Does a zoom have equal DOF to a Prime?

Glort

I'm looking to get wide angle lens and want to use zone focusing taking advantage of the DOF as the situation I am in is low light and often hard for the auto focus to get right quickly.

I'm wondering if a wide zoom has the same sort of DOF as a prime at the same focal length or if there is a difference?

Qarik

exactly the same. but note that DOF is a function of zoom and aperture so in practice primes lens often can offer thinner DOF since they often come with wider apertures over zooms.

Glort

Thanks for the answer. I searched online for quite a bit and couldn't find the answer. I suspected they were the same but couldn't find a definitave answer.
I appreciate the response.

ziggy53

It does sound like your bigger problem is, "... low light and often hard for the auto focus to get right quickly."

Are you using a device with an AF Assist light on the camera? (For example, many flashes and flash master controller transmitters have an AF Assist light.)