AF, OS, VR, MM…Lenses can just look like a bunch of random numbers and letters smashed together. It’s no wonder many novice photographers just stick with their kit lens. If you’re using the lens that came with your camera, you are severely limiting your camera’s performance. The beauty of using an interchangeable lens camera is that interchangeable lens. Lens shopping doesn’t have to be intimidating, so here’s what you need to know.
Lens Types
There are two main types of lenses:
Zoom Lenses - which as the name implies, offer some amount of zoom. Zoom lenses are favored for their flexibility and come in a variety of different sizes and options.
Prime Lenses - don’t offer any zoom, but before you rule them out entirely, read on. Prime lenses are smaller, cheaper and faster. It will cost you several hundred dollars to get a f1.8 zoom lens, but you can get a nice f1.8 50mm lens perfect for portraits for about $200.
Lenses are either zooms or primes, but within those two types, there are a few more categories. These categories are typically designated by the focal length. The number followed by “mm” in the lens name is the focal length, which tells you how close the lens will bring the subject in. A 300mm lens is approximately the equivalent to a 10x zoom for example, and is called a telephoto lens.
Here are the main lens categories:
Telephoto: These lenses bring whatever you are shooting up close. Telephoto lenses are often used for sports and wildlife photography.
Macro: Macro lenses are able to focus on subjects that are very close. Macro lenses will have a ratio in their name indicating how close the lens can get, 1:1 means the lens will reproduce the subject at life size, 2:1 means the lens will produce the object twice as large as in real life, for example.
Wide-angle: These lenses capture an entire scene and are often used for landscapes, they have focal lengths of 30mm or less.
Fish-eye: These lenses are extreme wide angles, in fact they see wider than the human eye. Since the perspective is so wide, however, fish-eye lens produce distorted images that often look rounded. Many photographers use the unusual rounded look of a fish-eye to add interest to their shots.
Lens Aperture
The aperture of a lens is one of the most important features. The number that follows the “f” in the name tells you how wide you can make the aperture using that lens. A f3.5-5.6, for example, can have a f3.5 aperture at the lowest focal length but just f5.6 when fully zoomed. A f3.5 lens is average, though extreme telephoto lenses may average a bit higher.
If you haven’t yet mastered manual modes, aperture adjusts the amount of light coming into an image. An aperture of f1.8 will offer plenty of light and a nice soft background, while an f8 aperture will leave more of the image in focus, but won’t let in as much light. Having a lens with a low f number, like f1.8, is essential for shooting in low light and for creating a soft, out-of-focus background.
Vibration Reduction
Vibration reduction is also a nice feature to have, depending on the type of lens you are purchasing. Vibration reduction, as the name implies, helps eliminate blur from camera shake. If you are picking up a telephoto lens, vibration reduction is very important, since the longer the zoom is, the more blur the slightest movement will introduce.
Vibration reduction isn’t as important in the middle range, but it’s also nice for macro, since zooming in close on a subject also enhances blur from camera shake. Depending on the manufacturer, the vibration reduction is usually designated in the name by a set of letters: VR (Nikon), IS (Canon), OS (Sigma) and VC (Tamron).
Other Important Features
When purchasing a new lens, there’s a few more things to consider. Not all lenses are autofocus, so check the technical specifications to make sure autofocus is included. You should also check the minimum focus length, particularly if you shoot macro. The minimum focus length tells you how close you can be to a subject and still be able to use autofocus. You may have experienced this before, if your camera has refused to take a picture until you backed up further away from the subject.
Manufacturers will often indicate if the lens is quiet or not. If you shoot video or candid images or in places like museums and churches, quiet lenses are nice to have. Canon and Tamron both indicate this in the lens name as USD and Sigma calls it HSM. Nikon calls theirs the Silent Wave Motor, but it’s listed in the description, not the name.
Lens Recommendations
The best lens for you will depend on what camera you use and what you shoot. Always make sure the lens is fully compatible with your camera, some lenses will “work” with a camera, but the autofocus feature won’t (a lesson I learned the hard way). If you are just starting out, here’s the best lenses to expand your kit with:
For portraits, still life and low light photography:
Pick up a fast prime lens. Look for an f1.8 lens, a 50mm or close to that. If you have more of a budget, you can make it a fast zoom lens for even more versatility, they’re just quite a bit more expensive. My favorite lens is a f1.8 50mm lens that I bought brand new for just over $200.
For sports and wildlife:
Pick up a good telephoto zoom. These lenses will bring the action (or critters) up much closer. Fast telephoto zooms are quite expensive, so if you are just starting out, a f3.5 telephoto is fine, I started my photojournalism career with one. If you have big dreams of shooting the Olympics or going pro, then you’ll want something faster, like an f2.8.
For close-ups:
Pick up a macro lens. If you like to shoot close-ups of things that are skittish, like bugs, pick up a macro with a longer zoom range. If flowers and still life are more your style, you can save money by getting a prime macro lens.
For landscapes:
Pick up a wide-angle lens (if you have one already, look at sample images from fish-eyes to see if that interests you). Wide angle lenses capture the entire scene; they’re available as both zooms and primes.
For events and kids:
Look for a versatile zoom lens. These lenses are more expensive, but essential when switching lenses will mean missing the moment. Zoom lenses can be both wide-angle and telephoto in one, meaning you only need one lens instead of two or three.
Buying lenses can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.
Have questions? Ask us in the comment section below, we would love to hear from you!
The post Beginners Guide: How To Choose a New Lens appeared first on fotoclasses.