What are your favorite short prime lenses?

[sh1209]

Over the years I have settled in on three prime lenses that I think at least for me work the best. I would say my absolute favorite that I own now is the 20 mm Sony prime, followed by the 50 mm 1.4 and my 90 mm Sony macro lens. I own a 35 mm and have owned several from Nikon over the years but just feel it’s sort of a nowhere land lens and I almost have to force myself to use it. I am most likely going to be selling it soon. I also have a 14 mm prime that I use for Architecture or Astro photography but at the end of the day I think the 20 mm prime is by far my favorite and one of the most versatile.

 

[bleirer]

I really like the Canon EF100mm 2.8 macro. There is now a mirrorless RF version, but I can't really find a reason to replace the original. 1:1 magnification and yet fine at infinity.

 

[kkwilcox]

Before I went to mirrorless, my favorites were the Nikon 24mm 1.4G for landscape and astrophotography and the Zeiss 100mm 2.0 Planar for macro. Now in Z mount, my favorites are the Nikkor 20mm 1.8 and a Voigtlander 50mm 1.0.

 

[ssheipel]

Yup, I 'force' myself to use my 35mm too, although ultimately for street photography -- once upon a time before 3/4 of the world it seems has become hostile to cameras that aren't phones -- it was by far my favourite focal length. That said, until mirrorless made my old f 50 1.8 (had to be Nikon's cheapest lens in its day and I thought its greatest ) a Non AF lens 50 mm was a close second to the 35 and most certainly near the top of my list for portrait work (okay, okay, tied with my f 85 1.8). History aside, I think my Nikon Z 50 1.2 is the finest lens I've ever used (even though it is a behemoth of a lens). I keep considering a prime 20 or less, but fear as with the 35 it'll gather too much dust. Thanks for starting another interesting topic thread!

 

[JFW]

In no particular order: Nikon 20mm 1.8g, Nikon 50mm 1.8g, and the Nikon 85mm 1.8g. Small, light, fast, and sharp.

 

[sh1209]

I really like the Canon EF100mm 2.8 macro. There is now a mirrorless RF version, but I can't really find a reason to replace the original. 1:1 magnification and yet fine at infinity.

The macro lenses are amazing for many things including portraits.

 

[sh1209]

Before I went to mirrorless, my favorites were the Nikon 24mm 1.4G for landscape and astrophotography and the Zeiss 100mm 2.0 Planar for macro. Now in Z mount, my favorites are the Nikkor 20mm 1.8 and a Voigtlander 50mm 1.0.

Yeah the 20mm 1.8 is good for so many things.

 

[sh1209]

Yup, I 'force' myself to use my 35mm too, although ultimately for street photography -- once upon a time before 3/4 of the world it seems has become hostile to cameras that aren't phones -- it was by far my favourite focal length. That said, until mirrorless made my old f 50 1.8 (had to be Nikon's cheapest lens in its day and I thought its greatest ) a Non AF lens 50 mm was a close second to the 35 and most certainly near the top of my list for portrait work (okay, okay, tied with my f 85 1.8). History aside, I think my Nikon Z 50 1.2 is the finest lens I've ever used (even though it is a behemoth of a lens). I keep considering a prime 20 or less, but fear as with the 35 it'll gather too much dust. Thanks for starting another interesting topic thread!

Yeah my 501.4 is just an amazing lens for so many things.

 

[sh1209]

In no particular order: Nikon 20mm 1.8g, Nikon 50mm 1.8g, and the Nikon 85mm 1.8g. Small, light, fast, and sharp.

I had the z50mm 1.8 when I shot nikon and it was a stellar lens

 

[Ado Wolf]

I still use 2 F primes adapted on Z cameras: 24 mm f1.8, 40 mm Macro and 85 mm f1.8. I recently did replace the 40 Macro with the 50 MC, being a full frame.
There lenses cover me for landscape, macro, travel, family and portrait photos.

 

[John Navitsky]

i really dig the the tamron 35 1.4 sp g2 and it’s the only f-mount lens i have kept. i am waiting for the nikon 35 1.2 to replace it. i really like a fast 35 for situational shots. it’s wide enough to get context, but not so wide we get a lot of distortion.

 

[sh1209]

i really dig the the tamron 35 1.4 sp g2 and it’s the only f-mount lens i have kept. i am waiting for the nikon 35 1.2 to replace it. i really like a fast 35 for situational shots. it’s wide enough to get context, but not so wide we get a lot of distortion.

I need to try spending more time with the 35. What’s weird is whenever using my 24-70 a lot of my images are 28-40 mm. The zooms are so darn good nowadays.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

Over the years I have settled in on three prime lenses that I think at least for me work the best. I would say my absolute favorite that I own now is the 20 mm Sony prime, followed by the 50 mm 1.4 and my 90 mm Sony macro lens. I own a 35 mm and have owned several from Nikon over the years but just feel it’s sort of a nowhere land lens and I almost have to force myself to use it. I am most likely going to be selling it soon. I also have a 14 mm prime that I use for Architecture or Astro photography but at the end of the day I think the 20 mm prime is by far my favorite and one of the most versatile.

My 35 1.8 sits on my Z5 and is used for all of my family event shooting cause I was told that wider is bad for faces. Then I read that Does Focal Length Distort Subjects, and I picked up the 26 2.8 for travel and mountain biking. So that is now a favorite and it's light and compact.

The other killer lens has been the Z105 MC and not for macro as much as travel street photography. Amazing food shots due to the micro contrast.

That might be replaced by the Plena though.

 

[sh1209]

My 35 1.8 sits on my Z5 and is used for all of my family event shooting cause I was told that wider is bad for faces. Then I read that Does Focal Length Distort Subjects, and I picked up the 26 2.8 for travel and mountain biking. So that is now a favorite and it's light and compact.

The other killer lens has been the Z105 MC and not for macro as much as travel street photography. Amazing food shots due to the micro contrast.

That might be replaced by the Plena though.

The z105 is a great lens and much better than the f mount.

 

[Nimi]

The Nikkor Z 14-24 S replaced all my short primes in that range. Looking forward to really fast Z 28 and 35 primes. In the meantime, the 50/1.2 and 85/1.2 are my most used lenses.

 

[sh1209]

The Nikkor Z 14-24 S replaced all my short primes in that range. Looking forward to really fast Z 28 and 35 primes. In the meantime, the 50/1.2 and 85/1.2 are my most used lenses.

I thought the 14-30 was a really good lens as well.

 

[sh1209]

IMO the 24mm prime is the most useless. I’ve tried several over the years and always gravitated to a good 24-702.8

 

[ssheipel]

The Nikkor Z 14-24 S replaced all my short primes in that range. Looking forward to really fast Z 28 and 35 primes. In the meantime, the 50/1.2 and 85/1.2 are my most used lenses.

I'm so lusting after that 85 1.2.... Have you shot with the 135 plena?

 

[John Navitsky]

What’s weird is whenever using my 24-70 a lot of my images are 28-40 mm. The zooms are so darn good nowadays.

they are. for whatever reason the 24-70 range never quite meshed with my d500. obviously it’s dx so a bit apples and oranges, but i swear it had trouble focusing in that range. but my new 24-70 is awesome. we are truly fortunate with these new modern lenses (and bodies of course). it’s a great time to be a photographer

 

[John Navitsky]

I'm so lusting after that 85 1.2.... Have you shot with the 135 plena?

both are great. the thing about the 135 is you need enough space to use it

 

[Nimi]

I'm so lusting after that 85 1.2.... Have you shot with the 135 plena?

I have one, it's amazing, but haven't used it much yet. Moving to a bigger studio in February and I'll put it to use more. In my current setting, 105 is about as long as I can go for what I shoot.

 

[sh1209]

they are. for whatever reason the 24-70 range never quite meshed with my d500. obviously it’s dx so a bit apples and oranges, but i swear it had trouble focusing in that range. but my new 24-70 is awesome. we are truly fortunate with these new modern lenses (and bodies of course). it’s a great time to be a photographer

It truly is amazing how far zooms have came and even under tightly controlled testing it's nearly impossible to differentiate between the images

 

[ssheipel]

both are great. the thing about the 135 is you need enough space to use it

I have one, it's amazing, but haven't used it much yet. Moving to a bigger studio in February and I'll put it to use more. In my current setting, 105 is about as long as I can go for what I shoot.

Thanks. Imagine using it almost extensively out of doors, so I guess it's true I do NEED the lens

 

[DownToThis]

I have a sigma 35 1.4 ART and love it as a portrait/family lens. I'm hoping they come out with a Z mount version soon but for now I still use it regularly with the adapter

 

[MatthewK]

My favorite standard prime is the Fuji XF 35mm f/1.4. It’s the lens that single-handily keeps me using the Fuji system at the moment. Used to love the Canon EF 50L, but the Fuji is like a better version of that lens: amazing look but with none of the drawbacks.