John M. Setzler, Jr. Life in Black and White

Lens Buying for Dummies

Lens Buying for Dummies
A Practical Guide

By: John M. Setzler, Jr.
July 5, 2006
Photographers tend to ask two basic questions over and over again. The first question is: Which camera should I buy? When this question is posted to a public forum, the same answers begin to roll in. It’s like a broken record. The same situation arises when it comes time to buy lenses.

Camera lenses come in the following categories:
1. Wide-Angle Zoom (28-80mm Type)
2. Telephoto Zoom (70-300mm Type)
3. Super Wide-Angle Zoom (10-20mm / 17-40mm Types)
4. Super Telephoto Zoom (100-400 Type)
5. Wide Angle / Telephoto Zoom (28-200mm Type)
6. Prime Macro (100mm Type)
7. Prime Wide-Angle – Telephoto (fixed focal length non macro)
8. Fisheye and other Novelty Lenses

The average SLR camera user will own a collection of these lenses. Most own at least one wide angle and one telephoto zoom. Those two lenses cover a majority of situations you will encounter. Each of these lens types is available in various quality levels and price ranges. This is what makes it difficult to choose the right lens in many cases. In the wide-angle zoom category, you can generally find lens options between $99 and $1200, so there is a huge difference in what you are getting. You have to know what those differences are and why you are buying a particular lens before you shop.

If you are a new SLR owner (or soon to be) and aren’t sure which lenses to buy, your first lens should be a wide-angle zoom. In terms of point and shoot digital camera zooms, this lens will offer 3x or 4x zoom factor. It’s not a lot of zoom but it’s the perfect lens for general-purpose photography. Your second lens should be a telephoto zoom. These lenses offer approximately 10x zoom. The combination of these two lenses will cover most opportunities that you would want to photograph.

Now that we have our general purpose lens options covered, there are a few specialty lenses that you may wish to consider. The first thing you need to consider when making lens purchases is the specific types of subjects you like to photograph. Here are a few of those scenarios:

Landscape Photography

If landscape photography is your main interest, you may want to consider a super wide-angle lens. You can find these in zoom and fixed focal length options. There are several 10-20mm and 12-24mm options in zoom lenses. You will also find some 16mm and 17mm fixed focal length (prime) lenses for this type of work. Most landscape photographers wish to show a huge expanse of landscape in their photos. The super wide-angle lenses are perfect for this.

Nature Photography

As a nature photographer, you are probably interested in capturing wildlife (plant and animal) in your journeys. For animal life, you will probably want to use a zoom telephoto lens (300mm or greater) to bring you closer to your subject. That same telephoto zoom lens may be adequate for filling your frame with a flower as well. If not, a macro lens would do the trick. Both of these lenses are a must for an avid wildlife photographer.

Portrait Photography

Doing studio quality portrait work usually has some specific lens requirements, as well as studio lighting. Most portrait photographers prefer fixed focal length lenses in the 85mm to 135mm range. These lenses should also be capable of larger aperture sizes. The 85mm f/1.8 lens seems to be a favorite choice. Using a fixed focal length lens also assumes that you will be able to position your camera properly for the photo and not have to rely on cropping. I believe that longer focal length lenses are good choices for portrait work. Lots of people will recommend the 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 lens for this, but I believe that a longer lens is better. A longer lens allows you to increase the working distance between you and your subject. Some of the professional portrait photographers I know choose a 135mm lens for head and shoulders portrait work.

Candid/Street Photography

This type of photography is almost a general-purpose type of work. You can use about any lens you like. If you are going to be a part of the action, a wide-angle lens is a good choice. If you are planning to be a spectator from a distance, a telephoto lens works best. This type of photography would also cover situations such as birthday parties, family vacations, et cetera.

Wedding Photography

Wedding photography is much like street and candid work with one exception. Unless it’s an outdoor daytime wedding, you will generally be working in poor light. You would generally want higher quality versions of the same lenses listed in the Candid/Street photography section.

Sports Photography

Outside daytime sports photography can be done with a standard telephoto zoom lens (300mm range). These lenses give you a good zoom so you can position yourself at a shooting location and cover a lot of the action without having to move around too much. If you are working night sports or poorly lit indoor sports, you need one of the higher quality telephoto lenses with a wider aperture to get adequate shutter speeds. You may also need weather resistant gear.

Still Life Photography

Still life photography is just like studio photography in most cases. The photographer has complete control over the scene and the lighting (most of the time). In most cases, the wide-angle zoom lenses or wide angle primes are best for this type of work.
Choosing the Correct Lens Model

Now that we have covered most of the scenarios you will find yourself in, we need to determine which quality level of lens you need for the job.

The first thing you have to do is determine what will be done with the photos you make after you press the shutter button on the camera. In my opinion, there are two groups of photographers when we get to this point in the game: 1) Internet use and small prints (up to 8x10) and 2) professional grade printers (larger than 8x10 prints).

If you fall into the first category and won’t often make prints larger than 8x10, you can purchase the less expensive lenses. You will not be able to determine a very noticeable difference in print quality between a $100 lens and a $1000 lens. If your prints aren’t being sold to customers and are just being used for family albums and keepsakes, don’t waste your money on more expensive lenses (unless you simply have the money to burn).

If you are planning to sell prints or make larger prints of your work, the more expensive lenses will benefit you quite a bit. Let’s take a look at why some lenses of similar specs are more expensive than others…

Lens Quality Variations

There are several major differences between a $100 lens and a $1000 lens with similar focal lengths. Whether or not you need the more expensive lens is up to you.

Build Quality:

More expensive lenses are generally built with durability in mind. The lens barrel material is stronger, the lens mounting mechanism is stronger, and the internal mechanics are stronger as well. These lenses are built to professional standards and can withstand the repeated installation and removal on the camera.

Auto Focus:

More expensive lenses have faster and quieter auto focus motors. Your lens won’t spend as much time hunting for focus on your subject.

Glass Quality:

More expensive lenses tend to have higher quality glass elements inside. Some cheaper lenses have plastic elements inside. The higher quality glass is beneficial when you plan to make larger prints (larger than 8x10 or so). The higher quality glass also produces slightly better color reproduction and sharpness than the glass found in cheaper lenses.

What should I buy?

Now that you know what lenses are good for your applications, how will you decide what to buy? You can ask for advice from friends if you like, but you will get the same answers almost anywhere you go. Your friends will suggest that you buy what they already have in most cases. Your friends may or may not have experience with anything other than what is in their bag. Ultimately, when you ask a group of people, you will get recommendations of the most expensive lenses in whatever category you are shopping.

Don’t rely on photos you see online to tell you how good or bad any particular lens is. You don’t know what has been done to the photo in post processing. If color saturation, sharpness, contrast, and brightness of a photo have been adjusted, you can’t draw a conclusion about the actual quality of the lens. You also can’t tell a lot about the quality of a lens by looking at a small photo online. You really need to see a professional quality print to compare lens performances.

This guide to lens buying may not be any more useful than anything else you read, but it sums up everything you will read most of the time.