FOUR INDISPENSABLE LENSES
New photographers tend to focus on one thing. “What camera should I buy?” And hey, it’s a good question. It’s an important question. But what many new photographers ignore or at least focus much less upon, is what lenses you should buy?
They’ll spend a ton of money on a fancy camera body and end up having no budget for lenses. A lot of times those people will just figure the kit lens will be fine. Sometimes that’s true, but many times it isn’t. Or maybe they heard that old standard photog advice to just get a fast 50. And I certainly have stong opinions about that topic.
So I thought I would share the four lenses that I find to be most useful. On some level this is my opinion. But I think you’d have a hard time arguing against all but one of these picks.
Shot with the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
The 24-70mm f/2.8
The Old Standard Lens
This isn’t my favorite lens, but ironically, it is often the first lens I recommend you buy. The 24-70 is sort of the standard, do-ALMOST-everything lens. You have wide angle photography up to 24mm. And 70mm is a pretty decent portrait range. Topping out at a constant aperture of f/2.8 makes this lens perfect for events and travel. Personally, I prefer Prime lenses to Zooms. But I always say that if you can only buy one lens for the foreseeable future, the 24-70 should be your first choice. It will cover most of your bases and should do a damn good job of it.
Two points need to be made though. If you are shooting with an APS-C camera, the equivalent of the 24-70 is (I believe) the 17-55. If you use the 24-70 on a crop sensor camera, the effective focal length would be around 36-95. Now that I think about it, that could also be pretty useful.
The second point is that if you buy the Tamron version, it’s 28-75mm. I guess they just wanted to be a little different.
Shot with the Nikon 85mm f/1.8
The 85mm f/1.8
The Perfect Portrait Lens.
The 85mm is my favorite lens. There’s just something about 85mm that is perfect for portraits. I don’t understand the science of it. And properly utilized, you can get amazing portraits out of almost any focal length. But man, some of my favorite images were shot with an 85. More often than not, it’s my go-to for portraiture.
Of course, I personally shoot with a Sigma 85mm f/1.4, but the 1.8 is all you need.
Shot with the Sigma 24mm f/1.4
The 24mm f/1.8
The Perfect Environmental Lens.
So of all my picks, the 24 is the only one that is questionable. So allow me to explain my reasoning.
Old photographers will often tell you that 50mm is the perfect, all around focal length— giving you the closest view to the human eye. Others, like myself will tell you that’s nonsense and 35mm is a much better option (particularly if you’re using an APS-C camera). And while I stand by my view of the 35… I prefer the 24.
24mm is approaching true wide angle range. It has a bit of the visual distortion that true wide angle lenses are known for— but not a lot. As such, the 24 is super useful. You can get amazing landscape shots and other kinds of environmental photos. But it will also yield some unbelievable portraits. A portrait shot with the 24 gives you the sense that you’re in the frame with your subject. And while I LOVE my 85, the 24 also brings me closer to my subject when I’m shooting.
If I can only take one lens out with me, I’m usually bringing my Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens.
Shot with the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8
The 70-200mm f/2.8
The Wedding Lens.
Like the 24-70, the 70-200 is considered an old standard for wedding photographers. If you are planning to do weddings, you need this lens. I don’t think that is up for debate. I can’t tell you how many weddings I’ve been to where the photographer didn’t know what they were doing and used a 50mm to shoot the ceremony.
Here’s the thing. You job as a wedding photographer is to photograph the event, not be a distraction. If you’re using a medium focal length (anything from 35-85mm), you’re probably getting pretty close to the action, unless you’re doing mega cropping of your images, which can severely degrade your image quality.
The 70-200 is going to be good enough to get you through almost any wedding ceremony. You can get far enough away from the bride and groom to stay out of people’s line of sight, but still get good close up shots without needing to crop. And consider this, if you’re in a traditional Christian wedding, it can be damn hard to get around all those rows of pews. Having a shorter lens means you have to do that much more running around to get your shots.
Once again, bear in mind that on a crop sensor camera, 70-200mm would be closer to 105-300mm. So you’ll want something roughly about 50-150mm.
Also again, I personally own the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8. No one knows why they shorted out on the telephoto end. But it’s solid lens that is very cost effective compared to its competitors.
So those are my picks for the most indispensable lenses every photographer should own. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment.
