The hardest part of moving into the SLR/DSLR arena is what to get for a lens. There are so many choices, each crammed with numbers and abbreviations to cause more confusion than reading a Sun Tzu book. Let’s dive into what makes a lens a Fast Super Zoom Image Stabilized piece of work worthy of your money.
Wide-angle Lenses – These lenses take in great amounts of subject matter. Wide-angle lenses often come in the small millimeter ranges. Think anything from 1mm – 50mm. You may use a wide-angle lens to capture a vast amount of beachfront, or capture a whole city skyline. These lenses are also great for close-up shots in which you want to bring in a lot of surrounding details. Like a doorbell surrounded by grungy brickwork.
Standard Lenses – This lens type still takes in a vast amount of detail, but this amount is much less than a wide-angle. The focal length on these types of lenses often sits in the 50mm – 55mm range. Keep in mind that standard lenses are more a term you heard back in the film days, these lenses are still usable, and enjoyed, today.
Telephoto Lenses – Telephoto lenses are like having a small telescope mounted to your camera. These lenses usually start at the 70mm range and can work all the way up to a 1200mm lens that looks like a small cannon (ironically Cannon is the one that made this 1200mm beast). Telephoto lenses take in less subject matter, but are great for bringing far away objects up close. Many wildlife and sports photographers use this type of lenses.
Prime Lenses – Prime lenses are one set focal point lens. If you want a good workout, then this is the lens for you. A prime is often denoted by a simple focal length like 50mm. These are great lenses as they can provide super sharp, detail rich photos, but the focusing mechanism is your body. If you are willing to move around, these lenses are a great addition to your bag of gear. Read More→
This is where you would expect me to tell you about my life, how awesome I am, or why I am so superior to other people in this line of business. I would enjoy telling you how I have wrestled grizzly bears 10 feet tall. Maybe you would like hearing how I have taken on Velociraptors in my days as a young man. Even better is the story how I have traveled to the furthest reaches of space to stop catastrophic alien invasions. The problem will be that you might not believe my awesome stories.
I will keep these awesome stories for the campfire though. I’m just a man, taking pictures, trying to make a living. I ditched my education in computers in favor of pursuing my passion for photography. I enjoy a good cold beer on a warm day. I have a fondness of the outdoors.. I have enjoyed years capturing life’s unscripted moments. Hopefully, I can enjoy many more years of slacking off without fear of those grizzlies taking me out before my time.
My Philosophy is to capture those non-scripted moments. To capture the little details that this world really has to offer. From weddings to insects, I enjoy capturing the life, the details, and the moments that come and go in a flash.
