by Gerald Boerner
Our next installment on our series on “Choosing your Lens” reaches an exciting stage: actually putting all of the background information that we have covered in the first five installments into an action plan. Essentially, today we suggest that you download a Check List that identifies the key elements of our lens wish list. We will then use a vendor’s search criteria to select lenses that meet our objectives. And, finally, we suggest that you read reviews of the recommended lenses to select the best one for our budget, photographic needs, and camera. So, let’s get started. GLB
“The camera is not an instrument of preservation, the image is.”
— Berenice Abbott
“It matters little how much equipment we use; it matters much that we be masters of all we do use.”
— Sam Abell
“Never ever say the word shoot when you are taking a picture with a camera because a camera is not a violent weapon.”
— Ruth Bernhard
“I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.”
— John Steinbeck
“I was extravagant in the matter of cameras – anything photographic – I had to have the best. But that was to further my work. In most things I have gone along with the plainest – or without.”
— Edward Weston
“People are under the illusion that it’s easy…Technically, it is complex. You have a million options with equipment to distract you. I tell my students to simplify their equipment.”
— Brett Weston
“A camera can get you close without the burden of commitment. It’s a nifty device that way, a magical passport into people’s lives with no permanent strings attached.”
— Nina Berman
“The fact is that relatively few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage chase from new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never staying with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, becoming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since they don’t know what to do with it.”
— Edward Weston
Focal Concept: Picking the Correct Lens for your Scenario
We will go through two stages in picking the “correct” lens for your photographic scenario. The first stage is to have gone through the five previous parts of this series. The second stage is to use the knowledge gained from this series to identify what you are looking for in a lens. Finally, use the “Lens Finder” on the Adorama web site to find the lenses that meet your needs. So, let’s get started.
A digital SLR lens wish list is a portrait of your ideal lens. This is the one lens that will keep you happy for years to come, and will help you take the photos that you enjoy the most.
Key point: all lenses are NOT ideal for all photography styles.
For example, a bird photographer with a wide angle lens won’t get very many great shots, since the birds will appear tiny in the photos. The bird photographer really needs a telephoto or super-telephoto lens to get up close and personal with these elusive subjects.
The following material is adapted from the Digital SLR Guide referenced below. Please refer to these sites for a fuller coverage of this information.
Reviewing the Characteristics that You Want in a Lens
You’ve done your homework, and now you’re ready to pick a digital SLR lens. If you’re just accessing this page for the first time, I encourage you to start at the beginning of my series on “Choosing your Lens” that helps you find the best digital SLR lens.
If you’ve been following along through all steps, by now you should have a fully developed digital SLR lens wish list. We’re going to leverage the information in your wish list to pick a digital SLR lens that is ideal for your photography style.
We just have to find the one lens that is the closest match to your dream lens.
The SLR Lens Wish List
The idea of a digital SLR lens wish list was borne from the need to have a simple way to explain to people how to find the best lens for their SLR cameras. It was also just a matter of good timing: right when the digital SLR lens guide was written, the author was in the market for a lens himself.
Notes were kept of the steps that were taken to narrow down the field of options, and how the search was structured to find the perfect lens. The key element that came out of this analysis is the digital SLR lens wish list.
Identify a Need
The wish list begins when you identify a photography need AND you realize that the current lens you have isn’t the right one for the job. Some photographic needs might include:
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I want to photograph scenic landscapes
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I want to photograph dogs at the park
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I want to photograph my daughter’s soccer games
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I want to photograph building interiors
Each one of these needs creates different requirements for the lens that you’re looking for.
Once you’ve got a need in mind, then it’s just a matter of building your wish list and making decisions about lens features along the way.
The Best Lens Ever
When you get done with your wish list, you’ll have a complete picture of the perfect lens.
Reality check: this perfect lens may not exist.
But the good news is that there are plenty of lenses that will come very close. All you have to do is pick the lens that’s a close match to your perfect lens, and also within your budget.
All well and good, you’re thinking – but I don’t want to have to go to the trouble of creating a digital SLR lens wish list.
Wish List Download
I’ve put together a wishlist document that follows along with my digital SLR lens guide step for step.
Here’s all that you have to do:
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Click the button below to download your digital SLR lens wish list (it’s in PDF format, so you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader if you don’t already have it)
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Print out your lens wish list (it’s a lot easier to fill out this way)
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For each question in the wish list, mark the checkbox for the lens feature that you’d like to have
Once you have a printed wishlist ready to go, you can get started on the first step of the digital SLR lens guide – deciding what focal length you’d like your lens to have.
Be sure that you complete this Wish List before proceeding to the next step.
How to Pick a Digital SLR Lens
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something out there that would allow you to plug in the items from your wishlist and have it tell you which lens to buy?
Well, there is (but it might give you more than one option to choose from). The web site is called Adorama, and while they are a retailer, I find that their lens search engine is the easiest way to quickly find a lens that matches my needs.
Here are the steps to follow to find a lens:
Congratulations! You’ve just narrowed down the number of lens options you have to compare from hundreds to a handful.
The Final Step – Read Reviews
The last step on your journey to find the best digital SLR lens is to read some reviews of the lenses you’ve selected to make sure they aren’t duds (some are).
There are three web sites that I use to evaluate whether or not a lens is high-quality and worth the price I’m about to pay.
Here you will find all the latest digital photography and imaging news, reviews of the latest digital cameras and accessories, the most active discussion forums, a large selection of sample galleries, a digital camera database and buyers guide and the most comprehensive database of digital camera features and specifications. We believe in quality, original, unbiased content.
Photodo is a massive archive of information about lenses of all sizes and shapes. The site includes lens specifications, guides, a discussion forum and plenty of reviews. The only trick: you HAVE to know what lens you’re looking for. Going to Photodo before you have narrowed down your lens options is a sure-fire way to get overwhelmed with information. I recommend that you build your wish list first, narrow your options, and THEN go to Photodo for more detailed reviews.…
While not as comprehensive as Photodo, what I like about Amazon is that it usually has plenty of actual user reviews. I say usually because some lenses are so new, so obscure, or so expensive that not very many people who own them have taken the time to write a review. All in all, Amazon’s reviews are a good barometer of the quality of a lens, and can sway your decision about which digital SLR lens you should pick.
I wish you the best of luck in picking a digital SLR lens that you’ll be happy with for years to come, and I hope that this guide (and your wish list) has helped you along the way. If you have any feedback about this digital SLR lens guide, I am happy to hear it.
Where To Buy Your Lens
I buy all of my lenses from Adorama, Amazon
Remember, when it comes to lense prices don’t pay bottom dollar. Lenses are worth every penny you pay for them since low-quality lenses result in low-quality photos (regardless of the camera that’s taking the shots).
References:
Barbara London, Jim Stone, & John Upton. (2008) Photography. Pearson, Prentice-Hall
Background and biographical information is from Wikipedia articles on:
Wikipedia: The Camera…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera
Wikipedia: Photographic Lens…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_lens
Web Sites and Blogs:
Adorama: 35mm & Digital SLR Lenses…
http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=itemlist&cat1=Cameras%20%26%20Lenses&cat2=Lenses%20%26%20Accessories&cat3=35mm%20%26%20Digital%20SLR%20Lenses
Digital SLR Guide: Digital SLR Lens Reviews…
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/how-to-pick-a-digital-slr-lens.html
Digital SLR Guide: Digital SLR Lens Wish List…
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/digital-slr-lens-wishlist.html
FocalPower: Quotes about Photography — Equipment…
http://www.focalpower.com/app/quote/subjects/5/
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