Lenses for Photography

A Lens is everything.

Photography is nothing without a high quality lens. Of course, the camera, and the film, or Digital Camera's Sensor do matter, but what's the use of a high end camera with a low-end lens? Remember the lens is the basis for the  quality of your final image. It is where everything begins.

References to start off your Lens Search.

Lenses for Portrait Photography.
Lenses for Photojournalism.
Lenses for Macro Photography.
Lenses for Sports Photography.
Lenses for Architectural Photography.

The important qualities to look out for a lens are always to have a larger Aperture, and to have a lens that has minimal distortion. There is more than one kind of distortion.

Lens distortion, something to look out for:

Here are two kinds of distortion that could be present in lenses.

Pincushion distortion:

This is when pictures distort towards the edges like a pincushion. It is usually aggravated in low quality lenses, as is most forms of distortion.

Barrel Distortion:

Barrel distortion happens when the image distorts towards the two sides of the frame. This makes it look like there is a scrunching up of the top and bottom, or the left and right of the frame.

Remember, the whole point of buying a high quality lens is that there is less distortion.

Zoom Lenses

Zoom lenses give you the flexibility to use multiple focal lengths without the trouble of having to change your lenses constantly. However, remember that most lenses do not perform their best when at maximum zoom. In fact some lenses can seem like something is decidedly wrong when zoomed in fully.

Also remember that not all zoom lenses have a constant maximum aperture. Although the maximum aperture may be reduced as you zoom in using a lens with a variable maximum aperture, this may not be as important to some photographers as the reduced cost and size of such lenses. Keep these points in mind when purchasing a zoom lens.

Prime Lenses

Prime lenses are also called "Block Lenses" this is most likely because they're solid one piece lenses that do not zoom. These usually are optimised to give you the best possible quality of image. The fact that they dont have to zoom makes them lighter, usually, with a larger aperture, and of better quality.

Conclusion

So, in the end, when choosing a lens for photography, remember that there are a number of factors to consider, and look up at the headings to remind yourself of them.

Happy Shooting!