I'm indeed a fanatic of photographic equipment and i own a lot of lenses and some camera body. When my father teached me how to shot i was only 5 and the optics available were almost only fixed lenght. I still own 2 dozens of fixed-lenght optics original by nikon. At that times zoom lenses were a lot more expensive compared to fixed-lenght ones with the same characteristics (when such zooms were available... coz in the beginning of the '80 were a bit difficult to find an 80-210 f2.8 anyway) and in many ways more low-quality. These days zooms are a completely different matter. Let's look to SIGMA ones, since i've extensively tested 'em... i'm a bit more sure of what i'm saying... ;P with the new APO EX serie SIGMA has resolved a number of problems regarding the Cromatic aberrations and the extension of the optic... The High-end ones has good f too. (my 70-200 for example is a fix f.2.8). Another good reason to prefer zooms is the price. My 70-200 2.8 costs nearly 1.500. How much it costs a 70mm f.2.8 + 135mm f.2.8 + 200mm f.2.8 needed to cover the same optical excursion of the 70-200? In addition SIGMA made an interesting tele-converter to lenghten your APO EX optics by 1.4x or 2.0x Of course, thare are some interesting things about having some fixed - lenght optics. but many times you simply can't overburden your bag with tons of fixed-lenght optics. Anyway the better choices are always in the middle.... My advice is to get some zoom stuff to cover your pimary needs like a 35-70 and an 80-210 and a couple of fixed -lenght like a good 50mm and a 28mm (damn i like wide lenses). Last word on 35-70 stuff... my advice is the Nikon one. really nice 35-70 f.2.8 with a nice manual macro. It's pretty cheap and very very very eclectic. Hope to be helpful... =D Artax