I know you probably think that this is a clickbait title, but trust me — it’s not. I’ve always hated the idea of zooming with my feet — which is the statement that so many photographers say and is outdated these days. At least, it’s outdated for the types of photographers who are smart enough to still read and have lots of experience. Prime lenses serve a fantastic purpose — they help you compose a scene by working within limitations, and while also giving you a really wide open aperture of some sort. They also tend to be very small if they’re designed a certain way, so they are very portable. But after a while, prime lenses tend to be extremely limiting. That means that you compromise on your composition and sometimes even the quality.
Here’s my proposal: let’s redo that saying. Instead, let’s say, “Envision with your feet, compose with your lens.”
The reality is that when you look at a scene, you’ve probably got some sort of inspiration going through your veins. That, in turn, fuels your creative vision from where you stand — on your feet. Then, you put the camera to your eye, look around the scene, figure out the differences between what the camera sees and what your soul craves, and then you come to a compromise of some sort. Traditionally, photographers using just a prime lens would shoot a frame and then figure it out later. But we should instead aim to get it to perfectly match our creative vision in-camera. That’s not possible with all camera systems by themselves, but you can add lens filters, lights, etc., to make it happen.
For many years, I swore off zoom lenses. They all had problems — and today I still say that they do. You’re compromising distortion at certain focal lengths, the need for more power output from your lights, etc. But they’re often much better at helping you get the composition that you want much easier from where you’re standing.
Zoom lenses ultimately are seen as tools that help you get closer to your subject while being further away. Sometimes this great because it will mean that the subject won’t pay much attention to you or even see/notice you if you’re quiet. But when you use them with the framework of mind of a prime lens shooter, then you end up using them as compositional tools.
One of my very good photographer friends does exactly what I do — which is use his zoom lenses at only specific focal lengths. Sometimes, a 24-70mm lens is only really most useful at the longest and shortest focal lengths.
However, I think that shooting with a prime lens too often really only starts to limit you after a while. I’ve learned to shoot at 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm focal lengths very well. But what about all the stuff in between? Well, I’m not going to wager my confidence — though I’ll say that I’m getting much better at using the 40mm focal length because of my Nikon 40mm f2.
Prime lenses suck because you only ever get better at shooting with a single focal length after a while. And in turn, that makes all your work look the same. Don’t bother zooming with your feet.