Weight? Good low light performance?

Still wait to see any zoom lens can get faster than f2.8

http://improvephotography.com/1098/prime-or-zoom-lens-dslr/

if not referring to prime lens then what else la? see the conversation also know already mah.
and who said zoom lens can achieve much better IQ compared to prime lenses?

Even without that, there are zooms which are far sharper than primes.
If any the lack of dof makes it feel "blur" rather than sharp. More so when it's mis-focused.
My 50mm wide open looks really soft compared to my zooms.

Of course, all lens do become sharper when you stop down by 1-2 stops.

There are zooms which are sharper than primes at wide open. Eg: 70-200 f/2.8 IS II or 24-70 f/2.8 II

Which 50mm primes I use ?
Canon 50mm f/1.8, Canon 50mm f/1.4, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and Canon 50mm f/1.2.
No doubt that some are sharp enough wide open, especially the later 2. It's just that the thin DOF makes it seem less sharp, more so when you did not nail the focus right. AFAIK the canon 50mm f/1.0 is extremely soft too.

Of course, all this is not that important unless you are a pixel peeper. On a small screen like your camera LCD, all should appear tack sharp.
Since 50mm are mostly used as a "portrait" lens, sharpness isn't exactly the most important thing too.

Not to mention I'm comparing all of this based on wide open sharpness aka 50mm f/1.2 at f/1.2 against 70-200mm f/2.8 at f/2.8. Just want to debunk the myth that a prime is always sharper than a zoom.

In the old days of film SLRs, the saying that primes are sharper than zooms is true because back then zoom lenses are still in their infancy and not all that sharp.

Nowadays, that is no longer true. Premium zoom lenses are as sharp as primes. Some are even sharper.

Anyway, sharpness should never be the measuring stick for choosing lenses. As long as a lens is decently sharp, it's a good lens. You can always sharpen your image during post processing. The important thing is to get a lens with a focal length that you can really use. Not because it's sharp or a lot of people are using it.

I choose primes mostly because they are more compact than premium zooms. So it's easier to carry multiple primes rather than multiple zooms. Before anyone say that one zoom can be used to replace multiple prime focal lengths, I want to stress that this is not true if you want premium zooms. Premium zooms are rarely more than 4x zoom factor. So to cover wide angle and portraits you would need at least 2 zooms : the 16-35mm f2.8 and a 24-70mm f2.8 and both these lenses are big, bulky and heavy. Another drawback is that the zooms will usually have a slower aperture rating than most primes. Primes can go to f1.8 or even f1.4 while zooms have yet to break the f2.8 aperture rating.

Prime lenses also force you to take note of the composition of your photos. If one angle does not work, you have to move and find another angle. You do not have the luxury of zooming in or out.

erm i'm refering to these post... as for high end zooms

There are zoom far sharper than primes

Do you have sample photo with 17-50mm tamron?looking for that lens too for wedding job...

. In this case, I'm not referring to all primes, just some.
Some primes still have unbeatable image quality like 100mm macro, 85mm f/1.8, and 135 L.
It's just certain prime lens that can't match higher end zooms.

what LegendLee + shootkk said is so clear already. How able to misinterpret also puzzle me.

nowadays i bring 15-85. (it's about 24-135 fov on FX)

so that's like 24mm + 50mm + 85mm + 135mm combo ........... BUT in terms of FOV only, and it's 1 lens vs 4, convenient and I can zoom, with image stabilization some more.

With all that, I lose out on wide aperture and IQ.

aiya guys.. no need to quarrel about image quality laa. in the end it's what we shoot that matters. whatever lens or body u use is up to u, as long as u enjoy using it

for primes i simply want the balance of bokeh and weight. a 18-105 lens is, light, small but wont get me the bokeh that i want. a 24-70 f2.8 gets me the bokeh, but is too big and heavy (lets not talk about $ here).

that being said, i just added another lens to kawtim my prime collection XD sigma 15mm 2.8... so now i have 15mm (bonus feature, can double as a macro lens), 35mm and 85mm. macam no need to buy anymore lenses already ahahah

that's why i don't talk about IQ. to me as long as photo looks good it's enough for me.

yea ! haha, as long as content good, photographer enjoy the lens he's using.. then happy family alr 

then why discuss so much in this thread?

confused la about what you trying to do.

discuss only mar at least can know smth more about them while @ home not out shooting... doesnt mean that discuss about sharpness means crazy sharpness 

Still don't understand why people getting so serious about sharpness. A tiny bit of sharpness won't do anything else to your pic unless you print it really large. Most people buy super high quality camera bodies and lenses, end up putting all the pics on facebook or flickr only.

Kenot brain.

Still don't understand why people getting so serious about sharpness. A tiny bit of sharpness won't do anything else to your pic unless you print it really large. Most people buy super high quality camera bodies and lenses, end up putting all the pics on facebook or flickr only.

Kenot brain.

like people buy gold and diamond end up keeping inside cupboard din wear out lo~ for me i got use to do printing albums for my family trips and all

But are you going to make a super large prints? If just something A4 size I don't see the advantage of super sharp lens.

Still don't understand why people getting so serious about sharpness. A tiny bit of sharpness won't do anything else to your pic unless you print it really large. Most people buy super high quality camera bodies and lenses, end up putting all the pics on facebook or flickr only.

Kenot brain.

The feeling of I OWN IT because I CAN !

I buy 24mm f/1.4G to shoot foods

like people buy gold and diamond end up keeping inside cupboard din wear out lo~ for me i got use to do printing albums for my family trips and all

my wife using camera + phone shoot and make this photobook , no need sharpness , no need very clear image , just need the moment , the process , the meaning at the behind , that is more than enough
If the picture is sharp , but no meaning , no the moment , how sharp also useless