>>4325512Prime is fixed focus, no zoom. Primes exist at all focal lengths. Field of view is not why people like them.
Primes tend to be “faster”, as in is bigger aperture. Gather more light. Faster shutter speeds at lower ISO. More control of depth of field. More bokeh.
Primes simpler design allows better image quality, less distortion, less chromatic aberration.
This is especially true in the kind of older, cheaper, entry level, outdated lens designs and dead mount systems that poor people can afford and beginner dabblers (anybody that posts looking for cheap used recommendations in /gear/ or /sqt/) feel comfortable buying.
Compare any consumer level entry level crop sensor dslr 18-55mm kit zoom at 35mm to the same manufacturers 35mm prime lens. The prime is better not just because can go to f/1.8 but because its images are way sharper, less aberrations at every f-stop.
In more expensive snd modern lenses the less of a difference there is.
They’ve been able to make zooms since the 2000s that are better at all focal lengths as the previous generations primes, but they’re also more expensive.
At the extreme longer telephoto end primes also get pricey, this is because they are a specialty niche product aimed at people willing to pay out the ass for every last f-stop of speed
