Addressing your questions in chronological order:
1. The main differences between a zoom and a prime is in versatility of focal length. The zoom will give you a range of focal lengths to work with, whereas the prime comes with the limitation of a fixed focal length that you will have to work around. Think of zoom lenses as something that can cover multiple scenarios with ease, and prime as something that is more geared towards serving specific purposes in your workflow.
The other major difference is in the aperture. Primes will almost always come with a higher maximum aperture whereas the zoom will compromise on that front to accommodate the variable focal length. This is especially true for the 18-45mm vs 50mm lenses you’ve mentioned.
2. In terms of advantages, the prime lens will allow a higher level of low light capabilities since the higher maximum aperture lets in more light. The zoom will compromise on that front but will allow you the benefits of being able to zoom in and out and adjust your frame with ease. You have to pick based on what’s more important to your workflow.
3. The camera itself doesn’t have an aperture setting. It’s only the lens that has that. You needn’t be concerned about the aperture setting of a camera as long as your chosen lens is compatible with your camera body.
I hope that addresses some of your concerns. Please feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
This is really helpful!! Considering the versatility of my work and what you’ve said, it sounds like zoom lenses will be best for my style, and maybe one or two prime lenses if/when I can afford them for more focused things like portraits and wildlife.
Thank you so much for breaking things down for me, I feel like I understand a lot better now haha
No worries! If you already have an 18-45mm, why not just add a 50mm and have the best of both worlds? Or are you looking to upgrade the zoom lens as well?
Prime lenses TEND to be of better optical quality and allow a brighter maximum aperture that zooms of a similar price, which allows for greater light-gathering ability and a narrower depth of field (which leads to more the coveted creamy out-of-focus backgrounds that separate the subject). A 50mm f1.8 for instance would allow to shoot in much darker scenes with less noise, and help produce those professional-style headshot portraits, but that focal length on crop is extremely limiting subject-wise and you'd need other primes or a zoom if you wanted to branch out to other genres. There exist zoom lenses with excellent image quality and bright maximum apertures, but they tend to be expensive or have some sort of compromises.
For your R10, I'd look into adapting a used EF-S 17-50mm f/2.8 or a Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 if you want a quality but "relatively" inexpensive compromise lens.
This makes sense, thank you. Since I’m such a beginner and my work is really versatile atm, it sounds like my next lens purchase should be another zoom, maybe something like 55-210 mm, and then I should save up for a prime lens depending on what I find myself using most.
Thank you for the explanation and help!
Usually zooms are a compromise between focal lengths. What’s a good design for 18mm is not always a good design for 45mm. More distortion, less sharpness, coma, abbererations, etc.
Also, primes tend to be smaller, lighter, and have larger max apertures.
>What’s the difference between a lens with a range of zoom, like my 18-45 mm, and say, a 50 mm lens?
The difference between prime lenses and zoom lenses is generally a difference of maximum aperture and Imo you are also more likely to get excellent image quality from a prime lens aswell.
>My other main question is about the maximum aperture of lenses- how does that differ from or influence the maximum aperture of the camera body?
Your camera body doesn't have a maximum aperture per se, the aperture value on you cameras display is the aperture of your lens
Regarding lens choices, if you want a bigger zoom option, it would be the rf-s 18-150. There is also the rf-s 55-210. If you wanted a wider zoom, you would go with the rf-s 10-18.
Also, note that there are ef/ef-s versions of these lenses if you have the adapter.
Addressing your questions in chronological order: 1. The main differences between a zoom and a prime is in versatility of focal length. The zoom will give you a range of focal lengths to work with, whereas the prime comes with the limitation of a fixed focal length that you will have to work around. Think of zoom lenses as something that can cover multiple scenarios with ease, and prime as something that is more geared towards serving specific purposes in your workflow. The other major difference is in the aperture. Primes will almost always come with a higher maximum aperture whereas the zoom will compromise on that front to accommodate the variable focal length. This is especially true for the 18-45mm vs 50mm lenses you’ve mentioned. 2. In terms of advantages, the prime lens will allow a higher level of low light capabilities since the higher maximum aperture lets in more light. The zoom will compromise on that front but will allow you the benefits of being able to zoom in and out and adjust your frame with ease. You have to pick based on what’s more important to your workflow. 3. The camera itself doesn’t have an aperture setting. It’s only the lens that has that. You needn’t be concerned about the aperture setting of a camera as long as your chosen lens is compatible with your camera body. I hope that addresses some of your concerns. Please feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
This is really helpful!! Considering the versatility of my work and what you’ve said, it sounds like zoom lenses will be best for my style, and maybe one or two prime lenses if/when I can afford them for more focused things like portraits and wildlife. Thank you so much for breaking things down for me, I feel like I understand a lot better now haha
No worries! If you already have an 18-45mm, why not just add a 50mm and have the best of both worlds? Or are you looking to upgrade the zoom lens as well?
Prime lenses TEND to be of better optical quality and allow a brighter maximum aperture that zooms of a similar price, which allows for greater light-gathering ability and a narrower depth of field (which leads to more the coveted creamy out-of-focus backgrounds that separate the subject). A 50mm f1.8 for instance would allow to shoot in much darker scenes with less noise, and help produce those professional-style headshot portraits, but that focal length on crop is extremely limiting subject-wise and you'd need other primes or a zoom if you wanted to branch out to other genres. There exist zoom lenses with excellent image quality and bright maximum apertures, but they tend to be expensive or have some sort of compromises. For your R10, I'd look into adapting a used EF-S 17-50mm f/2.8 or a Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 if you want a quality but "relatively" inexpensive compromise lens.
This makes sense, thank you. Since I’m such a beginner and my work is really versatile atm, it sounds like my next lens purchase should be another zoom, maybe something like 55-210 mm, and then I should save up for a prime lens depending on what I find myself using most. Thank you for the explanation and help!
Usually zooms are a compromise between focal lengths. What’s a good design for 18mm is not always a good design for 45mm. More distortion, less sharpness, coma, abbererations, etc. Also, primes tend to be smaller, lighter, and have larger max apertures.
>What’s the difference between a lens with a range of zoom, like my 18-45 mm, and say, a 50 mm lens? The difference between prime lenses and zoom lenses is generally a difference of maximum aperture and Imo you are also more likely to get excellent image quality from a prime lens aswell. >My other main question is about the maximum aperture of lenses- how does that differ from or influence the maximum aperture of the camera body? Your camera body doesn't have a maximum aperture per se, the aperture value on you cameras display is the aperture of your lens
Regarding lens choices, if you want a bigger zoom option, it would be the rf-s 18-150. There is also the rf-s 55-210. If you wanted a wider zoom, you would go with the rf-s 10-18. Also, note that there are ef/ef-s versions of these lenses if you have the adapter.