What Lens Is Right For Your Style of Photography?
A lot of photographers will tell you that the best kind of lens that you can buy is a prime lens and your own two feet. Want to zoom in? Walk forward. Zoom out? Walk backward. Now that is very sound advice for beginner photographers perfecting their craft, don’t spend your hard-earned money until you have some fundamental skills and hours behind you. But once you’ve outgrown your first Nifty-Fifty and want to invest in some glass, it’s often very hard to pick a lens since there is so much out there! So for those struggling to pick out the right lens to start in their niche, here is a breakdown of some of the different fields of photography and what I believe is the essential lens for photographers in that niché. These are largely universal lenses that any photographer should be able to find for their camera mounting system. Keep in mind, this is objective and you can use any equipment that you are comfortable with that works for your personal shooting style.
Portrait Photography - 50mm or 85mm f1.4
Portrait photography is one of the fields of photography that I would suggest sticking with a lens like your Nifty-Fifity. Prime lenses tend to be sharper than zoom lenses since there are no moving parts, which gives you more detailed portraits, locking in the details and emotion in the eyes of your subject. Along with this, lenses wider than 50mm (on a full-frame camera) tend to distort the image and create bowing. This can distort the subject's face, making it look wider as you come closer to fill the frame. A 50mm or 85mm lens will give you a more natural look, and with a low aperture option like f1.4, you can create an appealing depth of field around your subject, locking the focus on them.
Sports Photography - 70-200mm f2.8
The key to capturing sports is the ability to freeze iconic moments, making the viewer feel the emotion of the moment through your photo. Unfortunately, with sports your ability to move around and get close to your subjects is incredibly limited, so to compensate for that you’re going to want a long lens able to get you close to the action. Depending on the exact sport, a 70-200mm lens gives you a very nice range to shoot tight on a player across a field as well as much closer. Keep in mind most sports photographers will have a second camera with a wider lens, but if you're restricted to one lens the 70-200mm will give you the most bang for your buck. Having the additional ability to shoot at f2.8 will create incredible depth at longer focal lengths, although it will carry a much heavier price tag than the generic f5.6.
Product Photography - Macro Lens 50mm - 105mm f2.8
Product photography is a bit harder of a niche to narrow down a specific lens since you never really know exactly what kind of product you are going to be taking photos of next. However, one crucial aspect of product photography is being able to show off the small and intricate details of a product. Big or small, you need the ability to get in nice and close to your subject, which most lenses won’t allow you to do. With the help of a macro lens, you will be able to effectively get as close as you wish since you don’t have a restrictive minimal focus distance. Where the variation comes in is whether you tend to photograph very small objects or much bigger ones, and whether you wish for a wider macro lens around 40-50mm or something a bit longer around 105mm. Regardless of the length, having macro-focusing features will greatly help any product photographer.
Real Estate Photography - 12-24mm f4
Real Estate is one of the industries that you are going to want a wide-angle lens for. When shooting homes and commercial spaces, you want to open them up and make the space look as big as possible. Wide-angle lenses distort your view and make objects look further away than they appear, making a room appear larger than it is. A 12-24mm lens will open up even the tightest spaces, allowing you to show off an entire powder room that may only be 4x6 ft. This lens will be your bread and butter for 90% of the photos you need in real estate. Add in a less expensive 50mm lens for detail shots throughout the property and you’ve got yourself a beautiful real estate shoot.
Landscape Photography - 16-35mm f2.8
If you want to capture beautiful, wide landscape photos the right lens for you is 16-35mm. This lens will open up any scene making it look even more grand than it is, while also capturing all the details with nearly 180 degrees of vision. Longer zoom or prime lenses are great for capturing finer details and work in a pinch if you can get far enough away, but you will find that a wide zoom lens is going to make life a lot easier when shooting landscapes. At 35mm, this lens has a very appealing look for all kinds of outdoor architecture and smaller scenery, with an aperture low enough to still isolate your subject.
Event/Wedding Photography - 24-70mm f2.8 - 70-200m f2.8
Again, you’re going to notice that I listed 2 different lenses for this category as this field tends to have variation depending on the kinds of events you shoot and your style preference. If you're typically shooting events where you’re more up close and personal with the guests, a 24-70mm is going to be perfect. It gives you wide-angle capabilities to shoot wide group photos in tight spaces as well as close-in for some detail shots. However, if you shoot larger events where you can’t get as close or you don’t want to be intrusive, something longer like 70-200mm will serve you better. The length of this lens can get you in close for almost any moment, and with adequate space, you can use it at 70mm for wider shots.
Street Photography - 35mm - 50mm f1.4
Traditionally, 35mm is regarded as the standard focal length for street photography. You will find that most street photographers shoot on a lens in the range of 30-50mm as they are wide enough lenses to take photos that include a bit of the surrounding atmosphere to help tell the story of that photo. In crowded urban areas, you don’t want a long lens that restricts your shooting, 35mm is great for being able to get in tight for shots or capture a wider view. Being a prime lens, either option will give you nice sharp photos and the ability to shoot at a low aperture, isolating your subject and allowing in more light for low-light shooting. An added advantage is that these are smaller lenses that draw less attention on the street and weigh significantly less than longer lenses.
Wildlife Photography - 200-500mm f4
Saving this category for last because, to be honest, it's not for the faint-hearted. In both wildlife and sports photography, high-quality telescopic zoom lenses can cost almost the same amount as a new car. Now that isn’t being said to keep people away, it’s more of a fair warning before jumping into the field. However, the beauty you can capture on these long lenses is unmatched. In order to not disturb the wildlife around you, you need the ability to stay back and zoom in tight to observe nature at its finest. The incredible isolation and detail in high-quality telescopic lenses leave viewers speechless at how your moments were captured and give you the ability to make larger-scale prints for the same viewers. A final note on this category is my range of 200-500mm. This isn’t a specific lens I’m suggesting, but an approximate range of the lens you need. Depending on brand and price range, the exact focal ranges of telescopic lenses will vary, but this gives you a range that you should be looking in.