After buying the first digital Slr camera, many amateur photographers tend to outgrow the basic kit lens their equipment come with. If you think your elementary camera lenses are stifling your creative freedom or preventing you from taking the photos you want, then it’s time to consider buying your next camera lens. Or if you don’t have enough funds yet to buy a new one, you can opt to rent one from Philadelphia Lens Rentals.
Which lens should you buy next?
To answer this question, you must first understand how different lenses could improve your current photos and allow you to take ones that you currently can’t. You may compare the speed (aperture) and focal length/zoom of the lenses and then zero in on the most appropriate one for you. Let’s know about speed and aperture first.
Most kit lenses have variable apertures that start at f/3.5 and close down to f/5.6 as you zoom in to a longer focal length. This is not problematic if you’re shooting outdoors on a sunny day, or indoors with a flash or bright lights, but in low-light situations it will cause issues like blur from camera shake, and small aperture openings limit your ability to get that desirable out-of-focus background blur. For low-light shooting and banging effect, you’ll need a “faster” lens. Fast lenses have an aperture of f/2.8 or larger. The larger the speed/aperture, the more light the lens allows in.
Now let’s come to focal length and zooms. The focal length of a lens determines, more or less, the purpose of a lens. If you want to capture some landscapes, then you got to have an ultra wide angle lens which can take it all in. You could go for either a prime or a zoom, but most people in this situation are probably going to be best-served by a zoom. Portrait lenses run around 85mm to 105mm, and telephotos past that range are known for sports.
Street photography can be done with almost any lens but a focal range of around 35-50 mm is often favoured. A 30 mm F2.8 gives sharper images but could raise a few eyebrows from your subjects. If you want to avoid your subjects looking directly at your camera, you’d probably be best served by something discrete. For amateur photographers too, low-budget primes like the 50 mm F1.8 could be a great starting point and potentially change their photography forever.
Mirrorless cameras tend to be a great choice for those starting with photography as they are lighter than digital slr cameras. It gives the freedom to travel in a carefree manner and capture beautiful images on the go. Canon launched the EOS R in 2018 and EOS RP, its second full frame mirrorless camera soon after. With great features, it has everything that an amateur or enthusiast photographer needs.
Lenses often last longer than the camera itself; they will continue to work on the next generation of cameras, and even the one after that, probably. This is why it is a worthy investment all photography enthusiasts are willing to make. So go ahead and capture those beautiful moments for posterity.
