WHAT LENS SHOULD I BUY ? (and why)

now the obvious advantage of owning a DSLR type camera or a mirrorless camera is that lenses are interchangeable but it can get quite confusing there are so many to choose from so in this video I want to walk you through some of the basics recommends some of my favorite lenses and try and answer that question what lens should I buy next and why fellow genius welcome to my channel where I like to do photography tutorials I share tips and tricks to occasional gear reviews so if you love your photography please consider subscribing this video is about lenses now if you're thinking of buying a lens maybe a brand new lens to add to your existing kit then you will find that it can be quite confusing for example this lens here is a Nikon 18 to 55 millimeter 3.5 to 5.6 g DX vr see what I mean well don't worry I'm here to help you guys in this video I'm going to be talking about the basics walking you through some of the lens options and I've got some recommendations for you as well we're going to be talking focal length we're going to be talking aperture we're going to be talking prime versus zoom lenses stick around now lenses are generally defined by two key things the focal length for the lens also referred to as the zoom range and the maximum aperture of the lens so let's go back to this Nikon lens as an example the first set of numbers 18 to 55 millimeters that tells us what the zoom range or the focal length of the lens is the second set of numbers are really important because it tells us our maximum aperture this lens has a maximum aperture of 3.5 to 5.6 we'll come back to that one later the other the other letters after this we don't need to worry about too much but let's just get them out of the way the G tells us that this lens doesn't have a manual aperture ring such as you would find in the older film lenses DX tells us that this lens is specifically designed for the aps-c crop sensor cameras like this D 3500 and finally VR this is vibration reduction this one is fairly important but we'll talk about it later in the video so we're going to concentrate for now on focal length and aperture let's go into focal lengths now the focal length can vary lens to lens here we have a 35 millimeter lens 50 millimeters 18 to 55 and over here 70 to 200 millimeters so clearly this is a measurement and this measurement is taken party inside the lens and partly inside the camera why is it important well it dictates what the camera can see also known as our field of view now for this one I think we're going to need a diagram so we're here we have a top view of a camera let's turn this into a simple diagram showing the camera body and the lens attached inside the camera body we want a sensor and inside the lens there are a number of pieces of glass called glass elements this shows the lens of 55 millimeters this 18 millimeters so here we see the light entering the lens as it does the light rays converge and are recorded by the cameras sensor 18 millimeters we get a fairly wide field of view but if we extend the lens to 55 millimeters you'll see that that field of view will now be more narrow and if we extend the lens once again to 100 millimeters the field of view will be even and narrower and once again stepping back to 55 millimeters and 80 millimeters you can see how the field of view changes depending on the focal length for the lens so clearly focal length is something you need to consider very carefully when choosing and buying a lens because it doesn't just dictate the physical size of the lens more importantly it dictates what the lens can see and what the camera is going to capture so it's going to make a big difference to your photography now coming up in a moment I've got some lens recommendations for you if you like portraiture sports landscape and macro photography but before that we need to talk about aperture now when it comes to aperture generally speaking most photographers are more interested in what the widest aperture will be on a lens as opposed to the smallest so they tell us if we go back to this 18 to 55 millimeter lens for example if 3.5 to 5.6 these are the numbers that tell us what is the largest aperture I can set on this lens and the reason this two numbers is this if I'm shooting with the focal length for 18 millimeters because I want a wide view then my maximum aperture is 3.5 but annoyingly if i zoom in with this lens to the maximum focal length which is 55 millimeters the 3.5 aperture now sadly drops to 5.6 and this is typical with most zoom lenses now this lens is a 70 to 200 millimeter telephoto lens now with this lens there's just the one number F 2.8 now because there's one number this as I said this lens has what is called a constant aperture and this means I can adjust the zoom as much as I like the aperture will stay constant and this is a great feature so generally you'll find this in the more expensive lenses and the pro lenses but also you'll find it in prime lenses and prime lenses are really cool I'll talk about those in just a moment so when buying a new lens you need to consider two things very carefully the focal length for the lens and the aperture a pitch is important because it affects the light if you buy lens with a wider aperture then that lenses cannot perform better in a low light situation now something else that aperture affects is depth of field now don't worry if you're not sure what that means just yet if you've seen a picture where the subject is sharp and the background is blurry then what you're seeing there is what is called a shallow depth of field now this is affected by the aperture so it's really important I'm going to do a video on this very very soon so if you new consider subscribing so you don't miss out now the big question of course is what lens should you buy where this was never going to be easy to answer because we all have different requirements different things we like to photograph different budgets and what I want to do here is recommend to you guys some lenses that I think are definitely worth checking out some budget lenses some more expensive lenses and to make it easier let's break it down into subjects we're gonna start first with lenses I recommend if you want to do landscape and architecture photography for landscapes buildings architecture you want to go a bit wider so you're probably looking at something around about 10 millimetres here's my recommendations for wide-angle lenses so let's begin with the 10 to 20 millimeter Nikon VR DX lens this is a DX lens which means it's designed ideally for the smaller crop sensor cameras but equally will work on the FX full-frame cameras it has vibration reduction and it's a pretty good lens and you can pick this lens up for about 280 US dollars if you're a Canon user then the Canon 10 to 18 millimeter lens is worth checking out this is the lens I use to record all my YouTube videos with the lens has image stabilization and a quiet STM motor which makes it ideal for doing videos look it's not the sharpest lens to be honest a bit soft around the corners but it's good value for money at around $250 u.s. now if you crave something super wide the Sigma 8 to 16 millimeter lenses are super wide lens that you can get for a Canon Nikon Pentax or Sony cameras a little bit more money at six hundred and ninety-nine dollars but a really cool ends and if you've got a bit more money in the bank the Sigma art 12 to 24 millimeter lens is awesome they make one for Canon or Nikon it's around about $1,600 u.s. now next up sports and wildlife photography generally speak in subjects that are not close they're further away if I'm taking a picture of my boy playing football for example I want a lens that's going to allow me to zoom in nice and close to capture the action and this is where a telephoto lens comes in which is the opposite to a wide-angle lens it has a longer focal length here's one here this is a 70 to 200 millimetres 200 300 400 maybe even bigger the bigger the number the closer you can get to the action now something worth mentioning is this if you're going to use the telephoto lens shake can be a real issue so a good accessory to buy is maybe a monopod I'll put a link in the description below this video here's my lens recommendations if you like taking photos of sports or wildlife starting off with a Canon 55 to 250 millimeters this is a really good telephoto lens for the money at around $300 it has image stabilization built in which is essential when you're using a long telephoto lens and an STM motor so it's nice and quick and quiet of focusing if you've got a Nikon than the 70 to 300 millimeters will get you a bit closer to the action this lens has vibration reduction built in and at around $400 it's a good value lens but if you want to get one without the vibration reduction you can save yourself about a hundred and fifty dollars and if you want to get really close to the action the Sigma 100 to 400 millimeter lens is certainly worth a look at around 650 US dollars you can buy one for Nikon or Canon cameras and my personal favorite telephoto lens is the 70 to 200 millimeter F 2.8 tell lenz I have one for the Nikon camera it is absolutely awesome incredibly sharp but it is not a cheap lens at around about two thousand one hundred and fifty dollars of course can I make one as well f 2.8 is the maximum aperture and of course just like the Nikon this has image stabilization as well now next up is macro photography which generally speaking means taking photos of things like flowers maybe bugs things that are very small but being able to capture detail that the human eye can't see macro photography is incredible when it's a bit more specialist and I'm going to do a separate video all about it really really soon so again make sure you subscribe macro lenses are engineered differently to normal lenses they normally don't zoom so they have a fixed focal range here's my recommendations so let's start with the Sigma 105 millimeter F 2.8 macro lens available for Nikon or Canon cameras it has optical stabilization and a $480 is really good value for money if you're a Nikon user it's worth checking out the 85 millimeter micro lens which has vibration reduction nakhon tend to refer to macro as micro 550 dollars the canon 100 millimeter f 2.8 l series lens is a very popular macro lens for canon users as $700 and the equivalent if your Nikon user is the very popular 105 millimeter F 2.8 macro or micro again with vibration reduction now let's take a look at portrait photography now if you're taking a picture of a person what you want to do is aim to use a lens that has a slightly longer focal length usually something around 50 millimeters or higher now the main reason for this is the longer focal length will help to compress perspective which usually gives a nicer pleasing look to the face and the features and will also help to just soften the background this is the opposite to a wide-angle lens which will tend to flatten facial features and distort perspective and give you a sharper background so we're looking at something around about 50 millimetres or higher a very popular focal length for photographers when doing portraiture is 85 millimeters here's my recommendations for portrait lenses now we can't talk portrait photography without mention in the nifty 50 without a doubt the best selling and best value lens you can buy the Canon 50 millimeter F one point eight prime lens is super cheap super fun and if you want to get into portrait photography on our budget at about a hundred and twenty-five dollars this is an awesome lens the Nikon equivalent a little bit more money at about a hundred eighty dollars is the F 1.8 G make sure you get the G if you want to use autofocus and as I mentioned before the 85 millimeter lens is really really popular for portrait photographers this one's a bit more money at fifteen hundred dollars but the Nikon 85 millimeter F one point four G is another awesome lens a bit better value for money is the Sigma equivalent the 85 millimeter Sigma F 1.4 DG is available for both from Nikon and Canon and this is around twelve hundred bucks now amongst my recommendations for portrait lenses you may have noticed some prime lenses now if you're not sure what prime lens means I think we need to play this one up most lenses have an adjustable focal length 18 to 55 70 to 200 a prime lens is a lens that doesn't zoom here as a fixed focal length now what it lacks in zoom it more than makes up for in aperture take for example this lens here this is the Nikon 35 millimeter F one point eight so no zoom or 1.8 is considerably wider than the kit lenses next to it the very very popular nifty 50 which is the Canon 50 millimeter F 1 point 8 prime again F 1.8 really wide meaning great in low light but also great for blowing backgrounds really popular now sometimes prime lenses can be incredibly expensive but if you shop around you get some real good bargains here's my recommendations for prime lenses now I'm going to recommend to you for budget prime lenses you should check out first one it's the Canon 50 millimeter 1.8 or the nifty 50 we spoke about it just now because it's a very popular portrait lens and about a hundred and twenty-five dollars there's not many lens that can beat it for value for money but if you are really on a tight budget the young you owe 50 mil is also worth checking now here is a copy of the canon it's not as good but for sixty dollars it's a pretty good starter if you're looking for a cheap prime lens i did a separate video on it make sure you check it out next up is the Nick on 35 millimeter F one point eight G so a bit wider than the 50 mil which I like nice wide aperture I've used this lens quite a bit about a hundred and eighty dollars and finally another canon lens to recommend a 24 millimeter F 2.8 lens this is also known as a pancake lens because it is so so tiny you can pick this up for about $100 so if you're looking for a good little prime with a wide aperture but a slightly wider field of view check out the 24 millimeter so I really hope you've enjoyed this video and it's cleared up some of the mystery around different lens types and in particular focal lengths if you've enjoyed the video please give us a thumbs up consider subscribing to my channel and don't forget you can leave your comments suggestions and questions down below where you'll also find links to all the lenses that I've mentioned in this video I hope to see you again sometime soon see ya bye

Channel: Photo Genius

Views: 68,879

Keywords: what lenses should I buy, what lens for landscape photography, what lens to buy, camera lenses explained, camera lenses, portrait lenses, prime lenses, photography, best lens for landscape photography, best lens for portrait photography, Nikon lenses explained, canon lenses, nikon, canon best lenses, nifty fifty, nifty 50, nikon d3500, telephoto lens, wide angle lens photoraphy, how to choose lenses for camera, photography tips for beginners

Id: oD50-RXQ-_c

Length: 14min 54sec (894 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 05 2019