Must Have Lenses for Bloggers

Everyone told you to buy a nice camera. That nice camera was supposed to solve all of your problems, right? You’ve taken a few pictures and they haven’t turned out as good as you’d hoped. Well, don’t despair my fun, creative friend. The problem is they only told you have of the equation. A camera is great, but without the right lens, you might be a bit disappointed.

Truth: Almost every photographer would rather spend money on a great lens than spend money on a new camera

Your lens, more than your camera, controls the quality of your pictures. But with so many lens choices, which ones should you buy?

Every person should have at least two types of lenses.

1. You need a prime lens. A prime lens simply means a lens that doesn’t zoom. So, if you want to get closer to an object, you have to move your feet. Prime lenses have better image quality and get a smaller aperture number (which means you can get that blurry background called bokeh.)

50 mm lens: This is my favorite lens. It give you the ability to control your depth of field (or how much of your photo is in focus) and with good, better, best pricing, it is a must for anyone looking to be a better photographer. Also, I have owned each of the following three 50 mm lenses. I love them all.

$125 Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens
Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

$349 Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras – Fixed
Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

$1349 Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras – Fixed

2. You need a zoom lens. A zoom lens or telephoto lens is a lens that you can turn the lens ring zoom in or out. Basically, you don’t have to move to get closer. Zoom lenses are a lot more convenient because you can get a variety of shots without moving. It is also helpful if you are in tight places like your home and you need to zoom out to get more of the shot. There are a lot of different zoom lenses, but here are a review of a few.

Sigma 17-70mm 2.8-4.0 Lens: This is a great lens to upgrade from your kit lens. It gives you more zoom range AND with an aperture of 2.8 you can get that yummy blurry background. It also is able to get close up shots. It has unusually close focusing to just 22cm (hence the word ‘Macro’ in the lens name). This is a great all around lens!

$499 Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 Contemporary DC Macro OS HSM Zoom Lens for Nikon DX Cameras

Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 Contemporary DC Macro OS HSM Zoom Lens for Canon EF-S Cameras

Canon 24-70mm 2.8 L lens: This is the lens that I use second to my 50 mm 1.2 L lens. I love it for its sharpness and its creamy bokeh (or blurry background). It is definitely more on the pricey side, but having that “L” on the lens does mean that it is THE highest quality lens around. This lens is not a macro lens, so you won’t be getting super close shots like you can in the Sigma above.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Standard Zoom Lens
Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Well, my friend. I hope that this helped make your lens decision a little easier and if you are ready to take your photography to the next level but are too scared to learn photography because of all of that confusing language, I’ve got the course for you.

A Girlfriend’s Guide to Photography Basics.

It is made by me, so I promise it is simple and super fun!