It is significant that a prime lens helps photography enthusiasts to get super-sharp photos. Since prime lenses are stuck on one focal length with no zoom, offering wide apertures to let more light in, so it will be easier to maximize available light, confirm focus and optimize image sharpness. Using a prime lens can separate foreground from background, which is beneficial for portrait photography, street photography, etc. You need to choose the highest-quality and affordable prime lenses from famous brand lenses. In this post, there are 8 top prime lenses that are strongly recommended to you.

Part 1: Prime Lens Definition

For those who are unfamiliar with a prime lens, it is necessary for you to figure out what a prime lens is. A prime lens only has a fixed focal length photographic lens, which is in contrast to a zoom lens that covers a wider range of lengths. Prime lenses come in a wide range of focal lengths and typically with a maximum aperture from f/2.8 to f/1.2 that has a shallower depth of field. Since prime lenses are usually high-quality and less expensive, with commonly compact, lighter and smaller design, they are worthy trying for photographer enthusiasts.

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Part 2: How to Choose a Perfect Prime Lens for You?

As a photographer, it is significantly essential for you to prepare a perfect prime lens based on your particular needs. When you have bought your DSLR or mirrorless camera and you need to add another prime lens to your kit outside of the one that originally came with the camera, there are several aspects you should take into consideration.

2.1 The Purpose of Shooting

When you are going to purchase a perfect prime lens, it is very important to consider what exactly it is used for. For example, if you are willing to make street photography and portrait photography, then a 50mm lens is probably the lens for you to buy. The 50mm focal length allows manufacturers to produce lightweight, compact, sharp prime lenses with fast apertures at low cost, and helps you separate the subject and make a difference to your images.

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2.2 The Time Period of Shooting

When you are going to use a prime lens which would be another important factor that affects your choice. If you are intended to use the lens during the daylight hours, and don’t really need to shoot in low light scenarios, a slower or higher f number lens would be a good option. If you are willing to shoot in lower light situations or after sundown, a faster or lower f number lens would be a better option. Depending on your performance needs and budget constraints, you are probably going to choose a prime lens between f/1.8 and f/4.

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2.3 The Spot of Shooting

Where you will shoot is another factor you should take into consideration. If you are only going to shoot indoors, then there is no need for you to invest in a lens with weather sealing. In addition, if you are mainly shooting indoors, most of the time the lighting inside may be too low for slower lenses, you need a lens that collects more light. However, if you are shooting mostly outdoors during the day, even a slower prime lens will be giving a help.

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Part 3: Top 8 Recommendations on Nikon/Canon/Sony/Olympus Prime Lenses

Many traditional photographers and enthusiasts prefer prime lenses. There are a lot of prime lenses of different brands available on the market. In order to choose the best prime lens for your DSLR and mirrorless camera, you should know more about the famous and popular camera brands and the corresponding prime lenses. In this post, there are several top prime lenses of popular brands are recommended.

△ 1. Canon RF 85mm F1.2L USM

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The RF 85mm F1.2L USM is a high-end Canon prime lens for EOS R line of mirrorless cameras. Featuring impeccable optics, world-class sharpness, fast autofocus, and amazing build quality, the prime lens is well accepted though quite expensive.

△ 2. Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro

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Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro is a fantastic Canon prime lens that offers outstanding optics, reliable performance and refined design, featuring the quality professionals and advanced photographers’ demand. Designed to deliver the image quality necessary for detailed, high-resolution image capture, it is highly recommended for micro photography.

△ 3. Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM

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FE 85mm f/1.4 GM is a Sony prime lens renowned for corner-to-corner image fidelity and the extraordinary bokeh thanks to 11-bladed diaphragm. It is claimed that this Sony prime lens is one of the best choices for portrait photography. Besides, as it is among the sharpest lenses ever tested with the aperture ranging from f/1.4 to f/16, there is no detail loss at all. A high price may be the only drawback.

△ 4. Sony FE 35mm f/1.8

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The FE 35mm f/1.8 is a full frame Sony prime lens which is with wide aperture design. It is markedly smaller and lighter than other primes, balancing well on Sony’s smaller mirrorless cameras. It is a standard prime lens that is flexible and convenient to use for portrait photography, food photography, micro photography and so on. It has an accurately autofocus function and a useful focus hold button that is handy for keeping a fixed distance within easy reach.

△ 5. Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45 mm F1.2 PRO

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The 45 mm F1.2 PRO is the most versatile MFT lens Olympus has produced to date. This Olympus prime lens is ideal for portraits and creates beautiful bokeh. Due to a lack of distortion and lightning-fast autofocus, it is also an excellent option for sports and architecture photography.

△ 6. Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 75mm F1.8

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The 75mm F1.8 is a fast Olympus prime lens that boasts outstanding sharpness, which is excellent for sports, wildlife and architecture photography. This prime lens is among the smallest and lightest telephoto lenses in existence, with a diameter of 2.5 and a length of just 2.7 inches.

△ 7. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G

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The AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G is a popular Nikon prime lens for portrait photographers in search of jaw-dropping bokeh and tack-sharp performance. There is no distortion by using this Nikon prime lens. It also has a wide aperture and offers exceptional uniform sharpness at any aperture.

△ 8. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED

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The AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G ED is the Nikon prime lens that is widely used for portraits, landscapes, and urban photography. And it is even used for astrophotography photography. This Nikon prime lens is portable and sharp, working well on both full-frame & DX Nikon cameras.

Part 4: How to Enhance Photos Taken with Nikon/Canon/Sony/Olympus Prime Lens?

As a photography enthusiast, you must have figured out what a prime lens is used for and how to use it for different types of photography. When you have taken some photos with the best prime lens, no matter Nikon or Canon or Sony or Olympus prime lens, you also need to do some post-processing to enhance photos. There are several photo enhancing tools available in the market. And Leawo PhotoIns will be the most powerful advanced AI enhancer that perfects portrait photos instantly and automatically. It can be used to do portrait enhancement like retouching skin, removing freckles, adjusting lighting and more with only a few clicks. Besides, it has a built-in AI enhancer that can automatically fix exposure issues, optimize photo colors and perfect photo tints, etc. By following the steps below, you can easily enhance your photos.

Step 1. Download and Install Leawo PhotoIns

You can download Leawo PhotoIns for free on the official site. And then install the program on your computer in a few minutes.

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  • Leawo PhotoIns

    - Enhance portrait photos easily with advanced AI technology
    - Fix photo exposure and white balance issues automatically
    - Optimize photo colors and perfect photo tints
    - Make photos perfectly clear with smart dehaze
    - Boost photo lighting and color quality
    - Process RAW and JPG files

Step 2. Import Source Photos

Launch Leawo PhotoIns on your computer, and then you can directly drag and drop the source photos taken with your prime lens to the main interface for importing. Or you can click “Add photo” button to browse and add source photos from your computer. Before importing your photos into the program, note that Leawo PhotoIns supports RAW, JPEG, TIFF, and PNG files that are at least 800*600px.

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Step 3. Enhance Loaded Photos

After importing photos into Leawo PhotoIns, you can enhance photos in batch or optimize photos one by one through its internal photo AI enhancer.

  • AI Enhance photos in batch

    • If you are intended to batch enhance the loaded photos, just click the settings button on the top-right corner to open a drop-down panel and navigate to “Settings” option to enable “Automatic Lens Correction”, “Face enhance” and/or “Enlarge eyes” features based on your needs. And then Leawo PhotoIns will instantly enhance photos in batch according to the features enabled.

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  • Enhance Photos One by One

    • To enhance your photos one by one, you can select one loaded photo and double click it to enter the editing panel. The photo AI enhancer will then automatically adopt “AI enhance” tech to AI enhance the photo for you. Besides, there is an effect adjuster bar below the previewer, which enables you to adjust the AI enhancing degrees. When the AI photo enhancing completes, you can get an instant previewer to view the photo effects “Before” and “After”.

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Step 4. Output the Enhanced Photos

When the AI enhancing is competed, click the “Output” button to open an “Output settings” window, where you can set the output directory for saving the enhanced photos, determine the output format and quality, rename and resize photos. After all settings are done, click the blue “Output photos” button to output AI enhanced photos.

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