The lens market is a minefield, especially for those new to the game, and it can be pretty scary; however, it doesn’t have to be. So, calm down, breathe and follow this guide to see which way you should turn when buying your first prime lenses.

As a new photographer, you might wonder about the fuss surrounding prime lenses. On the face of things, primes might not seem as good as zoom lenses because they appear to lose out regarding versatility. Sure, zooms are great, and they can help make creating shots easier. However, prime lenses will challenge you and push you to become a better photographer quickly because they will make you move around and inspect a scene more than a zoom would.

There are many other benefits to prime lenses compared to zooms too. Because prime lenses are more straightforward in optical design, primes are often much sharper than zoom lenses. Prime lenses are also faster when acquiring focus because there’s not an obscene amount of glass for the focus motors to push and pull around. Primes often have much faster apertures than zooms, and for the most part, primes are just easier to manage due to their size and weight.

So, below, we’ll talk about affordable why should look into buying primes in the most popular focal lengths (24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm), and we’ll link to the lens options we highly recommend for most of the popular brands of mirrorless cameras.

If you like to use your kit lens (the lens that came with your camera) on the wide end, you’ll enjoy 24mm primes lenses. These prime lenses are small and lightweight. They also have incredibly sharp optics, which makes them great for genres like documentary photography, architecture, landscapes, cityscapes, environmental portraits and more. Thanks to the fast apertures of these lenses, you can even use them for astrophotography. They’re a handy lens to have on hand.

Do you want one lens that will let you do it all? Then a 35mm prime will be a good choice for you. 35mm prime lenses are incredibly versatile and can be used for landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, events, weddings, documentary photography and more.

They’re also the perfect lens to use for everyday photography. You can photograph virtually anything with a 35mm prime. These lenses are typically small and light and offer bright maximum apertures, which makes them ideal for low-light photography or for when you want to play with a thin depth of field. The options below are razor-sharp, well-made, and they focus fast.

A good nifty fifty should be in every photographer’s arsenal because they offer a natural field of view. What we see with a 50mm prime is roughly what we see with our own eyes. So they’re great for street photography, portraits and beyond. Like the other primes listed, these lenses are extremely sharp, offer bright maximum apertures, and you can create some beautiful bokeh with them because of the extra compression. On top of this, 50mm primes are some of the most affordable lenses available.

Do you want to take your portrait photography to the next level? If so, it’s hard to go wrong with any of the 85mm prime lenses listed below. 85mm primes are perfect for portraits because they create just enough compression to give your subjects flattering facial features. You can easily create gorgeous head and shoulder headshots with tons of subject separation (bokeh).

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Brett has been a photographer for as long as he can remember. Brett has his own photography business that focuses on corporate events and portraiture. In his spare time, Brett loves to practice landscape, street and wildlife photography. When he’s not behind a camera, he’s enjoying life with his wife and two kids, or he’s playing video games, drinking coffee, and eating Cheetos. Find him on Instagram: @brettdayphoto, VERO: @brettdayphoto and on YouTube.

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