Nikon Trilogy Lenses Which photographic lens is the right one you may wonder. Why choose one over the other? This is an important question, and to get the image you are looking for requires you to know the answer. With modern digital camera sensors becoming more and more sensitive and dynamic the quality of the lens is equally important to achieving excellent quality results. So let's take a look at the different classifications of lenses and their specific uses.
Lenses are divided into five categories based on focal length:
Prime vs. Zoom Lenses
Regardless of focal length there are two catagories of lenses, prime and zoom. Zoom lenses have a variable focal length and can zoom in for closer and out for wider views.
Prime lenses have a fixed focal length and you must move to change your image perspective. They are a much simplier design and because of this they tend to be sharper and sometimes less expensive than zoom lenses. Many photographers tend to favor prime lenses for their added sharpness.
The proper lens choice and quality of that lens will have a much greater impact on your images than the camera body itself. It is far better to purchase high quality lenses as you can afford to rather than have a bunch of low quality lenses that were inexpensive to purchase. High quality lenses also retain much greater resale value and the" iconic" lenses are always in great demand on the used market. There are several great lens manufacturers, so do your research and go with a reputable company that stands behind their product. Nikon as an example will warranty their lenses for five years from the date of purchase. They are complicated instruments and that warranty is great piece of mind.
Choose your lenses wisely and you will be rewarded with high quality images that will make you proud of your work! Until next time may the best of light follow you...
Lenses are divided into five categories based on focal length:
- Ultra Wide-Angle
Ranging from 4mm to 20mm, these lenses have extremely large fields of view. Fisheye lenses fall into this category. Such a stretched perspective can often cause bending and distortion towards the edges of the frame. This type of lens will give you a very interesting close / far relationship to your images. - Wide-Angle
Anything between 21mm and 35mm is a standard wide angle lens, and are the most common focal lengths. They are versatile and allow pictures to be taken close up to a subject while minimizing distortion and still including the background. - Normal
50mm is known as a “normal” focal length because it sees with roughly the same perspective as the human eye. However, this category can include lenses ranging between 35mm and 60mm, which give a very realistic look. - Telephoto
At around 75mm we start to get into “long” lenses – ones that zoom quite far, enabling you to shoot your subject from a distance. They are better for isolating details of a scene, rather than fitting a lot into the frame. Anything up to 150mm is considered a standard telephoto lens. - Super Telephoto
Any lens over 150mm is a super telephoto – including extreme telephotos which exceed 400mm. These are used for isolating small details at a great distance; they are usually used for photographing wildlife, sporting events, but can also be utilized to make very unique landscape images. This type of lens is the largest and heaviest of all lens types.
Prime vs. Zoom Lenses
Regardless of focal length there are two catagories of lenses, prime and zoom. Zoom lenses have a variable focal length and can zoom in for closer and out for wider views.
Prime lenses have a fixed focal length and you must move to change your image perspective. They are a much simplier design and because of this they tend to be sharper and sometimes less expensive than zoom lenses. Many photographers tend to favor prime lenses for their added sharpness.
The proper lens choice and quality of that lens will have a much greater impact on your images than the camera body itself. It is far better to purchase high quality lenses as you can afford to rather than have a bunch of low quality lenses that were inexpensive to purchase. High quality lenses also retain much greater resale value and the" iconic" lenses are always in great demand on the used market. There are several great lens manufacturers, so do your research and go with a reputable company that stands behind their product. Nikon as an example will warranty their lenses for five years from the date of purchase. They are complicated instruments and that warranty is great piece of mind.
Choose your lenses wisely and you will be rewarded with high quality images that will make you proud of your work! Until next time may the best of light follow you...
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