There is a popular aphorism among photographers that says: “an average camera body and excellent lens gives better results than an excellent camera body and an average lens”, this statement has some logic in fact. Although we will not engage in arguments with it, this aphorism shows the extreme importance of having good and suitable lenses to get great photos from a camera.
One lens is not enough for any professional photographer, you can check by taking a look at any photography kit. You will find 1 or maybe 2 or 3 cameras, but you will find a dozen of lenses, each one for specific use, which leads us to our topic for today.
Kit lens
Kit lens is usually your first lens, because it is the default one with the camera (in the case you bought a camera body with a lens), and it will most likely be the lens that you are “forced” to take it, this happened because most camera manufacturers do not offer many options -or any options at all- when it comes to kit lenses.
When a camera manufacturer decides to offer a kit lens, they keep several goals in mind:
- It should allow you to take advantage of most of the camera’s capabilities, without the need to purchase additional lenses.
- It is an “average” lens for everyday photos and for most shooting conditions. For example, you will notice that your kit lens is a zoom lens, not a prime lens for more flexibility.
- It should be -in general- an inexpensive lens, so that the manufacturer does not have to raise the price of the whole camera. For example, you will notice that any kit lens is made of plastic instead of the metal that is used in more professional lenses.
One of the most common kit lenses is the 15-55mm, but some kit lenses come in 17-85mm, 18-105mm, 24-105mm, 28-135, or 18-200mm.
Is my kit lens bad? It depends on your needs. If you are a beginner, then a kit lens will fulfill your every need, is very suitable for learning, and will work efficiently with all shooting conditions.
Should I buy a camera body without a kit lens? It is also up to you. If you are still learning photography, a kit lens will fulfill your everyday needs until you buy your first professional lens. On the other hand, if you are a more advanced photographer, you will know your exact needs, so buying a kit lens can be a waste of money.
Telephoto lens
Telephoto lens is one of the most important lenses for any beginner or professional photographer. Telephoto lenses allow you to use zoom, because most DSLRs do not support digital zoom like mobile phones.
Telephoto lenses are used to shoot relatively distant subjects, like wildlife and sports events. It can also be used in an artistic way at creating contrasting focuses between the foreground and background.
The most common focal lengths for telephoto lenses are 55-250mm and 55-300mm. In general, 55-135mm lenses are considered short telephoto. 135-300mm lenses are considered medium telephoto, while over 300mm lenses are considered super telephoto.
Wide-angle lens
A wide-angle lens is a lens with a focal length of less than 35mm, so it allows a “wide” field of view. Wide-angle lenses are used to get rich photos that include many subjects within the frame; it is mainly used in landscape photography, landmarks, buildings, sky and stars; it is also can be used in interior photography to give a sense of space in the photo.
Any lens with a focal length less than 35mm is considered a wide-angle lens; despite this, there are some subcategories:
- Standard wide-angle lens: Focal lengths ranging from 24mm to 35mm, allowing you to get wide-angle shots without distorting (in dimensions of the photo subjects).
- Wide-angle lens: Focal lengths ranging from 16mm to 24mm, suitable for nature, landscape, landmarks; also it can be used in narrow rooms. The distortion in these lenses is higher than the previous one.
- Ultrawide-angle lens: Focal lengths under 16mm, also called “fish-eye lens”, because it represents how a fish would see an ultrawide view. Because it has too much distortion, it is a special purpose lens that is mainly used to get photos of stars and sky.
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Prime lens vs. zoom lens
A prime lens, in contrast to a zoom lens whose focal length can be adjusted within the range that the lens allows (by rotating the focal length controller located on the outer ring of the lens), is a lens with a fixed focal length. While the zoom lens gives you more flexibility in shooting different themes, prime lenses have important features that make them preferred by many professional photographers.
For example, prime lenses -in general- produce sharper clearer photos; even in poor lighting conditions, it is easy to fix defects in the photos taken with prime lens. Also, considering prime lens do not include moving parts, it is more reliable and has a longer lifespan, it is also lighter and shorter than a zoom lens. Finally, most prime lenses have a faster aperture, making them ideal for shooting fast-moving subjects.
On the other hand, the zoom lens gives more flexibility in choosing the focal length; therefore, it is suitable for candid photography (such as weddings and events). Also, many zoom lenses include additional features such as image stabilization.
Regarding prices, a prime lens is supposed to be cheaper, because it is simpler and does not contain moving parts. But in real life, some professional prime lenses are much more expensive than most mid-level zoom lenses.
Macro lens
A macro lens is a specialized lens, so you will only need it if macro photography is one of your interests. Macro lenses have a magnification ratio of 1:1 at least, and their focusing distance is relatively short.
Macro lenses are often expensive, especially premium ones; therefore, they are only recommended for a photographer who has gone a long way in learning and has an interest in macro photography. In conclusion, there are many other types of lenses used by photographers; we only mentioned the main categories that every beginner photographer needs to know; all other types of lenses fall under one of the main types mentioned in this article
