Lenses: Which Ones Should I Get?
From super telephotos to fisheye - there is a vast selection. But which ones do I need?
Let's begin from a small table in case you already know the terminology.
Type of photography |
Lens(es) best suited for it |
|---|---|
Portrait |
Fast prime, fast wide-angle |
Landscape |
Wide-angle, fisheye, short telephoto |
Macro |
Macro, short telephoto, wide-angle |
Architecture |
Tilt-Shift, wide-angle, short telephoto |
Wildlife |
Super telephoto, telephoto |
Planespotting |
Super telephoto, telephoto, wideangle |
Street Photography |
Small fast prime, telephoto, short telephoto, wideangle |
To most, that did not make any sense. So the following will be a sort of explanation.
- Fast lens - A lens that has a low aperture number (F1.2, F2.8, etc.), as opposed to the usual F4.0-F8.0 apertures lenses have.
- Short Telephoto - A lens that covers the 70-135mm Full Frame Equivalent focal length, mostly used for portraits and relatively close objects
- Telephoto - A lens that covers the 135-300mm Full Frame Equivalent focal length, used to take photos of faraway objects.
- Super Telephoto - A lens that has a >300mm Full Frame Equivalent focal length, used to take photos of small objects at great distances.
- Wide-angle - A lens that covers the 24-70mm Full Frame Equivalent focal length, used for wide field of view photos or portraits.
- Fisheye - A lens that is <20mm Full Frame Equivalent and usually gives a Fisheye effect, where the distortion is quite strong.
- Full Frame Equivalent - Every lens has a mm focal length, but not all sensors are built the same. APS-C, for example, is the mm focal length * 1.6 (Depends on the brand, for example, Sony has 1.5x crop, look up your own brand’s APS-C) for the FF Equivalent focal length. M4/3rds is mm * 2 for FF equivalent.
With that done, let’s talk lenses.
The first main consideration is your budget and what you want to take photos of. The budget determines a lot of the features of your lens. Generally, lenses <500€ won’t have the best features with the best Autofocus and they won’t have crazy low apertures. Also, if you take photos of planes, you won’t be buying a fisheye, you’ll want a super telephoto. Another consideration is your mount. If you plan on buying a lens, KNOW WHAT MOUNT IT IS. Don’t buy a Canon RF lens for a low end Nikon.
So, what are your options?
Generally, my advice is take photos with the kit lens then go from there. If you find yourself enjoying nature and wildlife, but your kit lens can’t zoom that far, start with a basic telephoto, then move up to a super telephoto if the need is there.
If you need to take photos in lowlight situations, go for a fast lens, like an F1.2 or F2.8. <F2 apertures are generally only available for primes, whereas the F2.8 aperture is common for the professional 24-70 lens, present on most camera ecosystem
If you find yourself taking photos of people, the fast lenses also have a great bonus - their low aperture results in an excellent Depth of Field.
If you take photos of architecture, get a tilt shift.
Another thing that matters a lot is the quality of the lens. More specifically, the glass. Canon L series lenses will be so much better than Canon EF-S kit lenses, because they are of much higher quality.