DSLR Lens Recommendation
By far the most popular question I get from new Digital SLR owners is “what lens should I buy first?”. I usually recommend people buy a more powerful flash first, but having a good lens is definitely another key to taking better digital pictures. Lenses seem like a big purchase to most new DSLR owners, but the truth is that lenses will last a lot longer than your camera. If you buy good lenses and stick with the same manufacturer, your lenses will out live many cameras.
Go BIG…Aperture
As we started to learn in our lesson on aperture and shutter speed, larger apertures provide more flexibility in low light situations. For that reason, lenses with apertures of f2.8 and larger are considered “professional” lenses by most and carry a pretty hefty price tag. The good news is, they also hold their value really well, much better even than the camera itself. Professional zoom lenses are especially pricey, so prime lenses are the way to go when starting out.
Prime lenses are simply lenses that do not zoom, they have a constant focal length like 55mm. Since they are a constant focal length, they are less complicated and therefore less expensive. I have a few lenses that are just amazing professional zoom lenses. These lenses will be handed down to my son one day, they are like family but don’t talk back, carry germs or want to watch Noggin ALL day long. But I have to say my favorite lens still is my prime lens, a 50mm f1.8. This lens is “old school”, it’s like the Sinatra of camera lenses, it’s just always going to be cool. I shoot probably 60% of all of my indoor wedding shots with that lens and guess what, it is my CHEAPEST lens.
With $4.00+ gas now, I have another way to justify purchases (to myself at least). So the way I see it, something costs more or less than a tank of gas, makes it seem so cheap. Check out these two “professional” quality lenses that cost about as much as it costs to fill up an SUV (and much “greener” too!).
For you Canon folks, consider this bad boy. It will cost you about one tank of REGULAR unleaded!
If you fill up with 90+ octane, you are probably richer than me, so you might have enough pocket change to purchase this one if you are a Nikon person:
So if you really want to be “green”, car pool or ride your bike or hoof it to work next week and buy a professional lens. Put your camera on aperture priority, dial in f1.8, pump up your ISO to 800 and play around with low light shooting.