Lenses lenses lenses!

So you you read my post on WHICH CAMERA SHOULD I BUY? And now it’s time to pick out some lenses for that camera body. After all I did mention that more important than the camera body is the lens that you get, so now it’s time to figure out what lens to get.

Now when you shop for an SLR camera, you have to understand that you’re not just buying a camera body…the features of an entry level SLR are pretty much the same. You’re just getting into the game so forget all the nifty features since none of them will make you a better photographer. Instead take a look at what lenses are available from each manufacturer along with which third party manufacturers such as Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina are just a few names who make lenses for some of the big name camera manufacturers. So when you look at available lenses direct from the manufacturer of your camera, don’t forget to look at some of these other vendors.

Now on to the more exciting part. Asking the question “Which lens should I buy?” Well if you were unsatisfied with my camera body writeup since I had no definitive answer, then perhaps the lens suggestions could be more helpful. Lenses hold their value much better than camera bodies do. They are also updated much less frequently than camera bodies. It’s not uncommon to see a lens on the market for 10 years before a replacement comes out for it. So with that in mind, you can buy a lens that suits your needs and then sell it later for little or no loss, especially if you bought a used lens where the depreciation (if any) has already taken its hit.

There are basically three levels of lenses. Entry, mid level, and pro quality. When you purchase a camera and it comes with a lens. Most of the time it’s an entry level kit lens, so let’s begin there. A kit lens is great to get your feet wet and tinker around with, but I personally do not like using them for much more than just figuring out your camera. In fact I typically suggest that most people begin right away with a mid level lens. What’s the difference between the two? Well your mid level lens usually superior focusing performance, better quality of glass (often yielding better image quality on photos), better and more reliable build quality. Kit lenses like the 18-55mm which both Nikon and Canon offer has plastic mounts to lock into your cameras metal bracket which over time can lead to some warping of the plastic mounts. Personally I have seen a significant change in image quality when moving up from a kit lens.

When going from a mid lens to a pro quality one there is some change in image quality as well, but on top of that most of your pro lenses have not only even better build quality, but also the ability to shoot at a wider aperture such as f/2.8 (allowing more light to get in through the lens) through the entire zoom range of the lens. Entry and mid lenses might shoot at an aperture of f/3.5 when they are at their widest zoom angles, but then the aperture will automatically decrease to something like f/4.5 or f/5.6 as you zoom in. The more you zoom, the less light can make it into the lens. The other nice thing about being able to shoot at low apertures is that you get the ‘bokeh’ effect where you get a nice clear subject with the beautiful blurred background giving you very nice separation. Pro lenses focus fast and well. In low light it might take a long time and several attempts to get a kit lens to finally get a focus lock while a pro lens can handle low light situations much better.

With lenses you do indeed get what you pay for. And if you buy a cheap kit lens and slap it on that fancy new SLR camera body then it’s like putting cheap Toyota Prius tires on a Ferrari. You limit the performance of your camera with a cheap lens. Yes it’s true that I would rather have a pro photographer shoot my wedding with cheaper equipment than a novice with the most sophisticated and state of the art camera gear…but in equal hands there is no question that a pro lens will always outshine a mid one and the same goes for a mid over a kit lens. So now on to some samples below. Since I shoot Nikon I’m going to list Nikon lenses, but many of these and plenty of others are available for Canon and other makers:

Entry:
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 $120
70-300mm f/4-5.6G $150

Mid:
16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR $550
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR (different than the one listed above) $500

Pro:
17-55mm f/2.8 or 24-70mm f/2.8 (17-55 is more for DX and 24-70 is for FX sensors) $1100/$1800
70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR $1900 (new version coming soon for approx $2300)

~ by novophotography on October 19, 2009.