[(RED) WTB] Red Zoom 18-50mm vs Red Pro Prime 18mm Which Should I Buy?

[Cornell Williams]

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[Dave Weber]

I have the original 18-50 zoom and love it. But as to your question, No at 18mm on the zoom it is not as sharp/quality of the 18mm RPP. IMHO

 

[Glen Powell]

I have the original 18-50 zoom and love it. But as to your question, No at 18mm on the zoom it is not as sharp/quality of the 18mm RPP. IMHO

I have both and agree.

 

[Brigham Edgar]

I had three 18-50's and they where bad, got my money back and bought the 18-85mm. Some are good though apparently and i have seen nice images from them and if you got a good one it's worth keeping as there isn't anything around that price range. You CANNOT service them though and they have to go to RED for any work to be done if at all still possible due to being discontinued a while ago. But as the lens tech who looked at mine said...the mechanics are so ordinary they cannot be serviced, just replaced...buy carefully. The RPP 18mm prime is a great lens...and almost any prime will always be a lot sharper than any zoom as well as a lot faster. These are getting rarer and as all their primes they have been discontinued indefinitely. Great prime lenses if you can grab one, albeit heavy.
There are the occasional 18-50's for sale, and a few 18-85mm's which are a far better lens (though larger and a lot heavier)...i just happen to be selling mine...lol...convenient no

 

[Rob Massey]

I believe the most apparent difference is that the prime will be faster than the zoom, with a smaller depth of field.