Choosing the right DSLR Lens
What to look for in a quality DSLR lens, and the terminology explained.
It is often said that the lens is the most important part of the photographer’s kit. That is to say that a quality lens will have more of an impact on the end result than even the camera used. The first consideration is what kind of photography you are going to be using the lens for. Here are a few kinds of lens choices to consider.
Tamron 18-200mm Lens for Nikon DSLRs
Get up close and personal. This will allow you to get close to a subject that is further away and also allow you to take an image of a subject that is close by. Like all the lenses covered here, they will come with a number of variations of focal length and aperture. The zoom is targeted at photographers looking for one lens that covers almost every shooting situation.
Typically a zoom will cover an 18-200mm or 18-250mm focal length range with just one lens.
However, while the zoom gives you a focal length for every occasion, certain design compromises have to be made to cover the expansive zoom range. These compromises often translate into a reduction in aperture of the lens or an increase in cost.
Wide/Ultra Wide/Wide Zoom
Wide-angle lenses are great if you want to get as much in the frame as possible – a sweeping landscape or the inside of a small room with all your friends lined up for the photo.
In 35mm terms, a wide-angle lens describes anything with a focal length less than 35mm, and the shorter the focal length the more you will squeeze into the frame.
Macro
Macro lenses are fairly specialised and are used mainly for ‘close up’ photography. This lens will allow you to photograph an insect or small piece of jewellery.
Telephoto
A telephoto lens is anything over 80mm (in 35mm terms) and the range is enormous. From the ‘mild’ telephoto effect of an 80mm lens (that’s great for portraits) there are 200mm and 300mm lenses that are ideal for most wildlife and sports photography. ‘Super telephotos’ of longer focal lengths tend to be used for more specialist – and professional – applications due to their high price.
When you take the lens magnification factor into account, a 300mm lens will behave like a 450mm one (on a 1.5x APS-C type sensor) so, for the hobbyist, it is about as long as you’ll probably need to go.
Standard/Fixed Focal Length
With 35mm film cameras the ‘standard’ focal length is around the 50mm mark, which delivers a viewing angle approximating that of our eyes.
However, taking into account the focal length magnification of most digital SLRs the ‘standard’ focal length for these is now closer to 35mm and most cameras come with what is described as a ‘standard zoom’. This will typically cover an 18-55mm focal length range (around 27-90mm equivalent), offering both a modest wide-angle setting and a mild telephoto effect.
Speed
This is the size of the aperture of the lens, or how much light the lens will allow to fall on the sensor. This will determine the conditions you are able to take pictures in without the use of artificial light like a flash. The larger the aperture, the larger the glass and generally the more expensive the lens usually is.
Image stabiliser
Some lenses have a stabilising feature which allows you greater control of light and allows you to get a more stable shot from the camera.
Source: TechLiving Magazine: Issue 10 – Updated Summer 2011
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