Objective: learn about buying lenses, lens descriptions, and how lenses are priced.
I was shooting at a party yesterday and a woman comes up to me and the first thing she asks me was, "what lens are you using?". I get asked about lenses a lot. Purchasing lenses is very confusing for most people. Today, I am going to talk about what I use, what I suggest for new photographers and how to shop for lenses.
Lenses are priced according to their focal length and their widest f-stop or aperture opening. Prices also change according to brand. You can buy a lens that has variable focal lengths or a fixed focal length lens. When you buy a digital SLR camera kit, you usually get a lens included. It is normally a variable focal length lens. Common lenses in a kit would be something that ranged from 17-100mm or 24-70 or something like that. The idea behind it is that this gives you a lot of flexibility. The biggest problem with "kit lenses" is that the widest aperture opening is usually 3.5-5.6. This is not very wide and limits you quite a bit when it comes to your depth-of-field.
If you are just now reading these lessons and you have no idea what focal length is or what apertures are, please take a second and go back to the earlier lesson and you'll be way less confused.
When I teach classes at my studio, one of the first things we learn about is how to use the f-stop / aperture setting to create shallow depth-of-field (DOF). This makes the background of your images soft and is great for portraits. If you are using one of the kit lenses, you will be very limited on how much DOF you can get because you can only go down to 3.5 or 5.6. To really blur out your background you want to be able to go below that.
Lens prices change radically as the aperture changes. Here's an example:
Canon EF 50mm F1.2L, BH photo video price $1400
Canon EF 50mm F1.4, BH photo video price $325
Canon EF 50 mm F2.5 compact macro, BH photo video price $239
Canon EF 50 mm F1.8, BH photo video price $89
I think adding a fixed 35 or 50 mm lens to your collection is a great experiment. This is especially true for those of you using the kit lens and nothing else. Most pros will have a 50 mm in their collection already. If you are a hobby shooter, you really don't need the F1.2 at $1400. You would be very pleased with the F1.8 for $89. If you want a macro so you can get close-ups of baby toes and the like, then try out the F2.5 macro for $239. I use that lens all the time and love how close I can get with it. So, in this example, you see that the lesser priced lens would do just fine and make a world of difference in your images.
If you want a variable focal length lens, you cannot get away cheap and also be happy. In this case, you want to buy something with an aperture of at least F2.8 or 2. Depending on the focal length range and your brand, this generally puts you up over $1000.
If the over $1000 price tag is too high for you (I totally get that by the way and grit my teeth whenever I have to buy a new lens), you might consider buying a Tamron or Sigma lens. These brands can be used with Nikon or Canon (make sure and check the compatibility with your specific camera). These brands are cheaper. Everyone has a different opinion about whether or not they "as good" as the Canon or the Nikon lenses. A friend of mine (a pro) uses some of these, swears by them and loves them. Check out the reviews online and decide for yourself if they will work for you. The good news is that they come at a lower price than the Canon or Nikon lenses so it may be a great choice for you.
One other thing to make sure and find out about is that certain lenses work on certain cameras! Obviously Canon works on Canon and Nikon on Nikon but within the brand there are certain lenses that only work on certain model cameras. Be sure and speak with someone who knows the specifics before buying something. This is especially true if you are buying off ebay or somewhere without a customer service support line. I buy all of my gear from BH photo video or from one of the local shops here in Houston. I like the people at Houston Camera Exchange or Camera Co-op. Chris is the manager at camera Co-op and he'll answer all of your questions. One of the other perks to buying locally is that, if you have a problem, you just go over there and they should be willing to help you out (no more frustrating support lines and long hold times!).
To answer the common question of what I use and what I like, these are the lenses that I use all the time at the studio:
Canon EF 85mm F1.8, (BH photo video price $355.00)
Canon EF 50 mm F2.5 compact macro (BH photo video price $239.00)
Canon EF 70-200 F2.8L (BH photo video price $1699.00)
This is the lens I use when shooting my kids at the park, at parties, etc. It is a fantastic all-purpose lens. If I am going to be moving around a lot and don't have time for lens changes, I use this one.
Canon EF 24-70 F2.8L (BH photo video price $1190.00)
If I were shooting sports or something far away and needed to zoom in closer, I would take my:
Canon EF 70-200 F2.8L (BH photo video price $1699.00)
The 70-200mm lens is such an amazing lens. I can't say enough about it. It is not an everyday shooting lens for most people but, in the right circumstances, it is the best thing going. The pros all love it because you get amazing soft backgrounds and the long focal length is very flattering for people's faces. I also love, love, love my 85mm. I use those two lenses in the studio all the time. When I need to be up close and personal, I use the 50mm compact macro.
Because I can't imagine posting without including a few images, I thought I would share this set from a session last week. These were shot using the 85mm at about F5.0.
These next ones were shot using the 70-200mm, at 120 and 200mm and F4.0
Buying a lens is a little scary when you aren't sure what all the numbers mean. If you still feel unsure, go to the camera store and try different lenses on your camera and ask questions.
Do you have a lens that you love? Tell us about it and leave a comment.