"Eugene" wrote in message
...
OK, I stand corrected. This does make sense. Actually now that I think
about it I don't tend to use the terms "prime" and "zoom" much anyway. I'd
nearly always just refer to the specific lens type. Like I'd just say 50mm
f1.4 rather than 50mm prime. Adding "prime" is kind of redundant. If only
one focal length lens is given then it's obvious I'm not talking about
variable focal length.


When I was a kid, my dad and his photographer friends referred to a 50mm
lens as the "prime" lens. It was the lens around which they all built their
systems, if they were working in 35mm. For medium format, the prime would
be in the neighborhood of 80mm. The use of the work "prime" for any fixed
focal length lens I find more than a little jarring.
On the other hand, these were guys who made the distinction between a "zoom"
lens, which held focus as focal length was changed, and "varifocal," which
did not. Most of the zoom lenses we have now are varifocal.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com