including, i use primes. True it is hevier to carry 500mm, 300mm and 90mm macro, plus two camera bodies, but i personally do not mind.

I have more prime lenses than zoom lenses. 28mm F1.4, 40mm F1.4, 85mm F1.4, 70-180mm F2.8 and sometimes I carry additional manual focus fixed prime for macro or other purposes eg 100 or 150 mm F2.8 macro lens, 105mm FTS F2/T3.2 lens, or 58mm F1.4

I used to only use my 24-70 but man, although it does everything. Its such a boring lense. After a year of using it I sold it and bought a sigma 35 f1.4 and a sony 85 f 1.8. Been loving using primes even though its much harder to get the right shots. But thats what makes it fun for me, having to work for the photo, not just zoom into it.

Personally I don't have any primes beyond 50mm

zooms don't look anything like a fast prime.... if you like the wide open look. There's nothing like as for so many kinds of photography. Portraits especially. Sharpness isn't the point... Zooms are a huge compromise for artistic imagery, IMO....

Sometimes prime, sometimes zoom. Both give me pictures.

✨

My favourite girl 😘

❤❤

hm no more canon... :(

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