Tips for selecting and caring for lenses

Submitted by WhiteWall Team

How to find the perfect lens

Are you faced with the decision to buy a new lens, but the choice is overwhelming? Don't worry, this article will help you find the perfect lens for your needs. We'll cover the most important questions you should ask yourself before buying a lens and explain the best lens types for different photographic genres. We also look at the benefits of fixed focal length and zoom lenses, useful features and tips on how to care for and clean your lenses.

What questions should you ask yourself before buying a lens?

Before you spend money on a new lens, you should consider which subjects you mainly want to photograph with it, whether you mainly shoot in daylight or in poor light conditions, whether you will be traveling a lot with the camera and what budget you have available. Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

1. What do you prefer to photograph?

Are you more interested in landscape, portrait, architecture, reportage or product photography? Each of these areas has specific requirements for the lens. For example, you need wide-angle lenses for landscapes, fast lenses are suitable for portraits in order to capture the subject beautifully, and small and lightweight lenses are particularly in demand for travel and street photography.

2. What lighting conditions prevail in your typical shooting situations?

Do you often shoot in low light or in well-lit surroundings? In low light, lenses with a high lens speed are advantageous. This can apply to twilight photography as well as indoor photography and astrophotography at night. If, on the other hand, you are mostly out and about during the day in good light and are looking for a compact and rather inexpensive travel lens, then the speed is of secondary importance.

3. How important is the flexibility of the focal length to you?

If you want to be able to react flexibly to different subjects or distances to your subjects, then a zoom lens with a versatile focal length range is recommended. If, on the other hand, you attach more importance to high image quality and light intensity, then fixed focal lengths are the better choice. In this case, you will have to change your shooting position yourself if you want to vary the distance to your subject.

4 What budget is available?

Lenses are available in different price ranges. Determine your budget to narrow down your choice. Look for the best possible price-performance ratio. If the original lenses from the camera manufacturer are too expensive for you, it is worth taking a look at lenses from third-party suppliers. Here, too, you will find a lot of quality at an often attractive price.

5 Which camera do you have?

Make sure that the lens is compatible with your camera system. Some lenses have been specially developed for cameras with smaller sensors such as APS-C and Four Thirds, others for full-frame cameras. Therefore, pay attention to the corresponding abbreviations in the product name. In chapter 4.2 you will learn how to recognize APS-C lenses.

Which lenses are best suited for...

Landscape photography

Typical focal lengths: 14 mm, 24 mm, 16-35 mm, 24-70 mm

Tips: Wide-angle fixed focal lengths and wide-angle zooms are ideal for capturing wide scenes and impressive landscapes. As landscape photography is usually shot with a tripod, the speed is less important in most cases. In order to achieve the greatest possible depth of field with many details, the aperture is closed further in landscape photography anyway.

Astrophotography is an exception. Here, fast fixed focal lengths with a maximum aperture of f/1.4 are recommended in order to keep the shutter speed so short at an acceptable ISO sensitivity that the stars in the night sky can be captured as dots and not as stripes.

Portrait photography

Typical focal lengths: 50 mm, 85 mm, 135 mm, 24-70 mm, 70-200 mm

Tips: Fast fixed focal lengths from 50 mm up to the slight telephoto range are ideal for half-body portraits and "headshots", where only the head up to the shoulders can be seen in the picture, as they allow a natural perspective and a soft background blur with beautiful bokeh. Fixed focal lengths with 85 mm and a maximum aperture of f/1.8 or f/1.4 are particularly popular here.

If you want more flexibility because you want to take portraits from the head as well as full-body shots, then a fast 24-70 mm zoom with a constant aperture of f/2.8 or f/4 is a good choice. Zoom lenses with a focal length range of 70-200 mm are ideal for close-ups and for compressing backgrounds, creating a beautiful bokeh effect.

Architectural photography

Typical focal lengths: Tilt-shift fixed focal lengths (e.g. 17 mm or 24 mm), 16-35 mm, 24-70 mm

Tips: In architectural photography, very wide-angle focal lengths are used to capture large buildings and interiors as well as standard focal lengths for capturing architectural details. Special tilt-shift lenses are recommended for fixed focal lengths, as they correct perspective distortions and enable precise focus settings thanks to their movable lens design. However, they are generally more expensive and more suitable for professional applications. Of course, architectural shots can also be taken with normal wide-angle fixed focal lengths without the tilt-shift function. However, with very large image angles, straight lines may appear distorted at the edges of the image. This is called distortion. However, this can be corrected quite easily in image processing.

Wide-angle and standard zooms offer architectural photographers many possibilities without having to change the shooting position or lens. They can be used to photograph large buildings and rooms as well as details. Zoom lenses that distort as little as possible at the edges of the image are also recommended here.

Reportage photography, events and weddings

Typical focal lengths: 35mm, 85mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm

Tips: Flexibility is the be-all and end-all in reportage photography. A fast zoom lens from 24-70 mm is versatile and can be used for scenic shots with a lot of background as well as portraits. A 70-200 mm is also suitable for discreet shots from a distance and for capturing emotional moments. Fast 70-200 mm zooms with a constant aperture of f/2.8 are particularly popular for weddings, especially for shots in the church and registry office.

If you are looking for fast fixed focal lengths for beautiful cut-outs of people, then an 85 mm is recommended for portraits with soft bokeh. In addition, reportage and event photographers like to use the wider-angle 35 mm, as it gives them the opportunity to photograph the people together with the location and thus tell visual stories.

Product photography

Typical focal lengths: Macro fixed focal lengths (e.g. 50 mm or 100 mm), tilt-shift fixed focal lengths, standard zoom (e.g. 24-70 mm)

Tips: There are different approaches to product and still-life photography. If product details are to be emphasized, macro lenses are suitable, with which you can get very close to the products. Professionals also like to work with special tilt-shift fixed focal lengths in product photography, as they not only compensate for perspective distortions, but also allow the focus range to be controlled in a targeted manner. This allows a high depth of field to be achieved even at short shooting distances from the subject.

A 24-70 mm zoom can be used in a variety of ways and enables different product sizes and details to be depicted. A high light intensity is not so important in this case, as you often work with a tripod and daylight or artificial light.

Travel and street photography

Typical focal lengths: 35 mm, 50 mm, 24-105 mm, travel zooms (e.g. 24-200 mm, 18-135 mm)

Tips: Compact and versatile zoom lenses are in demand for travel and street photography. A standard zoom of 24-105 mm as well as travel zooms with often extreme focal length ranges cover a large focal length range and are therefore ideal for different shooting situations of landscapes, portraits, street photography and zooming in on distant subjects. Zooms offer the advantage that often only one lens is needed, which saves space and weight in your luggage. Luminous intensity is less important here than flexibility and mobility. Some manufacturers also offer standard zooms that can be retracted to save space on the move and reduce the depth of the lens housing.

The 35 mm and 50 mm fixed focal lengths are light and unobtrusive and are ideal companions for spontaneous shots on the move and when traveling. They offer outstanding image quality and a natural perspective. The fast versions of the focal lengths with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 or f/1.4 enable good shots to be taken even in poor lighting conditions.

Which lens features are particularly useful?

Image stabilizer

An optical image stabilizer in the lens (often referred to as IS, VR, OS or similar) helps to reduce camera shake, especially at longer focal lengths and in poor lighting conditions. This is particularly useful if you take a lot of hand-held photos. Image stabilizers increase the chance of sharp images and make it possible to take photos with shorter exposure times than would be possible without stabilization. Stabilization is particularly effective when the optical image stabilizer of the lens works together with the camera's internal sensor stabilization (IBIS). In this case, manufacturers refer to this as hybrid IS or synchro IS, for example.

Aperture ring

An aperture ring enables manual control of the aperture directly on the lens. This can be particularly useful when shooting video or in manual mode. Aperture rings are often found on higher-quality fixed focal lengths. If you also want to use the aperture ring in video mode, it is best to make sure that aperture rings with click stops can be switched to stepless operation. Some lenses are equipped with an additional click or de-click switch for this purpose.

Individually assignable controls

Modern lenses often offer individually assignable function buttons and control rings that allow quick access to frequently used settings. This customizability can significantly improve your workflow. To this end, manufacturers offer you various functions via the camera menus that you can assign to the control elements.

What is the best way to care for your lenses?

Proper care and cleaning of your lenses is crucial to prolonging their service life and ensuring optimum image quality at all times. You can find suitable aids in commercially available cleaning sets. We recommend that you always have such a set with you. Nothing is more annoying than discovering dust or fingerprints on the front lens, for example, and not being able to clean it.

Here are some tips on how to care for and clean your lenses:

• Use lens caps and cases: protect your lenses from dust and scratches by always closing them with lens caps when not in use and carrying them in padded cases to protect them from damage.

• Clean regularly: Remove dust and fingerprints from the front lens with a soft microfiber cloth. Special cleaning solutions can be used for stubborn dirt.

• Bellows: A bellows is included in many cleaning sets. When you squeeze the bellows, a blast of air is created which you can use to remove dust and particles without touching the lens.

• Lenspen: The Lenspen is a pen with a soft brush on one side and a flat cleaning pad on the other, specially designed to remove dirt and fingerprints.

• Avoid moisture: Store your lenses in a dry room. Moisture can cause mold and fungus, which can permanently damage the lens and its technology.

Conclusion

The choice of the ideal lens depends on various factors. These include, for example, your preferred shooting areas, the prevailing lighting conditions and your budget. Whether you choose a fixed focal length or a zoom lens depends on your individual needs and preferences. If you want to work as flexibly as possible without having to change lenses every now and then, it is best to choose a zoom lens. If you attach great importance to high light intensity and image quality, then fixed focal lengths are the better choice. Useful features such as an image stabilizer, an aperture ring and individually assignable controls can improve your workflow and make operation easier. And don't forget to regularly maintain and clean your lenses to ensure their performance and longevity. With these tips, you are well equipped. We wish you every success in choosing your next lens to take your photography skills to the next level.