Why Every Travel Photographer Needs a Prime Lens

I would never consider a prime lens for travel photography.

For years, I’d only travel with zoom lenses. Why? Because, in my mind, they made the travel photography process easier. With a zoom lens, I could easily zoom in and out on various travel subjects, such as landscapes, cityscapes and my fellow travel partners, carry less (albeit heavier) lenses, and generally capture high quality shots.

But, after years of lugging my heavy zoom lenses around the globe, I decided that I needed to revamp my travel photography set up by creating a more compact travel photography kit. To achieve this, I had to, of course, include a small prime lens. I didn’t know it at the time, but adding a small compact prime, like a 35mm, would transform my approach to travel photography, improve my image quality and make me a better travel photographer.

So, if you’ve been hesitant to utilize a prime lens for travel photography, take chance on one during your next trip. You may just find that it revolutionizes the way you take travel photos. Need more convincing? Here’s why every travel photographer needs a prime lens:

Produces Sharper Images

Due to their fixed focal lengths and simpler constructions, prime lenses tend to produce sharper, higher quality images than their zoom counterparts. This is because, to make a zoom lens, well, zoom, the lens needs to use more complicated parts that move back and forth, which can reduce image quality a little bit in comparison to primes.

Now, zoom lenses have come a long way, and, in all honesty, most zoom lenses will produce high quality images - especially if your goal is to post travel photos on Instagram.

But prime lenses will give you a slight edge in image quality, which can be super beneficial when snapping highly detailed travel photos, such as landscapes. With super sharp images and high quality details, you can confidently crop your photos, providing you with much more flexibility in post production.

Improves Low Light Performance

When snapping travel photos at dusk or at night, you need to either slow down your shutter speed, crank up your ISO or open up your lens’s aperture to let more light into your camera’s sensor to capture a well exposed, usable image. The more you slow down your shutter speed, the harder it is to snap sharp, non-blurry handheld images. The more you increase your ISO, the higher the chance of introducing unwanted grain to your image, reducing the overall image quality.

When snapping travel photos in low light scenarios, the best way to keep your camera’s shutter speed fast enough for handheld photography, while also keeping your ISO as low as possible to preserve image quality, is to open your lens’s aperture, allowing more light to enter your camera’ sensor. The issue with most zoom lenses, however, is that their maximum aperture is quite a bit smaller than their prime lens counterparts.

Most standard, moderately priced zoom lenses have a constant aperture of F4. While F4 is good for most daytime lighting conditions, the smaller aperture starts to struggle when the light gets lower later in the day. To compensate for the limited aperture of an F4 lens, you would, again, need to adjust your shutter speed or ISO to compensate.

You can purchase zoom lenses with a constant aperture of F2.8, allowing you to open up your aperture even more during low light conditions. However, F2.8 zoom lenses are generally very expensive and very heavy.

The great thing about having a versatile prime lens in your travel camera bag is that they typically have very wide apertures (f1.8 or wider) and they don’t cost as much as their zoom counterparts. With a wide aperture prime lens, you can keep snapping handheld travel photos late into the evening without slowing your shutter speed or increasing your ISO that much.

Decreases Your Camera Setup’s Weight

Prime lenses are generally much smaller than zoom lenses. This is because zoom lenses require more moving parts to make the zoom function happen. While the zoom function does provide good versatility for travel photography, their overall weight can become cumbersome - especially if you’re out for an all day trek or simply walking around a new town on your way to dinner.

I actually bought my own 35mm prime lens for travel photography specifically for the chill walks to dinner when you’re in a new town. Why? Because, as a travel photographer, I enjoy taking photos while walking around new cities - especially during golden hour, which is usually when we’re on our way to dinner. The last thing I want to do when walking to dinner is lug a massive camera set up around. I also dislike placing a massive camera set up on the dinner table in a restaurant (it draws unwanted attention and takes up too much valuable table space)! My small, lightweight 35mm prime lens solves both of these problems.

With a compact, light travel prime lens, you can carry your camera around easily at all times, allowing you to snap more epic photos of your trip.

Connects You With Your Travel Location

As mentioned before, one of the best things about zoom lenses for travel photography is their versatility - but even the best things sometimes have potential drawbacks.

While zoom lenses do allow you to snap a range of photos quickly without swapping lenses, most travel photographers don’t actually moving around that much as they snap their photos. Instead, they stand in one spot, zooming in and out on various different subjects. Sure, this approach can help keep you rested while you’re out exploring, but you end up experiencing everything on your trip from afar and through your camera’s viewfinder.

Conversely, prime lenses force you to move and engage with your subjects. Since prime lenses can’t zoom in or out, the only way to snap a zoomed in or wider shot is to physically move with your feet. This simple act of reframing pushes you to actually engage with the location you’re in, providing you with a much more dynamic experience of the place. It also forces you to get creative with your compositions, as you can’t simply zoom in or out to make your ideal shot work; you need to move around and find the shots that look good to you.

Oh, and while you’re moving around taking epic travel photos with your prime lens, put down the camera too and enjoy the epic place you’re visiting.

Conclusion

While zoom lenses provide travel photographers with a ton of versatility, a good, solid prime lens should still make its way into every travel photographers’ camera bag. Due to the simplicity of their design, most prime lenses produce sharper images than zoom lenses. In addition, they typically have wider maximum apertures, allowing you to snap better handheld photos in low light. Prime lenses also typically weigh less than zoom lenses, providing you with a smaller, lighter camera set up that you can easily take everywhere during your travels. Lastly, since prime lenses don’t have a zoom function, they force you to move and get more creative with your compositions, resulting in unique photos and a more dynamic travelling experience.