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Camera Lenses - Which ones are best for nature and landscape photography?
Considering a new camera lens? Whether you're dissatisfied with your current lens, or considering stepping up to a DSLR, knowing more about the available lenses will help you make the choice that helps you to take the best photographs possible.
In addition to the flexibility that individual lenses offer, you're able to
add filters
that modify the light entering the lens. Installing extension tubes (for close-up photography) or teleconverters (which double or triple the focal length of the lens) between the camera and your existing lens are cheap alternatives, but they'll also lower the amount of light available to the sensor and aren't as versatile as lenses devoted to your specific needs.
In addition to the lenses made by the same manufacturer as your camera (e.g. Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc.), companies like Tamron, Sigma, and Vivitar make lenses to fit your DSLR, and their products are getting good reviews.
What's the difference between the lens choices, and which one is best for me?
There are just a few types of lenses available, with many subtypes and combinations (e.g. telephoto-zoom):
- Standard - Typically a 50mm (35mm or full-frame DSLR) or 35mm (APS-C DSLR), the standard lens is a basic fixed focal length lens that used to come standard (thus the name) with all SLRs. With the smaller sensor sizes of many DSLRs, the 50mm is now the equivalent of a short telephoto, good for portraits.
- Wide Angle - Often from 28mm to 35mm (35mm or full-frame DSLR) or 18mm to 24mm (APS-C DSLR), a wide angle lens allows you to include more of the scenery than a standard lens. The shorter focal length means you'll have a closer hyperfocal distance, and thus more depth of field. Landscape photography prety much demands a wide angle lens to capture all the scenery.
- Telephoto - Anything over 50mm (35mm or full-frame DSLR) or 35mm (APS-C DSLR), a telephoto lens is like a telescope, bringing far objects closer. It also compresses the depth of field, making distant objects seem closer to one another. A telephoto doesn't have the distortion that a wide angle lens does, and that's one reason short and medium telephoto lenses are popular for portraits. Long telephotos are a necessity for wildlife photography.
- Macro - Often between 50mm and 150mm (35mm or full-frame DSLR) or 35mm and 105mm (APS-C DSLR), a macro lens permits the photographer to get very close to the subject. Bugs and flowers look great when shot with macro lenses.
- Zoom - Unlike a fixed focal length lens, a zoom lens gives you a range of focal lengths at which you can shoot. There are wide angle zooms, which go from very wide to not so wide, telephoto zooms, which range from medium to long, and the very popular all-in-one zoom lens, which starts wide and extends to a short telephoto. These are commonly the "kit" lens that comes with many DSLRs today.
There are also extremes and special purpose lenses available. Very long telephoto, ultra-wide wide angle, and fisheye are some examples.
When purchasing a lens, don't skimp on price. Cheaper lenses often use cheaper optics, and your photos will suffer. The widest aperture, or lowest f-stop, is a measure of the "speed" of a lens. If you don't shoot often in low light, you can save money with a slower lens.
Check out this week's special deals in the Best Landscape Photography camera store!
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