How To Choose A Lens For Camera | Everything In Details

Nowadays, all types of cameras come with pretty much the same sensor size. So, the images these cameras capture are about the same. But what makes differences in image quality, contrast, and detail in images is the camera lens.

The sensor of the camera records the light and the lens delivers the light to the sensor. A high-end lens allows entering enough light into the sensor making it possible to capture a focused, sharp and contrasty image. While a low-quality lens can produce a blurry and bad quality image even if equipped with a good camera body.

So, for a high-quality photo, a high-quality lens is more essential than a high-end camera. But, when it comes to how to choose a lens for a camera, it becomes very difficult as there are thousands of options. When you know the basics, finding the perfect lens will not be a hassle.

What to Look for When Choosing A Camera Lens?

A camera itself is dumb and can only capture a white image without the lens. The lens is the part of the camera that assists the camera in producing a high-quality end result.

Professionals are well known about the importance of a camera lens. But for those who are buying their first DSLR or planning to ditch their old kit lens, this camera lens buying guide will be accommodating. This is a camera lens buying guide for beginners, and here you’ll find all information regarding a lens.

Lens Type

Not every lens is perfect for use in any situation. Every different type of lens serves different purposes. There are different types of lenses based on the focal range and different special functionalities. Here are some most common type of lenses-

• Ultra-Wide 

The field of view of human eyes is equivalent to the 30-35mm focal length of a full-sized sensor camera. The ultra-wide lens comes with a field of view of 24mm. So you can guess these lenses can capture a wide view and cover a lot of area in a single picture. These lenses are similar to the fisheye lens, but ultra-wide lenses capture in straight lines, not in curves like the fisheye lenses.

Due to the large field of view, the close subjects look pulled in, and the distance substance looks much more apart than actual. The usability of these lenses is while capturing a picture of the landscape, interior, and architecture.

• Wide Angle

Wide-angle lenses generally cover focal lengths between 24-35mm. These lenses are available in various and fixed apertures with and without zooming capability. Wide-angle lens capture an image with less distortion than an ultra-wide lens. These lenses are mainly used to capture a whole subject in a single image, such as a large building.

For capturing landscape, portraits, and any other type of images, these lenses perform outstandingly.

• Standard Lens

A lens of focal length between 35 to 70mm is the standard lens. The default kit lens is the best example of the standard lens. The standard lens produces photos quite as we see through our eyes. There are many prime lenses that come under this category. These lenses can produce high-quality images with shallow depth of field. A standard lens is ideal for almost any type of photography and very versatile.

• Telephoto

A lens that has exceeded the focal length of 70mm is the telephoto lens. These lenses capture a narrower field of view for having a higher focal length than any other lenses.

A telephoto lens is great for capturing objects that are far from the camera. It brings a distant object closer, and the images generally have a very shallow depth of view or highly blurred background and foreground. Telephoto lenses are ideal for capturing sports scenes or for wildlife photography and specialized in portraits.

• Macro

Macro lenses are for capturing extreme close-up images. The focal length of these lenses is n between 40-200mm. As these lenses capture close-up shots, the end result you get is very sharp and detailed. But only a fraction of the subject gets in focus, and the depth of field is very little compared to other lenses.

You should choose the camera lens type depending on the usage. A telephoto or wide-angle lens is quite ideal for capturing images in most situations.

Focal Length

When the subject is in focus, then the distance between the camera sensor and the lens is the focal length. Millimetre (mm) is used to express focal length. The larger the focal length will be, you’ll get less field of view, and a low focal length number will give you wider shots. Generally, lenses that have a focal length of less than 30mm are used for capturing ultra-wide images.

Every lens has a focal length, and those that have one focal length, such as 50mm, are the prime lenses. Some lenses have two focal lengths, such as 18-35mm. That means these lenses are zoom lenses and adjust the focal length between these ranges without compromising the image quality. But higher focal length will give you a narrower field of view.

Sensor type

If your camera is a full-frame sensor camera, you’ll get the field of view as the focal length number suggests. But if the camera sensor is cropped, then the field of view will be different. Most of the camera has a cropped sensor and the values are-

• Nikon – 1.5
• Canon – 1.6
• Pentax – 1.5
• Sony – 1.5

If you are using a Canon camera with a 1.6 cropped frame sensor and are using a lens with a focal length of 50mm, you’ll actually get the field of view of 80mm. So, while buying a camera lens, you ensure this factor, and if you want a 50mm field of view on a Canon camera, you have to buy a lens with a focal length of 31-32mm. For calculating the actual field of view, you have to multiply the focal length with the cropped frame size (50*1.6=80).

Aperture

Aperture is a value that refers to the amount of light that will pass through the opening of the lens glasses to the sensor of the camera. It can be expressed in many ways, and that is why many people get confused, which is whether it is f/1.8 or F1.8 or 1:1.8, these three means the same things.

The lower the value of aperture will be, it will allow passing more light. For example, a lens with an F4 aperture lets pass a lower amount of light than a lens of F1.5.

A lower number of aperture valve lenses is more expensive. As these can gather more light so while doing indoor photography or capturing pictures at night, these are the best. Also, this lens can produce a shallow depth of field, giving you a photo with a highly blurred background.

The aperture value written on the lens is the maximum aperture. So using an f/1.8 lens, it is also possible to capture an image with f/15 making these lenses ideal for capturing photos in both dark and daylight. If money is not an issue then you should go for a low number aperture lens.

Image Stabilization

Image stabilization is a very needy feature for cinematography. While doing video, our hands will much likely shake, and that can cause a shaky video. To reduce the shake in a video, image stabilization comes in handy. What it does is the elements of the lens shake in the opposite direction of our hands to cancel out the movement.

Many companies feature this in their camera body such as Sony, Olympus, and Pentax, while others feature this in their lenses. Companies indicate image stabilization using different abbreviations. These are-

• Nikon – VR
• Canon – IS
• Sigma – OS
• Tamron – VC

So if you do not have image stabilisation in your camera, choose a lens with this to get a better image and video output. But if your camera comes with image stabilisation, then there is no need of buying a lens with an image stabilisation feature.

Focusing

All lenses of present time feature autofocus and give you the option to choose between manual and autofocus while capturing photos. It is a bit difficult to capture pictures in manual mode. There is a dedicated switch on the lens body, which enables you to switch between manual and autofocus.

In this buying guide, I have discussed almost every factor that you should consider before choosing the perfect lens for you. Keep these in mind, and you’ll surely be able to select an exact match for your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a rotating filter ring?

The rotating filter ring in front of the camera lens is known as a polariser or polarising ring. This ring is used for reducing the reflection of light. A polarizing filter helps to produce high contrast, vivid, sharp, and statured color images. It is useful for all types of photography, and it enhances the image quality by many units.

Is lens hood beneficial?

Lens hood mainly serves two purposes. The first one is, it prevents the light from hitting the lens directly from various angles. If light directly height the lens’s sides, it can create flare and lower an image’s contrast. So lens hood helps to get a contrast and sharp image. And secondly, the hood protects the lens.

Is it worth investing on a second-hand lens?

The lens is long-lasting in many cases than the camera body. Suppose you bought a Canon camera and lens in 2005; canon camera has an EF mounting system on all of their cameras. Until Canon changes the mounting system you can use the lens in any Canon camera you want.

So the lens you bought in 2005 is still usable and will be useful for a very long time. So, if the lens condition is good and there is no physical damage, investing in a second-hand lens is not a wrong choice.

Final Words

There is a vast number of camera lenses available for each camera model. These give freedom to the photographers in different situations. A lens is very long-lasting and as long as the mounting system is the same these are usable for generations. Without a high-quality lens, it is nearly impossible to get expected results even if you have a high-end camera.

So, it is wise to invest in a better lens than buying a high-end camera. Hopefully, this how-to choose a lens for a camera guide will help you to find a suitable lens for you.