Instead of lugging around a half-dozen fixed focal length lenses, a photographer can cover the same focal range with two or three zooms. Not only is the camera case easier to carry, the zooms offer instant reaction to changing subject matter. A zoom lens lets you zoom in for a tighter shot that singles out the subject and makes it stronger. Conversely, you can zoom out for a panorama effect that shows more of the scene. Zoom lenses offer flexibility and versatility that can't be matched by fixed focal length lenses.
Zoom lenses are available in many focal length ranges.
Zoom lenses for 35mm cameras have been around for many years. Early zooms were big, heavy, expensive and left much to be desired in terms of optical performance. The selection of zooms and the focal length ranges they covered were equally limited. Improvements in design, lens coatings, alloys and plastics plus evolution are now providing us with zooms that are reasonably priced, cover a wide zoom range and virtually match the image quality of fixed focal length lenses. Zoom lenses are available in just about the same range of focal lengths as non-zoom lenses.