Guide to Photographic Gear/Table of Contents/Choosing Lenses

Choosing Lenses
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.

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


 * Ultra Wide-Angle
 * Wide-Angle
 * Standard
 * Standard-Telephoto
 * Telephoto
 * Super Telephoto

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.
 * Fisheye
 * Macro
 * Tilt-Shift