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When you buy a modern digital camera in a kit it almost always comes with a zoom lens. Zooms are popular for their versatility but in a way it’s a shame that cameras no longer come packaged with a standard lens.
Standard lenses happen to be one of my favorite types of lens to use. They’re versatile and the optical quality is excellent. Let’s dive into this a little deeper and see what the benefits are for you.
What is a standard lens?
A standard lens is a prime lens with a focal length roughly equivalent to the length of the diagonal measurement of the sensor (or film).
Using this criteria a standard lens on a full-frame camera would have a focal length of 42mm. It produces a field of view that is similar to the human eye or appears natural.
In practice, the 50mm lens is considered the standard for full-frame cameras (although Pentax makes a 42mm lens). A 35mm is considered standard for an APS-C camera (a 28mm lens would also count), as is a 25mm lens for Micro Four-Thirds cameras.
Standard prime lens vs. kit lens
If you already own a kit lens that covers these focal lengths you may be wondering why you would need a standard lens.
The answer is that standard prime lenses have three advantages that kit lenses don’t.
Advantage #1: Better image quality
Standard lenses are relatively simple to design and make. It’s easier to optimize optical performance on a prime lens than a zoom. That means the optical performance of primes is better than many zooms.
An inexpensive prime lens gives you better image quality than an inexpensive zoom, every time. Even high quality zoom lenses may not replicate the performance of a decent prime throughout the entire focal length range.
Advantage #2: Wide maximum apertures
This is the most exciting feature of any prime lens.
Most kit lenses have an aperture of f5.6 at the long end, or f4 if you’re lucky. A prime standard lens has an aperture of f2 or wider. That’s three stops better than f5.6.
It makes a tremendous difference when shooting in low light as it gives you the option of opening the aperture to let in more light.
It also lets you use a wide aperture to create images with beautiful bokeh.
I made this photo inside a dimly lit museum with a 35mm standard lens. I shot hand-held at 1/125 second at f2.8, ISO 6400. With a kit lens the settings would have more likely been 1/60 second at f5.6, ISO 12800 – a two stop difference.
Another benefit of lenses with wide apertures is where the sweet spot falls. The sweet spot is the aperture range that gives the best optical quality.
Most lenses give their worse image quality when the aperture is wide open, and the best image quality starts at apertures two stops down from this.
That means if you have a zoom with a maximum aperture of f5.6, then you need to stop down to f11 for the best image quality.
But if you have a prime lens with a maximum aperture of f2, you only have to stop down to f5.6.
Again, it’s a big difference that has many practical advantages. Take the photo above as an example. If you made it with a kit lens, and wanted to avoid the widest aperture setting, you would need exposure settings of 1/60 second at f8, ISO 25600.
Advantage #3: Price
Kit lenses, by their nature, tend to be inexpensive zoom lenses. The compromise for the price is often relatively poor build and image quality.
Standard lenses can be just as inexpensive but the optical quality is much better. For example, optimizing image quality for a 50mm prime lens (a standard lens on a full-frame camera) is a relatively simple task that lens designers mastered decades ago.
Zoom lenses have more elements (pushing up the manufacturing cost). It is also harder to create a zoom lens that gives great optical performance across its entire focal length range. You can buy zooms that do, but they will cost you a lot more money than a budget kit lens.
Most standard lenses are excellent value for money. But, as with any lens, you need to consider build quality, autofocus performance and weatherproofing when buying one. It may be worth buying a more expensive lens for your camera if the autofocus performs better or if the lens has a stronger construction.
The 50mm standard lens
50mm lenses – or nifty fifties, as they are affectionately known – seem to hold a special place in the hearts of many photographers, perhaps because they are the first prime lens that many photographers buy.
50mm lenses on APS-C cameras
If you use a 50mm lens on an APS-C camera then the crop factor of the camera means the 50mm lens is a short telephoto. Combined with the wide aperture of the lens this makes a 50mm lens ideal for portraits on an APS-C camera.
Some photographers own both full-frame and APS-C cameras that share the same lens mount. In this case a 50mm prime lens does double duty. It’s a standard lens on your full-frame camera, and a short telephoto on your APS-C camera.
I composed the portrait below using a 50mm lens and an aperture of f1.8 on an full-frame camera. The background is out of focus to an extent that would be impossible to achieve with a kit lens.
Learn more: How to Focus at Wide Apertures
Three ideal subjects for standard lenses
These three subjects are ideal for standard lenses. I’ll touch on each briefly – it’s possible to write many pages about using standard lenses for each of these subjects.
Street and travel photography
Most standard primes are small in size and light. This makes them ideal to carry around all day. It’s a lot less tiring than using heavier zooms or telephotos.
You can use a standard lens for shooting details, making photos of local people and shooting scenes that you come across as you wander around.
You can stop down for good depth of field, or open up the aperture and move in close to blur the background. You can use them in bright sunlight and low light. They are incredibly versatile lenses.
I made this sequence of photos in China with a 35mm standard lens (APS-C).
Documentary photography
A standard lens is ideal for documentary style portraits, for all the reasons it’s good for street and travel photography. Its versatility means you can use it to make a series of photos that looks like they belong together, yet have great variety because of variations in aperture and point of view.
As an example, here are some photos I made of a weaver at work using a standard lens.
Close-up photography
You can use a close-up lens or extension tubes with a standard lens to take close-up photos. This greatly increases the versatility of the lens and also gives you a less expensive option than buying a macro lens.
I often go out for the day with my camera, a standard lens and a close-up lens or extension tube. That way, if I come across some interesting flowers, or another subject that would be great in close-up, I have the equipment needed to make a good photo of it.
I made these photos with a 35mm standard lens and an extension tube.
Conclusion
A standard prime lens is a great lens for any photographer to own. The benefits are great value for money, excellent image quality and wide apertures. My 35mm f1.4 lens has become a firm favorite since I bought it.
Do you like to use standard lenses? I’d love to hear what you think of these versatile optics. Have your say in the comments.
Mastering Lenses ebook
You can learn more about using all sorts of lenses, including standard lenses, in my ebook Mastering Lenses. You’ll learn how to make beautiful photos with any lens with lots of great ideas like the one in this article.
Click here to learn more or buy
