Guide to Photographic Gear/Table of Contents/Choosing Lenses
Choosing Lenses
[edit | edit source]After you have chosen a camera, you will probably want to choose a lens. While many cameras come with a kit lens, you may want to also buy another lens to complement your kit lens. To do that, you will need to follow the steps listed below.
 | A Note on Kit Lenses: While most kit lenses are generally of poorer quality than non-kit lens (with the exception of Fujifilm's XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4R LM OIS), they usually can produce pretty decent photos, believe it or not! It could be a great idea to limit yourself by seeing what photos you could get with only the kit lens. |
The first step is to decide whether you want a prime lens or a zoom lens. In its simplest sense, a prime lens is one that has a fixed focal length (it can't zoom in or out), and a zoom lens is one that has a variable focal length (it can zoom in or out). If this is the only thing you know, it is probably a no-brainer to choose the zoom. But the following things will make you think twice.
The pros to a zoom lens is that it can, well, zoom! With a zoom lens, you have greater control over your subject, and more freedom focal length-wise. But that freedom is compensated for by sharpness. Think of it this way: focal range and sharpness is inversely proportional: the wider the focal range is, the less sharp it is (a 50-200mm is less sharp than a 50-140mm). Recently, however, Canon broke into new territory by introducing their new RF 28-70mm f/2.0L USM lens for their EOS R mirrorless system, which has the same image quality as a prime! However, this lens still seems to be the exception rather than the rule in zoom lenses.
The pros to a prime lens are that it is sharper than a zoom. Primes are also often much cheaper than zooms because of the loss of zoom technology. Also, the silver lining to the fixed focal range is that you get to understand a specific focal range better. You know more about that one focal range, what subjects it can and cannot shoot. Two final pros to a prime lens are that it is often the best choice for night photography, often offering apertures wider than zooms can go. Primes also do great with close-up photography as well.
Now that you know whether you want a prime or zoom lens, it is time to decide on a focal length type. In general, there are the following types of lenses:
Normal
Specialty
After you've read the corresponding pages and chosen a type of lens, go to your camera brand's page in this book to learn about good lenses that will suit you.