Get Familiar with DSLR Lenses

So you already own a DSLR and have gotten tired of the kit lens? This article should help you decide what lens you could buy next. The choices out there are so many, that it can confuse the most experienced of photographers, and the amateur alike. Lets us at least get clear about the basic classifications of DSLR lenses.

The Standard Lens – ‘The standard lens’ was a term often used in the days when 35mm film photography was the choice of the professional. It refers to a 50mm lens, which provides an angle of view similar to that of the human eye.

The Kit Lens – This is the lens generally provided as part and parcel of what comes to you in the box when you buy a DSLR. Usually a kit lens would include the equivalent of the normal lens, and a little more zoom this way and that. For example a kit lens may be something like a 35mm-70mm lens.

A Prime Lens – Prime lenses are those which have a fixed focal length, meaning they are NOT zoom lenses. Prime lenses were the more common of the two up until the late seventies and the early eighties. While zoom lenses are more convenient to use, primes do offer more quality as a rule of thumb. Prime lenses can also help you think more about composition, rather than to just look through the viewfinder and zoom in or out to the best fit. But this point is arguable.

DSLR Tele Zoom – Zoom lenses are of course the preferred choice of today, thanks to the varieties of manufacturers, comparative affordability to prime lenses, and the simple convenience of using them. The most obvious advantage of a zoom is the fact that you do not have to physically get closer to your subject to make it fit tighter into your composition. However, do remember that the longer your lens and the more you zoom in, the more are the chances of camera shake. Usually for anything over 200mm, a tripod is essential.

The Macro – Macro lenses, as the name suggests are designed to shoot in the macro range, that is, miniature subjects. Some cameras, especially compacts, have a built in macro range. A true macro will allow the lens to come within millimeter range of the subject, allowing for 1:1 subject:image size ratio!

Wide Angle – A wide angle is the opposite of a tele lens. It allows you to squeeze in more into your composition without having to physically get further from the subject. However, it does so at the cost of distortion. Closer objects tend to appear magnified, and further objects appear even further than they are! If you often shoot landscapes and large building exteriors or even interiors, wide angle lenses can be pretty handy.

This article should at the very least have helped you classify the different categories of lenses out there. To write about specific lens models would require the space of an entire catalogue, but using this article as a reference point would help you to narrow down your basic options.