If you are just starting out, you cannot afford to buy every single lens. So how do you pick the right camera lens for yourself? In this article, I’ll share with you exactly how to choose a camera lens like an expert.
We all know that the lens is the most important part of a camera. You can have a $10,000+ dollar camera but if it doesn’t have a good lens, it won’t look like a great image or footage.
Alternatively, if you had a cheap camera with a really good lens, the image coming out would look beautiful.
Regardless of what style of photography or videography you’re going to do, choosing the right camera lens for yourself is incredibly important.
How you choose your lens can be the difference between getting amateur results vs getting professional-looking results.
With the huge number of options that are available, I know how overwhelming it can be to find the right lens for you.
That is why I created this guide. This guide will help you choose the right lens or lenses to buy.
How to choose the right camera lens?
No single lens is best for everyone. Each photographer or filmmaker has different priorities, shooting styles, unique preferences.
What works for one person might not work for another. So the first thing we need to do is find our your priorities.
Consider the following factors while you explore different types of lenses:
1. Focal Length
Focal length is the distance between the center of the lens and the sensor of the camera when the subject is in focus.
The greater the number, the more you are zoomed in. The lower the number, the wider the shot, the more your camera can capture in the frame.
So if you want to fit more into your frame, you might want to get a wide-angle focal lengths such as 14mm, 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, or anything under 35mm.
Similarly, if you want to get closeup shots or capture a subject that is farther away from you, you might want to look into a telephoto lens with focal lengths above 50mm. Also, keep in mid that when you pick a telephoto lens, get one with a f2.8 or lower aperture (we’ll talk more about it below) so that enough light can still pass through and your images are not dark.
If you want to do landscape photography or architecture photography, a smaller focal length such as 14mm, 24mm, or 35mm might work better for you.
If you want to do portrait photography, your preferred focal length maybe between 45mm and 85mm. Between these ranges, the proportions of the face and body are true to life and flattering.
Additionally, if you want to do wildlife and nature photography, you will most likely require a longer focal length since you can’t get close to the subject. This could range between 300mm and 600mm. By using those focal lengths, you can get nice and tight shots of birds and other wildlife without getting hurt or scaring them away.
2. Aperture
Aperture is basically how wide the lens is opened. It is represented by the letter f and corresponding numbers, known as f-stop.
The number can be a little confusing, but to understand it simply, the lower the number the wider the opening is. Similarly, the larger the number the smaller the opening is.
As you may have guesses, the more that the lens is opened, the more light can come in. So lower f-stop is great for low-light photography or videography. Additionally, the more that it is opened (lower f-stop), the blurrier the background gets.
Most professional photographers and videographers usually get a wide angle lens with the lowest possible aperture available which include f/1.4, 4/1.8, or f/2.
With those apertures, you can shoot in almost any environment regardless of the available light. This is also why low aperture lenses are expensive. Most affordable lenses will usually have an f-stop of f/4 or f/5.6.
Also, shallow depth of field means more blur. (Just an interesting thing to know.)
Now, another thing you should note is the difference between a fixed-aperture lens and a variable-aperture lens.
A fixed-aperture lens is literally a lens with a fixed aperture. You can go to a larger f-stop number if you want to but the aperture won’t change on its own.
On a variable-aperture lens, however, the aperture will change randomly. In a variable-aperture lens, there is a range of aperture that the camera switches between automatically as it sees fit.
3. Prime lens vs Zoom lens
Prime lens cannot zoom. It has a fixed focal length. Zoom lens, on the other hand, have a range between which it can zoom.
Usually, prime lenses have lower aperture numbers so they let a lot of light into your photographs which can make the background more blurry and you can take good photos in poorly lit situations.
But if your priority is being able to zoom in and zoom out as needed, a zoom lens would be a better pick for you. It is also often noticed that prime lenses have a higher glass quality which leads to higher image quality.
Prime lenses don’t provide the zoom versatility. So if you can only afford to buy one lens, you’d be in a safer position with getting a zoom lens which can accommodate many different types of photographic styles. You can do landscape and architecture photography with the zoom lens’s wider focal lengths, shoot portrait with the mid-range focal lengths, and shoot wildlife photography with the longest focal lengths.
Basically, if you want to do general-purpose photography or videography, a zoom lens will be the better decision.
Also, as I said previously, prime lenses have a winder maximum aperture which gives more light and background blur. Zoom lenses, on the other hand, usually have a narrower maximum aperture. At the most zoomed out focal length, the aperture will be the widest, and as you zoom in, the aperture will keep getting narrower.
Professional photographers usually use different lenses for each focal length so they can use prime lenses over zoom lenses. The below guide will help you understand the difference between prime lens and zoom lens and help you pick the right one for yourself.
Prime lens vs Zoom lens:
| Prime lens | Zoom lens | |
|---|---|---|
| Size & weight | Smaller and lighter than average zoom lenses. | Usually large and bulky. |
| Price | Usually cheaper. | Expensive for low aperture lenses and affordable for high aperture lenses. |
| Portability | You may have to carry multiple prime lenses to cover different shooting ranges. | On zoom lens can cover multiple shooting ranges. |
| Versatility | Since the focal length is fixed, in order to get close or farther from a subject, the camera has to be physically moved. | It is more versatile as you can simply use the zoom ring on your lens to zoom in and out to get your desired result. |
| Image quality | High quality, crisp, and sharp photos even in low light. | Standard quality; best for shooting scenes from afar. |
| Speed | Generally faster in aperture; ideal for fast-moving subjects. | Usually slow. Requires camera’s image stabilization features to use fast shutter speed. |
| Low light performance | Because of the wider aperture, performs very well in low light. | Usually these lenses don’t perform that well in low light scenes due to the narrow aperture. |
Prime lenses can be further classified into different lens types, each serving a specific purpose.
Types of Prime lens:
| Standard | Captures images as you see it. Comes in 35-80mm focal lengths. |
| Wide-angle | Allows shooting a wide angle shot of the scene. Ideal for shooting group of people, landscapes, or architecture. |
| Fisheye | A type of wide-angle lens. Gives a panoramic and spherical perspective. |
| Telephoto | Shoots distant subjects without distorting the image. Covers 75-300mm range. |
| Super telephoto | Reaches more distant subjects with lenses between the 200-400mm range. Wildlife photographers like this lens a lot. |
4. Compatibility with your camera’s sensor
In digital cameras, the sensor is the part of the camera that captures the image when you press the shutter button, in contrast to the film in analog cameras.
Sensors in medium-frame cameras are larger than that of full-frame cameras which are larger than APS-C cameras which are larger than micro four-thirds cameras.
The larger the sensor size, better the image quality.
The point is that there are different size of sensors on different cameras. All lenses are not compatible with all cameras. There are different 50mm lenses for a crop-sensor camera and different for a full-frame camera.
So when you are purchasing a lens, make sure it is compatible with your camera’s sensor size.
Additionally, full-frame cameras shoot at exactly the range given on your lens. So a 100mm lens will shoot at 100mm on your ful- frame camera.
On a crop-sensor camera, however, the focal length is multiplied by 1.5 or 1.6 depending on the camera brand you use. Micro four-thirds cameras multiply the lens’s focal length by 2. This number is also called the multiplication factor of the camera.
So a 100mm lens is 100mm on a full-frame camera, 160mm on a crop-sensor camera, and 200mm on a micro-four thirds camera.
Make sure to confirm that the lens you’re going to buy is compatible with your sensor size. Otherwise you might get a full-frame lens for your crop-sensor camera and it won’t work.
5. Price
As with most things, price will be the most important factor when you’re trying to pick or choose the right lens for you. The price you’re willing to pay for a lens will narrow your choices down to particular brands and models.
Many people think that they need to get the lenses from their camera brands. So that would be a Sony lens for a Sony camera or a Canon lens for a Canon camera.
But if you’re looking to save some money without sacrificing on the image quality, you might want to look into third-party lenses. Lenses from Sigma and Tamron are very similar to the camera brand lenses at a reduced price.
Many people prefer Sigma more than the native camera lens, “the image quality is just too good” they say.
Some brands may also have multiple versions of lenses available at various price points by including or excluding certain features such as image stabilization or auto-focus motors. Manual lenses take some time to get used to but are often very inexpensive as compared to automatic lenses.
So again, if you’re looking to save money, explore your options with an open mind.
What type of camera lens to use?
While choosing the right camera lens for you depends on your needs, it is often helpful to get a roadmap for what would work best.
Here’s a few recommendation for the type of lenses you should consider for your particular photography or videography needs:
Best lenses for each photography type:
| Photography type | Best lens type to use | Lens recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Prime lens | Canon 85mm f1.2 |
| Travel | Zoom lens | Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 |
| Street | Zoom lens | Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 |
| Architecture | Zoom lens | Canon 16-35mm f2.8 | Sony 12-24mm f4 |
| Landscape | Wide-angle zoom lens | Canon 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 |
| Wedding | Prime lens + zoom lens | Sigma 50mm f1.4 + Canon 24-70mm f2.8 |
| Sports | Prime lens | Canon 400mm f2.8 |
| Wildlife | Telephoto or super telephoto lens | Nikon 70-300mm f4.5 |
| General shooting | Zoom lens | Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 |
| Insect or flower | Macro | Nikon 85mm f1.8 |
| Food | Macro | Canon 100mm f2.8 Micro |
How to buy the right camera lens like an expert?
All photographers and filmmakers have different priorities and preferences. The right lens for one person may not be the right lens for yourself. The best way to find the right lens for yourself is to try them out for yourself.
If possible, rent a few lenses for a week, use them all for the photography or filmmaking style you want to shoot and it will give you a decent idea of which might be the best lens for you.
Additionally this full guide will come in handy as you narrow your options to pick the right lens for you.
I hope this article was helpful in helping you decide on the right camera lens.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments down below.