Kit Lenses vs. Professional Lenses

[Edalongthepacific]

How much better would you say professional lenses are than those supplied with retail kits? As high as 20%? As low as 10%? I know that there are differences among brands, models, prime, zoom, etc. But if you put kit lenses in a blender and compared them with professional lenses from a different blender what would the difference in quality be?

[Marlyn]

IMHO, and this is entirley subjective, Pro lenses  are up to several 100% better (or more)  in some cases.

My experience is with Canon,  but the difference between a basic Kit lens of the plastic kind, and the top end Pro glass is substantial.

This is accross all factors, not just pure image quality.   
Main areas

- Pure image quality (CA, Distortion, sharpness, effective resolution)
- Autofocus - Servo focus in the kit lens isn't even on the same planet as silent USM focus on Pro Lenses.   
- Lens speed.  Pro lenses are faster, (larger appetures)   (matters both for the shot itself,  but also brighter viewfinders, and faster focusing)
- Weather sealing.   If Kit lens get wet, they die.  Pro lenses don't.
- Internal Focus, or non rotating focus.  Many kit lenses both focus externally, and rotate whemn they do.  Pro lenses don't.


However, as with anything, this is entirley subjective !.  You can make exceptional photo's with a kit lens.   

Regards

Mark

[Edalongthepacific]

Yes, good information. They say amateurs are concerned about equipment and professionals about their subject. However, professional gear can provide additional opportunities for enhancing subject matter.

[Scott O.]

Subjective, subjective, subjective, etc.!  I have both pro and kit lenses.  I would have to say that the difference in optics is' relatively' minor.  Major differences will be in maximum aperture, build quality and functioning (like internal vs. external zoom).  Also some features like vibration reduction.  A pro lens will better take the beating a pro will dish out in daily use.  Most of us (including me) really don't need it.

[francois]

Yes, good information. They say amateurs are concerned about equipment and professionals about their subject. However, professional gear can provide additional opportunities for enhancing subject matter.

As other posters said, IQ is subjective so your are the only judge. How about renting the lens(es) you are interested in?

[happyman]

did make a stunning experience with the nikkor D7000 kit lens 18-105 vr this week. Product shot against 24-70 and 45 PCE and this lens holds up very well. Needs a bit more care for sharpening but as long as you don´t need full 16mp for a product shot (i scaled them down to 75%) i can get what is needed. This plastic lens is great at f5,6 - f11. The 45 PCE was the worst but has had some shift applied.
Last year i did a snap shot from a still i shot with my H3D 39 and the 120 Macro. The snap shot was with D3x an the cheap 70-300 VR lens. My client couldn´t tell the difference at final size...

Anyway, i love fast primes :-)

[Ben Rubinstein]

At f8 you'd probably be very hard pressed to justify the difference in price. Wide open where so many pro's live, it's hugely apparent, especially when one lens will get you the shot at f2.8 and the kit lens won't go under f5.6

Add to that distortion, drawing, bokeh and funky lens defects such as CA, etc, throw in the aspect of reliability, weather proofing, focus speed, etc and it starts making sense.

That said none of my primes are 'pro' lenses and each outperforms any of my pro zooms. The above is only really true when comparing like for like, kit vs zoom.

[stever]

yes, kit zooms are the most problematic.  this is particularly true at the wide end of medium-wide zooms where resolution on one or both sides at larger (and some times not so large) apertures may be down 60 or 70% from the center.  the long end of med-long kit lenses is also a problem.  okay for snapshots, web, and even viewing on a hi-def TV but it can get unpleasant at the edges of images printed more than 8x10.

[Luis Argerich]

14.666% if my calculations are right.