Choosing a lens

Learning goal

When deciding on a second lens, you will be able to start not from an ad or a friend's recommendation, but from your own shooting. From the shooting data inside your photos you will find which focal lengths you use most; you will put the situations that challenge you most into a needs list; you will choose between a bright prime, a telephoto and a wide angle according to this list; you will think about budget together with the lens's lifespan, weight and the chance to rent; when buying a used lens you will check the glass, the rings, the mount and how it works; and when trying a lens you will look at how well it draws faces, on every skin.

The question

You go to a photography club's gear swap day. On the tables are dozens of lenses: short, bright primes, long telephoto zooms, very wide-angle lenses. Everyone has a recommendation: one says "you must get a bright prime", one says "you can't do without a telephoto", and another says "a wide angle will change your world". In your hands are the single zoom that came with your camera and a limited budget.

Which should your second lens be? This question has no single answer that holds for everyone; but it has an answer that holds for you, and that answer is already written inside your photos. In this lesson we will talk about deciding on your second lens by looking at your own shooting, using your budget wisely, and what to look for when buying a used lens.

Context

From the fisher on the pier to the old lens at the flea market, you learned to weigh a piece of glass from every angle. All this knowledge exists, in the end, for a single decision: which lens you will buy. This decision is often made through a product review, a forum discussion or a friend's enthusiasm, and in the end a little-used lens stays in the bag.

A more reliable way is to read where your need is from your own shooting. The lens that came with your camera is already telling you, without your noticing, what you want: at which end you spend a lot of time, in which light you struggle, which subjects you can't reach. The second lens is the lens that answers what is being said.

Simple explanation

Where do you read your need from?

Inside every digital photo there is shooting data recorded at the moment of the shot, called EXIF data: at what focal length, aperture, shutter speed and ISO it was taken. Many editing programs show this data and let you filter photos by focal length. If you pick the frames you have taken and liked over the last few months and look at their focal lengths, you see at which end of your zoom you concentrate.

If the frames are piled up at the long end of the zoom, a telephoto that reaches farther may serve you. If they are piled up at the short end and there are still places you can't fit in, a wider angle may help. If the frames are spread around the middle but there are many high-ISO, blurry or grainy frames, the problem isn't in focal length but in light, and a bright lens can help. Next to this data, add a short list of the moments you couldn't take or didn't like: this needs list is a more honest guide than recommendations.

Which need do the three common paths answer?

There are three paths most often discussed as a second lens. A bright prime lens gains light and background softness in dim interiors, at dinners, at concerts and in portraits; but it ties you to a single focal length. A telephoto zoom gives reach for children playing sports on a field, a ceremony far from the stage, birds or portraits from a distance; but it is usually heavier and less bright. A wide angle opens up room for narrow rooms, architecture, landscapes and shots from inside a crowd; but it needs care when photographing people at the edges.

Which of these three is right depends on your needs list; one person's need can be another's unnecessary load. If you photograph people a lot, a lens that lets you build a frame from a few meters back and keep detail in dim light, that is a short telephoto or a bright normal lens, often lands at the top of the list. Whichever face you photograph, light or dark, this makes it easier to manage distance and light.

How do you think about budget?

A good lens often lasts longer than bodies; while a body is replaced in a few years, the same lens can be used for many years. That is why many photographers set aside an important part of their budget for lenses. But an expensive lens that is too heavy to carry stays at home; a light and good-enough lens gets more photos taken, because it is with you every day.

There are also ways to try a lens before deciding. In some places lens rental is possible; a lens rented for a weekend shows, without buying, whether you really need it. Borrowing a friend's lens for a few days does the same job. The used market, on the other hand, is a common way to reach a better lens with the same budget; a well-kept lens can do the job of a new one.

What do you look for in a used lens?

When buying a used lens, you look at the glass first. When you hold the lens up to a light from behind, for example a phone flashlight, and look inside, you may see scratches, lens fungus that looks like spider webs on the inner glass, or haze. A few small specks of dust usually don't affect the image; but fungus can spread and is hard to clean. You check that the focus and zoom rings turn smoothly, that the aperture opens and closes, and, on stabilized lenses, that the stabilization works quietly. Together, these checks make up a used lens inspection.

Then you mount the lens on your own body and take a few frames. You see that the mount and image circle fit your body, that autofocus finds sharpness accurately and quickly, and that the corners are acceptable at the widest opening. Photographing a face up close, if possible in a dim corner, and looking at the sharpness of the eyes and how the skin is drawn shows how the lens behaves on the subject you will photograph most. Staying away from a seller who won't let you check anything is part of this inspection too.

Visual evidence

You go back to the swap day. The evening before, you had looked at your photos' shooting data: most of the frames you like are at the long end of your zoom and in dim places, with high ISOs. Your list has two items: evening portraits come out grainy, and you have to come very close to people. On a table you find a short telephoto: 85 millimeters, maximum aperture 1:1.8.

You hold the lens up to your phone's flashlight and look inside; there are a few specks of dust, no fungus. The rings turn smoothly. With permission from a club member, a dark-skinned person with long braids, you take their portrait from a few meters away in a dim corner of the hall. Their eyes are sharp, detail is kept on the shaded side of their cheek, and the ISO is more than three stops lower than at your zoom's f/5.6 at the long end. The tables in the background have softened. It wasn't a recommendation that made the decision, but your own shooting data and this single frame.

Common mistakes

Summary

The second lens is chosen not from others' recommendations, but from your own photos' shooting data and the needs list of moments you couldn't take: frames piled up at the long end point to a telephoto, places you can't fit in to a wide angle, dark high-ISO frames to a bright lens. Budget is thought about together with the lens's lifespan, its weight, and the chance to rent or borrow; with a used lens, the glass is examined by holding it to a light, the rings and stabilization are tried, and on your own body, on a face if possible, you look at how the eyes and detail are drawn, on every skin.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will prepare your second-lens decision with your own data, and complete the module project.

1. In the editing program, filter the frames you have taken and liked over the last few months by focal length, and write down which range you shoot in most.
2. Put the moments you couldn't take or didn't like into a five-item needs list.
3. According to your list, explain in one sentence which of a bright prime, a telephoto and a wide angle would serve you most.
4. Module project: photograph the same person at three different focal lengths, keeping the frame the same; that is, three frames where the face fills the frame at the same size: coming close with a wide angle, from a medium distance with a normal lens, and from far away with a telephoto. Compare the face's proportions and the size of the background.

Check yourself

• Did your shooting data show at which end of your zoom you concentrate?
• Did your needs list point to a different lens than others' recommendations?
• In the three frames of the module project, how did the face's proportions change with distance, regardless of skin tone?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. What is the most reliable starting point when deciding on a second lens?

• A) The most expensive lens
• B) The most recommended lens
• C) Your own photos' shooting data and needs list
• D) The lightest lens

2. If most of the frames you like were taken at high ISO and in dim places, which lens can help?

• A) A bright lens
• B) A longer telephoto zoom
• C) A fisheye
• D) A zoom with a narrower aperture

3. What do marks like spider webs on the inner glass of a used lens show?

• A) A normal reflection
• B) Fungus
• C) The coating
• D) The filter diameter

4. When trying a used portrait lens, what does photographing a dark-skinned person's face in a dim corner show?

• A) The lens's weight
• B) The filter diameter
• C) The number of mount pins
• D) How the lens draws the eyes and the detail in shadow on the subject you will use it for most

Answers

1. C — Your own data, showing at which end you shoot and where you struggle, is a more honest guide than others' recommendations.
2. A — High ISO and blur show the problem is in the light; glass with a wide opening brings both ISO and time down in the same scene.
3. B — Marks spreading like spider webs on the inner glass are fungus; it can spread and is hard to clean.
4. D — Trying a lens on the subject you will photograph most, in difficult light, shows its real behavior.

Summary card

• Choose your second lens from your own shooting data and needs list.
• Piled up at the long end: telephoto; places that don't fit: wide angle; high ISO: bright lens.
• Take weight into account; if possible, rent or borrow.
• With a used lens, hold the glass to a light, try the rings and stabilization.
• Test on your body; on every skin, check the eyes and the detail in shadow.

Bridge to the next lesson

Your lens bag is now taking shape according to your needs. But some frames can't be shot handheld, even with the best lens: a patient wait with a long telephoto, a city's lights at night, or half a second of flowing water. In these moments, what carries the camera isn't the lens, but a support that holds it steady. Will any tripod do? The next lesson opens the accessories module with the tripod, and talks about the balance between sturdiness, height and weight.