The kind of lens a photographer should have depends tremendously on what type of Photography he is a part of.
But for most of us we only need a standard lens that can extend from short angle range to a wide one such as the Canon EF 400mm due to its wide range of usability.
Nevertheless, From the information we gathered we concluded that the type Lenses Every Photographer Should Own are the 50mm, The ultra wide-angle and the macro.
Now if you are looking for a specific type of lenses that can do a particular job such as landscape, Portrait, Product or even food photography. Here are types of lenses for your specific need.
- Landscape Photography: Canon EF-S 15-85mm , Samyang 14mm Ultra Wide-Angle , Nikon 35mm.
- Wildlife Photography: Canon 100-400mm , Nikon 200-500mm , Sigma 150-600mm.
- Sports Photography: Canon EF 70-200mm , Nikon 80-200mm.
- Travel Photography: Canon EF 16–35mm , Canon EF 24‑70mm , Canon EF 24–105mm.
Landscape photography
Canon EF-S 15-85mm
The Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM standard zoom lens sets a new standard for everyday photography on APS-C sensors.
With a focal length range equivalent to 24-136mm in 35mm format, image stabilization and high-precision optics, this lens offers stellar performance from wide-angle through to telephoto.
The Image Stabilization system allows you to shoot sharp images with a 4-stop advantage under less-than-optimum lighting conditions.
Plus the Ultra Sonic Motor (USM) technology provides fast and quiet focus control with on-demand manual override when shooting in AF mode.
Samyang 14mm Ultra Wide-Angle
The Samyang 14mm is a high quality affordably priced lens.
Designed for full frame cameras and is fully compatible with APS-C cameras as well. Its build and construction are superb!
The lens construction is 14 elements in 12 groups and features 2 ED lens elements, one hybrid aspherical lens element and one glass aspherical lens element.
All of these lens elements combine to minimize distortion and chromatic aberrations. Your pictures are sure to come our razor sharp and clear, even at the corners!
Also, The Samyang 14mm lens features a remarkable 115.7 Degree angle of view on full-frame cameras and a 93.9 Degree angle of view on APS-C cameras.
The lens is available for the following mounts: Canon EOS, Nikon, Sony Alpha, Pentax & Olympus 4/3.
Finally, There are two Nikon versions; one version is fully manual while the second version features a built-in automatic focus confirm chip to sync and auto-meter with your camera.
Nikon 35mm
The AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G optical design allows a different look and feel to images taken with zoom lenses.
Its dimensions are ideal for discrete snapshots and landscape shooting with a picture angle that approximates that of the human eye.
With its rounded seven-blade diaphragm opening, out-of-focus elements appear more natural.
When mounted on a DX-format SLR, the picture angle is the 35mm equivalent focal length of 50mm
Wildlife photography
Canon 100-400mm
Equipped with an Image Stabilizer, the Canon EF 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens makes it easy to capture the far-off action of fast-paced sports or zoom in for an intimate portrait with a blurred background.
In addition, The lens offer such features as fluorite and Super UD-glass elements that largely eliminate secondary spectrum
A floating system that ensures high picture quality at all focal lengths; two Image Stabilizer modes; and compatibility with extenders 1.4x II and 2x II.
Nikon 200-500mm
fast f/5.6 constant aperture gives your shots beautifully out-of-focus backgrounds across the entire zoom range.
it has a super integrated coating has been applied to lens elements to lessen flare and ghosting for improved contrast and clarity.
Furthermore, a Silent Wave Motor AF system produces fast, near-silent focusing performance that suits both stills shooting and movie recording which can instantly be manually overridden.
You also can shoot at slower shutter speeds in low light— great for those magic moments at dawn and dusk.
Sigma 150-600mm
Light weight and compact, this camera can handle any long-reach photographic situation one may encounter.
It has a optimized Hyper Sonic Motor and a new Optical Stabilizer with an accelerometer for improved panning photography both vertically and horizontally.
On top of that, It can be locked at any focal length and a new manual override switch is incorporated for improved focusing control.
This lens allows for maximum customization such as firmware updates and adjustments to the focus limiter, AF speed and OS view.
Sports photography
Canon EF 70-200mm
The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom Lens increases the speed, performance and optical quality while maintaining all of the good characteristics.
This lens features one fluorite and five UD elements for increased optical quality and reduced chromatic aberration.
It has a minimum focusing distance of 1.2m/3.9 ft. at all zoom settings, which is useful for photographers in smaller spaces trying to get closer to a subject.
Also provides up to 4 stops of correction at all focal lengths.
Finally, The canon ef 70-200 is dust- and moisture-resistant and designed for use in the challenging environments typical of rigorous professional use.
Nikon 80-200mm
The Nikon 80-200mm is a superb 2.5x telephoto zoom with a fast and constant f2.8 maximum aperture through the entire focal range.
As well, ED glass elements provide high-resolution and high-contrast image even at maximum aperture. The rotating zoom ring provides precise zoom operation.
multilayer coating process is tailored to the design of each particular lens. The number of coatings applied to each lens element is carefully calculated to match the lens type and glass used.
Travel photography
Canon EF 16–35mm
The EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM is a high performance, water-resistant, and ultra wide-angle Canon L-series lens.
It has been specifically designed for improved edge-to-edge image quality that will meet the strict requirements of professional and high-end amateur photographers.
Moreover, It features 3 high-precision aspherical lens elements, each of a different type: ground, replica and GMo for the best image quality.
The circular aperture produces a beautiful and natural background blur when shooting at wider apertures.
Other features include internal focusing, a ring type Ultra Sonic Monitor, and new AF algorithms for fast and quiet auto-focusing.
Canon EF 24‑70mm
The Canon EF 24-70mm standard zoom lens does what many pros thought couldn’t be done–it replaces the L-series 28-70mm f/2.8 lens with something even better.
The lens offers extended coverage to an ultra-wide-angle 24mm, making it ideal for digital as well as film shooters.
The new processing unit, meanwhile, makes the autofocus (AF) faster than ever.
And thanks to the two aspherical elements and a totally new UD glass element, the optics are far superior to the earlier lens.
Sealed and gasketed against dust and moisture, the EF 24-70mm lens carries a one-year warranty.
Canon EF 24–105mm
This camera Combine Superior Performance With Superlative Handling.
Resistant To Dust And Moisture. The Ef 24-105mm features Canon’S Three-Stop Image Stabilize making It Ideal For Handheld Work.
Permits The Use Of Shutter Speeds Up To Three Stops Slower Than Normal, With No Perceptible Increase In Image Blur From Camera Shake.
Has 1 Super UD glass element and 3 aspherical lenses minimize chromatic aberration and distortion.
Finally, The coatings reduce reflections off lens element surfaces to deliver crisp, undisturbed images with natural color balance.
Types of lenses
All the lenses out there in the market can be categorized into these main types.
The first type is:
Macro Lens
As the name suggests, This lens is mainly build for close up images and works best with small object like coins and/or any living organism that has the same size of it.
It has a long barrel for very-close focusing and optimized for high reproduction ratios.
Most modern macro lenses can focus 100 times more than any older lens and can provide a prefect optical quality for the regular photographer.
The depth-of-field can be very narrow, limiting the linear depth of the area that will be in focus. Lenses are usually stopped down to give a greater depth-of-field.
Zoom Lens
a zoom lens allow a camera to change smoothly from a long shot to a close-up or vice versa by varying the focal length.
In theory, a zoom lens can maintain focus and quality while changing its focal length. But in practice, all of the zoom lenses will have some sort of quality loss whether it is a small or a drastic one.
Special Lens
A specialist lens is used to produce some sort of special or creative effect, and so they have limited use in general photography.
However, they can be very useful if you need to photograph a particular subject in a particular way.
What kind of lenses should a photographer have
When photographers start out on their image-making journey, The majority of newcomers tend to go for a camera that comes with a ‘kit lens‘.
These optics usually feature a general focal length of around 18-55mm and have a variable apertures, typically around f/3.5-5.6.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this roundup of What kind of lenses should a photographer have. Leave a comment below if you use any of the lenses I mentioned, or if you think I missed any other good ones.
Remember that whilst I don’t advocate buying camera gear just for the sake of it, a mediocre lens will always hamper the ability of your camera.
These days, modern dSLR camera bodies can all deliver excellent results, no matter the sensor size or price point. However, unless you’re using a great lens on the front of your camera, you’re not realizing its true potential.
