I tried zooming with my feet on a cliff and almost won the Darwin Award.

"Chelsea , you're not a beginner anymore, it's time you put down the zooms and get some TONEY 1.2 LENSES"

"Primes are cheaper, lighter..." *Sigma 35mm f1.2 has entered the chat*

"I'll zoom with my feet" - last sentence before being eaten by lion

The truth about zooms and primes is: "I need all of them"

I think when you spend that much on a zoom lens, the quality between that and an expensive prime isn’t that crazy. But the quality between a cheaper zoom and a cheaper prime are pretty significant. You guys have the best Sony lenses. Not to mention the 24-70 2.8 which is amazing in quality and bokeh does pretty well against the 85mm 1.4. But the 24-70 f4 vs the Sony 85 1.8 are way different just as an example.

6:42 "...the fact is my $2200 zoom outperformed both your $900 primes..." (Looks at the only piece of camera equipment I have, my $500 superzoom camera.) Why do I even watch these videos? lol

Even Tony can't get through "I'll zoom with my feet" without laughing.

I'm not a prime snob, but once I started using them I definitely noticed the overall quality and aesthetic of prime images is MUCH better than with zooms. Better colors, better contrast, better "look" to the images (even doing direct comparisons). You guys did a great job of comparing "technical" differences, but didn't really touch on this kind of thing, and I think it's a pretty important point.

Camera conspiracy is watching this 👀

Definitely feel like the "prime is better than zoom" days are over, at least for all around use. I started with zooms to see what focal lengths I use the most then switched to primes.

Its nice carrying smaller prime lenses, and I feel like it forces me to get more involved instead of just standing and zooming. Its all a preference, to each their own.

At the end of the video Tony says that nowadays the Fixed Focal lenght lense's main use is getting unique looks, but i'd add that the increased light gathering capabilities and compactness are equaly relevant to a big quantity of photographers of different genres.

I have both zoom and prime lens, and there both have there uses in photography.

Primes are great because they force you to really consider composition and framing, but zooms allow you to grab shots you may have totally missed fumbling with a prime. I carry both. Different strokes!

Great vid had some good laughs. Love you guys!

I want to see this test done with entry level zoom lenses and primes though. I think there would be a different outcome.

“I can crop” Jared Polin: “NOOOOOOO”

Glad to see this comparison in a head to head! Thanks guys!

"I am sure that there is a prime out there that can beat all of my zooms in terms of sharpness" Nikon 58mm f0.95 NOCT: hello there. The hole in your wallet after your purchase though...

The outro was hilarious! Abd of course the whole video was very interesting... :)

Love your tongue-in-cheek embodiment of lens dogmatists. I always learn something from you guys :)

Size. Primes tend to be smaller and for most of my photography I'd rather carry a smaller more discrete setup.

“Zoom on over to KEH and check out their prime selection of used equipment today!”

KEH was great! I was selling all my "old" crop sensor gear. I had a near mint sigma 10-20, that I ended up selling on ebay for $325. KEH offered me $34 for it. I wish I were joking. They offered $105 for my D5600 body with a shutter count of 560, that still smelled new.

Who dresses Tony ?

**A young Uncle Sam Expounds The Virtues of Prime Lens to a Beautiful Young Woman**

Haha this was a fun video, great job guys! 👏😄I've been on the prime train, but now just settled into a 24-70 and 70-200 for now. I'm probably going to bounce back to some primes in the future though 😂

Well, that was fun! I've gone back and forth, although I generally prefer primes for the specific images I take. To me, the primary advantages of primes are light weight and low flare. People think of flare as the line of artifacts produced by the sun. Actually the real damage of flare is more in muddy shadows in high contrast images. Flare is the totality of light from bright objects nearby that leaks into the shadows. Zeiss calls low flare "microcontrast", which sums it up nicely. I did have to laugh about the concept of zooming with your feet. Tony would love the Parker River Wildlife Sanctuary (Plum Island). Practically every square centimeter of off-trail terrain is mostly poison ivy.

Chelsea made a great point that's worth repeating: zooms can create background separation through compression at longer focal lengths (with the advantage of more depth of field for the subject). So fast primes really should only dominate in low light or tight spaces when it comes to portraits!

A very interesting competition! Thanks for your job!

You work great together and this was fun to watch

Zooms can potentially make the photographer lazy and refrain from moving around and exploring/discovering alternate vantage points. When you watch people who only use zooms, many never move from the spot; they just stand there in the same position, zoom in and out, pick a focal length and then move on to the next scene. In contrast, regular prime users tend to be more exploratory concerning selecting vantage points, as they are practically forced to move around while shooting a scene or subject.

Zooms for travel, primes for studio & sets. How I do it.

😊 I really liked this video!❤️ Got the whole fam in it. Little contest going. Different locations. It all summed up to a Refreshing Video. Thanks!!!

Love your sense of humor and this was very helpful..thank you :-)

zooming with your feet gives you a different background separation, if that’s your taste cool, but it’s not the same thing/look,

Since I’m lazy AF I go with with zoom all the way

Great video guys, love the comparisom

Thanks for this fun and eye opening video. I'm not a pro. On my Nikon Z6 I shoot the Z 24-70 S f/4.0 as my goto, and the Z 50 S f/1.8 or Z 35 S f/1.8 for low light/available light. Simple. If I need a telephoto I put on the FTZ adaptor and the 28-300 f/3.5-5.6, often in DX mode to get an effective 450mm. I've never seen that one lens is really any better than another for what I do. It's focal length and ease of use, with low light ability as needed. Life is good.

00:28 "I can zoom with my feet! " 😂 they always say that but that's sooo dumb hahaha

I was a beginner and started in primes though. When I finally got my first zoom 18-35 sigma, it made things easier. It works wonders!

On my Sony A7iii I use prime lens for low light And on my A7Riii I use 2.8 zoom lens for when I have good light. Great video.

Learned alot , thank you. You’re the most useful couple ever!👍🏻😁

I carry the 24 GM 55 1.8 zeiss and the 135 GM remember the r4 crops into 26 mp

The Sony 16-35mm f2.8 might still be the best wide zoom. But it is the only zoom in my travel kit. I like the primes as they lighter and less conspicuous. My small backpack has a single body along with wide zoom, a 55, 85 and 135.

Tony, Chelsea, happy to see Tony with the Laowa 15 Zero-D. It's versatile, working well at infinity focus for astro and at 6" for nature close ups while displaying background surroundings. With my Sony 4/16-35 PZ G I can't do the night skies nor can I get quite as close for wildflowers w/ background. No amount of fancy in camera electronics nor software edits will create Zeiss Loxia aperture stars from an image captured with any zoom. My current travel kit: Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200 + Zeiss Loxia 21. I only surfed into this excellent short video long after you made it.

I was sitting here thinking "The KZfaq algorithm did a great job finding this old video. I was just wondering about this!" Then I saw it was posted TODAY?? Man you guys have awesome timing :)

Strong work. Let us not judge lenses by the range of their zoom, but by the quality of their optics!!

I love these competition videos!!!!!!! It is a good reassurance that I am not the only one who greatly disagrees with photography know-it-alls...

Get video, love the banter. TY for sharing!

You guyz should do more of those outdoor things, love em...

Just a big thank you for making me laugh at breakfast here in Sydney. Zoom has become another word for work the last weeks. Thanks for reminding us what zoom actually means

Chelsea is great :-) and Madelyn sure has grown the past few years. I've had the 2015 SDP book for about 4+ years now. Not talking to you Tony, you're a lens snob JK, :-)

I listened to the camera tutorial and upgraded my video production level. thank you^^

Oh my gosh, you two had me rolling on the floor laughing! You two ROCK!

Tony: "I'm going to prove it to you - but first..."

The only zoom I have is a 100-400, everything else I use primes

So should I use Zoom lens or Prime lens for portrait, wedding, landscape, wildlife and night stars photography ?

You're even taking the Zoom, Primes argument to the sponsored KEH spot? I love you guys! 🤣

When I have climbed up on a building to get a "unique perspective" and am taking pictures from the edge of the roof, there is no way I can "zoom with my feet."

You two had me laughing. Thanks, needed a fun video today.. I was surprised at the results too. I am now curious how my Canon Primes vs Zoom will compare. Keep up the great shows. This one one of your best.

Thanks guys for sharing. I wish you all the best.

I got a A7 Mk1 with no ibis so i want to lens with good autofocus? I thinking of getting FE 24mm F1.4 GM or FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM or FE 24-70 F2.8 and next year I want to travel to Japan? I am planning to get a new A7 camera in 2023. I like to take picture of airplane, Landscape, Astro, Street photography and travel? In the future I am thinking of getting FE 70-200mm F2.8/4.0 and FE 200-600mm or FE 100-400 GM?

somebody needs a ..."camera counselor"

My current coverage of focal lengths uses primes strategically. I have two primes, both Zeiss Batis, 18mm and 85 mm. Then 24-70 and 100-400 Sony G master.

This one was fun, thank you Northrups :) Really liked the video quality in studio as well

I liked the back and forth bantering between both of you, I think it's a winning formula for this channel to have two different sides/opinions. Nice video!

Zooms for most travel; primes for "arty" outings.

The 70-200 GM my go to lens😍😍😍

U 2 really are good together. Prob the best duo on youtube that i have seen. Wish u the best.

Out of curiosity.... What gear (cam+lens) are you using in this video?

This statement in misleading. Very misleading. My daughter is one of Perths leading brand photographers, making a good living. IE. a professional. And her favourite lens is a 35-70 F2.8. I am a professional video maker of 40 years experience, and I have a mix of primes and zooms. For video work, in anything but a studio environment, zooms are better. In all these case, not better for image quality. But far better for getting the story. So what's more important? Story or image quality? Story! Always story! Stating that zooms are for amateurs is misleading and misguided. It's true that amateurs tend to over-use the zoom button, but that's it.

Poor kid. I hope you paid her! : )

Hi they both very good and I tested a 70-210 f3.5 Vivtar form the 70s and it was better, just to let you know. primes are good to, I used both of them.

Great perspective on uneven greater topic. I'm mostly interested in video and your take on this age old topic was very enlightening

Why does the "bullsh*t" censorship at 5:24 last three seconds lmao

The PRIME that beats all others: Optimus Prime. It's a fantasy sci-fi.

I use both primed and zooms depending on what I am doing. Also KEH is awesome, they gave me a decent amount of money back for camera gear I sold to them. Very fast and thorough service.

I use both, and I think zooms have greatly improved since I started photography. I have a 50mm 1.2 L, 85mm 1.4 IS L, 24-70 2.8 L, 70-200 2.8 L.

Primes still have the edge when it comes to wide apertures.

Primes are faster. Period. ... Oh yeah, and smaller and lighter...and cooler.

This gets into my Top 10 T&C videos. I’m not a pro and have always wondered what I’m gaining or losing by going one over the other!!! Thanks 🙏🏽

Soooo.... this video kept popping up on my timeline. I was reluctant to watch it considering that it was a topic that I have seen many times before. Thought it would be boring, but you guys really made it interesting 👍🏾

Does anyone know why there are so few choices of 70mm prime lenses? Just curious.

I have three primes: 18 f/2.8 Batis + 35 f/1.4 Sigma Art + 85 f/1.8 Batis. I'm hoping to buy the 135 GM sooner or later. They give me the image quality I like, but when you don't have a lot of time to switch lenses you miss the versatility of a zoom lens. Especially the 24-70 zoom. But I'm still happy to walk around with my primes. You know what you're in for when equipping an 18, 35 or 85. You get to know the frame you're working with, so you adapt. The 85 is my favorite focal length, the 35 is the most "walk around" and the 18 can be a bit challenging as you have a very wide angle to shoot with.

How does the optical stabilizer work on the primes?

Are you getting the como because you are leaving the vr on with the lens ?

Most of my lenses are primes and my favourite landscape lens is a manual Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/25.

This is an awesome way to make a video, keep it up!

I love them both. Zooms have their place and so do primes. I definitely love to work with primes more but I love my 70-200 zoom too! Great vid guys :D

Its totally case specific. You can shoot a wedding with the trinity (14-24/16-35), 24-70, 70-200 or with 16, 35,50,85, 135 primes. Your choice. Whatever fits your style. I've never been told my 70-200GM isn't sharp enough by a client... plus the autofocus on my a9ii is blazing fast... but if I'm shooting a grand landscape, I might reach for a 24 1.4, or 35 1.4.... It's all a matter of need and taste. My advice - get both.

3:38 lollerpalooza! "What the hell?" 🤣🤣

Tony - I can zoom with my feet Foot ball stadium boundary - am I a joke to u

Loved this one, fun!

Exactly but just one question how about traveling photography? A prime will be the way to go for candid shot but missing the zoom lense will be problematic for a situation you don't have time and possibility to zoom with the feet

Chelsea, I love your deadpan humour. It makes the show ! :-)

NIce entertaining video as always, guys, but sorry Tony, I agree with Chelsea on the advantages of modern zooms...especially in terms of no sharpness disadvantage in "real life", as you said, Tony. (That said, I do admit that their are certain primes in ANY system that outperform zooms in terms of sharpness alone. However, that must be weighed against the convenience of "infinite" focal length availability with a zoom in certain outdoor curcumstances.) Obviously, for product images in studio, a prime is my lens of choice...in my case the stellar sharp Fujinon XF80 f/2.8. Y'all be safe over this holiday weekend!

Oh man, the sarcasm from Tony is just spot on! Great counters from Chelsea! Do more of these hidden gems!

Both categories of lenses have their place. All of my lenses AIS manual focus, from 8mm f2.8 fisheye to 600mm f/4 super telephoto. I do have several zooms, 25-50 f/4, 35-70 f/3.5. 50-135 f/3.5 and the superlative in every way (except weight) 50-300 f/4.5. The zooms are handy as walkaround lenses, I can put all 4 in the bag and have everything covered from moderate wide angle to medium telephoto. For critical and commercial work, primes are the way to go. For the most part they are considerably faster (I prefer the very fast Nikkors) and the sharpness is outstanding.