Photography Tutorial: How to Choose Your Camera Lens

How
to
Choose
Your
Camera
Lens

1

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How
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How to Choose Your
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How to Choose Your Camera Lens
Table of Content

Introduction

5

Build-quality

5

Lens Coating

6

Auto-focusing Sound

7

Image Stabilization

8

Prime Vs. Zoom

8

Aperture

9

Manual Focusing Override

12

Lens Format

12

The Ubiquitous Kit Lens

12

The Need for Telephoto Lenses

12

The Wide Angle Perspective

15

Getting Up Close and Personal: The Macro Lens

16

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How
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The decision to choose your first lens can be a tough one to make. In a
world of jargons buying a decent piece of glass that can get you those
perfect pictures with well saturated colors can be a daunting task no
matter how much time to you spend deciding. Not knowing what you
might end up with, especially when you don’t have an unlimited budget,
can make the whole decision making process a stressful affair. This
tutorial is aimed at making the decision as smooth as possible, so that
you end up making an informed decision and ensure that you buy a lens
that is perfect for your needs and within your budget.

Build-quality
Build quality is an important factor for both professional photographers
and amateurs alike, more so because of the growing incidence of
photography pursuits that are bordering on the edge where man and
equipment breaks down. When facing the elements, both needs to be in
top shape, and to ensure that it is imperative that the lens has some sort
of weather sealing and is capable of handling the odd bumps and knocks.
In an urge to shoot professional quality photos, in the most demanding of
circumstances, photographers are looking for not only the best optical
quality but also the best build quality.
If you're looking for something that can
handle splashes, hail, snow, dust, dirt
and a bit of knock here and there, look
for options that come with weather
sealing and have a sturdy construction.
These lenses are moderately to very
expensive but are worth their price tag
in terms of the advantage they provide.
Canon’s L series lenses or Pentax’s
weather sealed lenses are great choice
for a quality glass. Apart from the
lenses, your DSLR body should also
have weather sealing and higher end professional and semi-professional
DSLR models come with this feature. Pentax has a series of cameras that

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come with weather sealed bodies, which are extremely well built. A
number of their DSLR bodies have stainless steel chassis plus
magnesium alloy outer shell covers.
If the most adventurous that you would ever
get with your camera is shooting on a
weekend trip and that too only after taking a
rain check, then save the extra amount of
money and buy something that is less
demanding on your forearms. If you have a
Canon DSLR body then many of the G series
(minus the aperture ring) lenses would be
ideally suitable as these are mostly plastic
made, are lightweight and cheaper.

Lens Coating
Lens coating is often an underappreciated addendum for lenses, the
reason being average amateur photographers don’t quite understand what
they do. Pentax’s Super Protect (SP) coating e.g., is used in some of its
higher end lenses to prevent dirt, dust, grease and fingerprints from
affecting the front elements. Lenses, which have SP coating, can be easily
cleaned when these greasy substances smear the front element compared
to traditional lenses without Super Protect (SP) coating.

Pentax 90mm Macro lens

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Ghosting and flares are the result of light that is reflected off the lens back
element, which then again gets reflected off the surface of the lens and
creates a faint secondary image. Surface reflection of light reduces the
quantity of light reaching the sensor and creates a less than sharp image.
Different manufacturers use different types of coating technology that
reduces surface reflections.

Nikon SLR Nikkor Lenses

Nikkor lenses come with a special Super Integrated Coating (SIC). It is
used specifically to counter the problem of ghosts and flares. Nikon also
uses another type of coating known as Nano Crystal Coating, to counter
this problem. Nano Crystal Coating is mostly used in lenses which have a
shorter focal length (wide angle) specifically to counter ghosting and flares,
which are typical to these lenses.

Auto-focusing Sound
Auto-focusing sound may not be a problem when you're shooting in a
crowded place. But when you're shooting street photographs or trying to
photograph a fidgety bird perched on a branch it makes ample sense to
have a lens that does not screech when auto-focusing. Nikon’s AF-S
lenses powered by SWM (Silent Wave Motor) for example, is a great
piece of technology that offers super quiet auto-focusing.

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Image Stabilization
Image stabilization is important, if you're
going to shoot mostly hand-held and or
when shooting in low light conditions.
Image stabilization compensates for the
lateral or vertical movement of your hands
when shooting at very slow shutter
speeds. In fact it gives you the luxury to
shoot at one, two, three or even four
stops of slower shutter speed than you
would normally be able to when handholding the camera. Image stabilization is
extremely important when it comes to
choosing a telephoto lens. This is
because at extremely long focal lengths
even the slightest of hand movement is
magnified, ruining the picture.
Modern auto-focusing lenses come with
lens based image stabilization system
that works by re-aligning the image on to
the sensor surface when there is a shake
of the hand. Major brands such as Nikon
and Canon comes with lens based image stabilization systems If you're
looking for a body based image stabilization system, one that can stabilize
all lenses, which are designed for that particular system then you could opt
for one of Pentax’s DSLRs which have in body image stabilization system.
You can also check How Does Your Camera Image Stabilizer Work? to
learn more about image stabilization

Prime vs. Zoom
Prime lenses have a fixed focal length (e.g. 50mm) whereas zoom lenses
have a variable focal length usually expressed as a range (e.g. 18-55mm).
There are advantages and disadvantages of both prime and zoom lenses.

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Most photographers would buy around 2-3 lenses over their life and at
least one of them would be a prime lens.
Prime lenses have less moving parts inside, the reason being they have
only one focal length. This is a considerable advantage for lens makers as
they can concentrate their energy and strive for a better optically superior
lens. Prime lenses for this reason are also lighter compared to zoom
lenses. Prime lenses also tend to have wider apertures for this reason.

Nikon lens with 50mm fixed focal length

If you need a lens that can shoot anything from a wide-angle shot of a
landscape to wildlife then opt for something like an 18-200mm lens. If you
would be predominantly shooting portraiture then a 24-70mm lens is
ideally suitable for you. Similarly for street photographers a 50mm prime
is a great lens to have.

Aperture
Aperture is small opening at the front element of the barrel that controls
the amount of light that enters the lens and reaches the image plane.
Smaller the aperture less is the quantity of light that reaches the sensor
or film and vice versa. Aperture sizes are expressed as F-stops and
written such as f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2, f/2.8 and so on. Every consecutive f-stop

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(bigger f-number) makes the aperture smaller and practically halves the
quantity of light that passes through. Both big (smaller f-numbers) and
small (bigger f-number) apertures have their advantages and
disadvantages.

There is an inverse relationship between aperture and shutter speed.
Bigger apertures allow more light in, which as a result require very small
amount of time to make the exposure. Thus when bigger apertures are
used one can use faster shutter speed (thus the name fast aperture. Also
bigger apertures create a soft out of focus effect for backgrounds, which
are very useful when shooting portraits. Bigger apertures are also ideally
suitable when shooting images in low light conditions as they can capture
a lot of light for a given shutter speed.

The aperture in Canon 50mm lens

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On the other hand smaller apertures are suitable when one needs to
make almost the entire frame to be acceptably sharp. However
smaller apertures needs a longer shutter speed to make a proper
exposure. It also creates a higher chance of image shake.
You can read Understanding Camera Exposure to learn more about
digital camera exposure and how it is affected with the aperture
value.

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Manual Focusing Override
This is somewhat of a specific requirement for those who want smooth
auto to manual focusing transition without having to constantly flick the
A/M switch. When this mode is selected one can use the normal autofocusing option and then turn the focusing ring manually to precisely lock
focus even while auto- focusing is engaged. In real world situations this
saves a considerable amount of time not having to flick a switch and then
turn the focusing ring. That fraction of a second saved can make a lot of
difference.

Lens Format
Lenses are designed in two main categories, for full frame DSLRs and for
APS-C (crop bodies). Lenses designed for full frame bodies make full use
of the larger sensor. When used on a smaller APS-C sensor based bodies
only the center part of the image circle is used, evidently converting the
lens a slightly longer focal length. This is also known as crop-factor. You
choice of a lens format would depend on the type of camera body you
have. It does not make sense to buy a APS-C format lens if you're using a
full frame DSLR as it will never be using the capabilities of the large
sensor fully. On the other hand if you have both a full frame and a crop
body you're likely able to use the full frame lenses on your crop body.

The Ubiquitous Kit Lens
The first lens that a majority of DSLR / ILC users end up buying is the kit
lens. Most entry level DSLRs (based on a cropped APS-C sensor) come
with the standard 18-55mm lens which effectively becomes 27-87.5mm
on the 35mm format. These lenses are great for general-purpose
photography and offer a great deal of value for money.

The Need for Telephoto Lenses
Standard zoom lenses or prime lenses less than 100mm are not suitable
for the purpose of photographing birds, wildlife or even sports from a
distance. When shooting wildlife for example you cannot hope to get up

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close without perturbing them. Additionally when covering sports you need
to stay at a safe distance away from the action and yet get up close with
your lens’ built-in reach to get super sharp pictures of the action going on in
the middle. The solution in these cases is to use a longer than usual focal
length lens such as a 200mm, a 300mm or even a 500mm telephoto lens.
Telephoto lenses have a narrower Field of View and are perfect for the
purpose of ‘filling the frame’ with a subject that is far away.

Sigma 120-300 mm telephoto lens

Telephoto lenses also have an interesting effect on the Depth of Field of
your images. Invariably the Depth of Field of your images will be shallow.
When choosing a telephoto lens insist on something that has a slightly
brighter max aperture. High end lenses from both Canon and Nikon comes
with a fast and constant max aperture of f/4 and even f.2.8 for their
telephoto range of lenses. It helps to create a sharp well-contrasted image
even from a considerable distance. Wider apertures also help in using a
faster shutter speed. Faster speed is imperative when you're shooting
wildlife or sports.
Another requirement for telephoto lenses is image stabilization. Image
stabilization can come in two different forms – (a) which is lens based (b)
which is body based. Camera systems such as Pentax come with body
based Optical Image Stabilization systems. These are basically sensor-

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shift type based. On the other hand Canon and Nikon, for example
manufacture systems that have lens based image stabilization systems.
There are pros and cons for both (as manufacturers would want us to
believe). Lens based optical image stabilization ensures that the
stabilization system has been specially designed and optimized for that
particular lens. On the other hand when body based optical image
stabilization is used all lenses which are compatible to that line of camera
enjoy the stabilization feature.

Different telephoto lens

Telephoto lenses are used mainly outdoors where the elements of nature
such as inclement weather, dirt and dust can damage them. It is imperative
that you select a lens that comes with some kind of weather resistance
properties if you're going to shoot images out in the open. Canon’s L series
lenses come weather sealing and so does Pentax’s advanced lenses. It
has to be kept in mind that using only weather sealed lens where the
camera body itself is susceptible to weather conditions doesn’t make much
sense. It is thus imperative that along with the lens the camera body also
should be weather sealed.

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The Wide Angle Perspective
For shooting landscapes, architecture, group photos or wedding you need
a lens that has shorter focal length giving you a wider than normal
perspective. Standard lenses are limited in terms of their angle of view and
telephoto lenses are absolutely unsuitable for that very reason. Wide-angle
lenses have a big diagonal angle of view, which makes it possible to
capture a lot of the scene without having to back out a zillion miles. Wide
angle lenses also have a very short hyper focal distance which is perfect
for the purpose of keeping much of the frame in sharp focus, a must have
requirement for landscape photography.

Canon 17-40mm wide-angle lens

Another advantage of wide-angle lenses, especially those which are of
prime lenses are the wide maximum aperture that they in. It is great to
have such exotic max apertures as f/1.4 as it allows you to use the
maximum shutter speed allowable by your camera mechanism in order to
freeze the action. When shooting in low light conditions you can use the big
aperture to good effect by collecting more light and creating a properly
exposed photograph.

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When choosing lenses care should be taken that they come with the
necessary coating to ensure that ghosts and flares are corrected /
suppressed. We have already discussed about lens coating elsewhere on
this document in some detail.

Getting up close and personal: The
macro lens
Macro lenses offer a very close focusing distance. These lenses allow a
photographer to fill the frame with even the smallest of subjects. Ideally a
true macro lens is one that offers 1:1 magnification that means
representing a subject life size on the sensor. There are a zillion number
of lenses available which come with the term ‘Macro’ on them but don’t
offer 1:1 or life size reproduction. Avoid them as they are not true macro
lenses at all and could only end up giving 1:2 or even 1:4 magnification.

Canon 100mm macro lens

Macro lenses are prime lenses that mean they come with a fixed focal
length. There are different macro lenses available in the market but the
most common ones are those, which come with a focal length of 50mm
to100mm. There are also some, which are even higher than this. More the

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focal length, the more is the distance from which you can shoot your
pictures and get away with stunning captures. The best thing about these
lenses is that they can also be used for ‘normal’ photography. That means
your 100m-macro lens can easily double as a standard portrait lens.
Image stabilization is an important requirement when selecting a macro
lens. Although the best of macro photography enthusiasts would only
even use a macro lens with a tripod, there may be need to shoot handholding. In such conditions optical image stabilization is an absolute must
to have. Learn more about macro photography through Beginners’ Guide
for Macro Photography.
There are many other special purpose lenses, such as Tilt-shift and Fisheye etc. These lenses are used for specialized requirements by
professionals to get a unique perspective.

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