What lenses do i need.

[Eifion Williams]

What lenses do i need ? well that really depends on the type of photography that you do.

Digital SLR cameras these days can be fitted with a bewildering range of lenses so here is a guide of what is suitable for what purpose.
These days most people ues zoom lenses as one zoom can take the place of many fixed lenght lenses.

Landscape and Architecture lenses of up to 18mm.

General Photography 18 - 70mm

Portraits 50 - 100mm

Action , Sport 100 - 300 or above.

Wildlife and Nature 300 and above.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Eifion, since buying my first Olympus OM1n 35mm camera around 1982, I used 28mm, 50mm and 200mm lenses. All were prime lenses for best quality and faster appertures than the equivalent zooms and rarely found problems with the large gaps in focal lengths. I did get a cheap 70-200 zoom, but only used it on holiday for convenience. Since I've gone digital I just have a Canon 17-40L f4 and a 70-200L IS f2.8 (constant f max through the zoom range) Again, I don't find a problem between the 40 and 70mm length. Too often folks get concerned with these gaps between focal lengths and have to buy 'fill-in' lenses. Zooms are relatively recent in the history of cameras and sometimes their use is misunderstood especially when we consider the stunning photography produced using prime lenses for over a century and a half. (must dig out my old 5x4 MPP with just a 90mm Super Angulon). Cheers, Dave

[Paul Smith]

I got a bit obsessive with covering the entire range when putting my kit together and don't use a lot of it. A good 50mm or 35mm on a crop sensor is an ideal starting point for those starting out. Looking back through my images I could easily have not bothered with two of my lenses and not really missed them.

Wouldn't be without my 24-70 though, it's lovely.