BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Camera Lenses

Photography Question 

Jean Walley
 

Which Lens is Best First Buy When Upgrading?


My husband bought me a Dynax 500si camera for Christmas and I have just got used to it. Now I want to start buying lenses as I gain more experience. The question is in which order should I buy them? Should I get a zoom lens and what size? Or would a telephoto be best? I'm not sure of the difference... which is the best? I like taking landscapes and wildlife pictures the most.


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August 27, 2001

 

Vasko
 
 
  Flower
Flower
50mm

Vasko

 
  Washington Memorial at Night
Washington Memorial at Night
28mm example

Vasko

 
 
Hi, Jean,

I know exactly what you mean about wanting to buy new lens for your camera. I have a Canon AE-1 and I have gotten used to it and I am now in the process of "upgrading", so to speak. Now, I am assuming that the camera you have has a zoom lens with probably 28-80mm range, but I cannot be certain of that. You would have to specify...

Ok, without any more empty talk, let me try to suggest to you what type of lens you would like to buy. You said that you like landscape photography and also wildlife photography. For the former one I would recommend you get a "wide-angle" lens. This type of lens allows you to take photos of your surroundings at a much higher angle. I have a 28mm lens for that purpose (the smaller the number, i.e. 28mm, the wider the angle of view would be). If you go too low with that number, i.e. 7.5mm, you get something called a "fish-eye" lens; those allow you to see at a 180-degree angle. However, if you buy a fish-eye lens, there will be a perspective distortion of the image, and the lower the number is, the greater the distortion, though some people (like myself) like that effect a lot.

Now, to the opposite extreme. If you buy a telephoto lens (60mm+) you do not get the distortion, but you also don't get the great angle of view. Those lens are great for portraits, snapshots, etc. The greater the number, the bigger your subject will appear in your viewfinder. By the way, the human eye sees at 50mm, so if you buy a lens that is 50mm lens, it would be about the same size as what the human eye sees as "normal".

The difference between a telephoto and a zoom lens is that the zoom lens allows you to "zoom", and a telephoto only means that the lens has a lesser degree of view than the human eye. What you want to consider is the difference between a "fixed" lens and a "zoom" lens.
Fixed lens (ex. 50mm)= less glass=inability to zoom=clearer photos
Zoom lens (ex. 28-80mm)= more glass= ability to zoom= more versatile= not as clear photos*
* You really have to enlarge the image to see the difference, though.

Hope this helps,
Rock on,


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September 01, 2001

 
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