Lens Buying Guide
Use these prompts to help you decide what your next lens choice should be! Pop in your details below to download the free guide! Xx
The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Buying New Lenses
One of the most common questions people ask when getting started in photography and want to expand on their beginner’s kit is “what lens should I buy next?”
There’s no easy answer… there’s so many options! Why on earth isn’t there just one lens that can do it all?
(no really, why? lol…)
Lenses vary so much in quality, length, aperture, effects… and with a huge range in price points too! So it’s not surprising it can be confusing on where to start and knowing what is it that you really need?
The Camera or The Lens?
Often as we progress in photography we start to desire better and better quality and effects, and when we can’t achieve it, we start to question if our gear is holding us back.
“If only I had an awesome camera like hers, my photos would be better”
Does that sound familiar?
Well here’s the thing… the lens has more to do with the shot that the camera body, so your camera body is only as good as your lens. In that regard,an awesome lens can help make up for an entry level camera body.
So if you only have the budget for a new body or a new lens, and the only lenses you own are kit lens, we suggest upgrading your lens first.
And we want to help you make an informed decision… we don’t want you throwing your hands up in frustration!
Where to Start?
When choosing a new lens, the most important questions to ask yourself are:
– What focal length and aperture do I want?
– What do I want to photograph?
– Is image quality or versatility more important to me?
– What is my budget?
– Which brand do I want?
CLICK HERE to download our lens buying guide to help you decide what's your next best purchase!
1. Focal Length and Aperture
These are the two most important numbers on a lens.
- Focal length is measured in millimetres
- Wide focal lengths get more in the frame (think landscapes), and long focal lengths (eg. 200mm) let you zoom in to photograph subjects that are far away (think sports or wildlife photography)
- Aperture is measured in f stops
- The wider your aperture (smaller f stop value eg. f/1.4) the better. You need these wide apertures to get a shallow depth of field, because this is what gives us those gorgeous blurry backgrounds.
So when looking at lenses, first check the focal length and the aperture. Some examples for you:
- 50mm f/1.4: the 50mm is the lens length and in this instance it’s a prime (meaning it’s a fixed focal length of 50mm), and the f/1.4 number refers to how wide open the aperture can go. Low f-stop numbers mean you can let in more light, and create blurrier backgrounds.
- 24-70mm f/2.8: the 24-70mm is a zoom (literally it can zoom in and out) and you can use it anywhere in the range between 24mm to 70mm. It’s maximum aperture is f/2.8 meaning that’s how wide the aperture will go. In this instance the aperture is fixed, meaning it won’t change as you zoom in, unlike kit lenses. This is important if you want to take portraits, because you would generally shoot at a portrait at 50mm or longer, and you want a wide aperture for the blurry background.
- 18-55mm f/3.5-f/5.6: This is the standard kit lens that comes with most entry level cameras. It zooms between 18mm to 55mm… and the widest the aperture can open varies. At the widest 18mm it can open up to f/3.5 and then when zoomed all the way in to 55mm it can only open to f/5.6. This is very limiting because it means if you wanted to shoot at 55mm and f/3.5… you can’t.
2. What Do You Want to Photograph?
So now you understand what the focal length and aperture means, you need to clarify for yourself what you want to photograph the most, because different focal lengths suit different genres of photography for varying reasons.
Here’s a general guide on focal lengths and what they’re best suited for:
- 10-35mm – Landscape and architecture photography, street photography
- 35-50mm – Street photography, documentary style photography, lifestyle photography, portraits
- 50-135mm – Portrait photography
- 135mm-300mm – Wildlife and sport photography
3. Image Quality or Versatility?
This is not the no brainer you might think. Of course you want quality, or you wouldn’t be upgrading your lens.
Once you go beyond kit lenses, zoom lenses get much better in quality. But then you have prime lenses, which are lenses with a fixed focal length such as 35mm, 50mm and 85mm etc. Good quality prime lenses will generally take better photos than a good quality zoom.
So this is the choice you’re now faced with:
- Zoom lens – multiple focal lengths (can shoot multiple genres without needing to change lenses) and will produce very good quality images
- Prime lens – fixed focal length (will need to change lenses whenever you want a different focal length) and produces super sharp, creamy images
4. Budget
Beyond kit lenses, good lenses can start anywhere from $3-400 and go up into the thousands.
The only exception to this is the nifty fifty, a 50mm f/1.8 which is a versatile prime lens and produces reasonably good quality sharp images for its price (which at the time of publish is around $100-$120).
5. Brand
If the lens you lust after is beyond your budget, look beyond the big names to brands like Sigma, Tamron and Tokina.
It varies from lens to lens, but in many instances their quality is on a par (and sometimes even better).
Ready to Delve Deeper?
So now you have an introduction to lenses, we’ve pulled together our favourite posts that cover all our most common questions relating to lenses, what they do, what all the numbers mean, and what types of lenses are best suited!
Grab a cuppa, and dive in!
- Lenses – Focal Lengths & What they do best!
- What to consider BEFORE you buy a new Lens
- Lou’s Favourite Lens
- Have FUN with a Wide Angle Lens
- Best Lenses for Flattering Portraits
- The Best $100 Lens you Can Buy
- Getting the most out of your Kit Lens
If you want to use your fancy DSLR in manual mode, let us show you how step-by-step, with fun challenges to practice on and feedback on your images… pop your name on the waitlist for our next Enthusiast Photography Course.
If you’re already confident in manual mode, check out our Advanced Photography Course and let us help you elevate your photography skills to the next level!
Download Your Lens Buying Guide
Don't know what lens you should buy next?
Use these question prompts to follow our guide to help you decide what your next lens choice should be! Pop in your details below to download the guide! Xx
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Hi Louise,
Thank you for these great articles. I currently have a Canon T4i and would like to purchase a 5D in the near future but I’m a little confused about what to do in terms of lenses. Is it worth it to invest in full-frame lenses to use with my T4i while I purchase the 5D? Right now I only have my 18-55 mm kit lens, a EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 and a 50mm f/1.4 USM.
Thank you!
HI Celeste, so glad you enjoy the articles! Great question re lenses… yes you can definitely upgrade to lenses that will work on the full frame… because they work on types of cameras… it’s just that some lenses don’t work the other way round.
The EF lenses will work on 5D but an EFS lens will only work on your T4i.
Hope that helps! Xx