Essential Lenses?

[owlietenil2]

I’m curious as to what people would consider an “essential lens”. I currently have the 70-200 4.0 and the 18-55. I mainly shoot wildlife and landscapes but want to open up what i can shoot with different lenses. What are some suggestions?192.168.0.1 routerlogin 192.168.l.l

 

[Maximilian]

Hi owlietenil2!
And welcome to canonrumors!

... What are some suggestions?

Of course this depends a lot on:

• What you are shooting and how you do it (portrait, event, landscape, sport, wildlife, etc.)
• What sensor size and therefore crop-factor. A 50mm "standard" lens in MFT, APS-C, FF, MF, LF is each time a different tool.
• What is the actual situation (casual shooting on your fathers birthday party vs. hired wedding photog)
• What you can/want spend in lenses (one says: "I really need my 600/4L!", I say: "I cannot affort such a lens!")

So for example three cases I have:
1. Essential on vacation: I want to travel light and small. I take my 200D/SL2 APS-C body and almost always these three small lenses: EF-S 24, EF40, EF85/1.8
2. Essential allround: FF body with 24-105, 100 macro, 100-400 tele
3. Essential for my fathers birthday party: FF and 35/2, nothing more!

There is not one essential lens to me

 

[Random Orbits]

Possible lenses to look into for your interests: a longer telephoto and an ultrawide. For wildlife, it helps to have access to longer focal lengths. Does your 70-200 provide you enough reach, or do you find yourself wanting something longer. If you often find yourself wanting something longer, something like the 100-400 might be the ticket. A shoulder strap (i.e. Blackrapid) makes carrying longer lenses easier and more comfortable.

Landscapes... it depends on where you can stand and how far and large the subject. UWA lenses stress foreground elements, so it does require thinking about composition differently than longer focal lengths. Assuming you are using a APS-C camera, you're starting at a FOV equivalent to 29mm on full frame. Something like a 10-18 would give you a lot more flexibility on the wide end.

I know you didn't mention portraits in your interests, but a fast prime gives a shallower DOF look that your current lenses can't reproduce. Lower price options like the 35 f/2 IS or the 50 f/1.8 would give you a much different look than the f/4-f/5.6 options you currently have.

 

[Viggo]

For me, 50mm and 85mm wide aperture.

 

[AlanF]

100-400mm II if you shoot wildlife.

 

[brad-man]

I’m curious as to what people would consider an “essential lens”. I currently have the 70-200 4.0 and the 18-55. I mainly shoot wildlife and landscapes but want to open up what i can shoot with different lenses. What are some suggestions?192.168.0.1 routerlogin 192.168.l.l

It would be helpful to know what type of camera you are using. Crop or full frame?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

buy a lens for a purpose, don't buy one and then go looking for a purpose. You can blow a lot of money and still not have what you need.

 

[Viggo]

buy a lens for a purpose, don't buy one and then go looking for a purpose. You can blow a lot of money and still not have what you need.

This is so true it’s ridiculous ^^

Took me a few years before I realized this ;

if you’re not shooting landscapes or macro with the gear you have now, you’re not suddenly going to go out and do it just because you buy an UWA or a macro lens.

 

[koenkooi]

This is so true it’s ridiculous ^^

Took me a few years before I realized this ;

if you’re not shooting landscapes or macro with the gear you have now, you’re not suddenly going to go out and do it just because you buy an UWA or a macro lens.

And within a discipline you can have huge differences in requirements. Most of the macro I do is in my garden, so MP-E65 and 100mm are great for that, from small things like mites to larger things like dragonflies. But walking 5 minutes and entering farmland I'm suddenly reach limited. So a 0.31x or better long lens (100-400L or RF100-500) is now on the list.

Or a €40 pair of waders, the ponds and drainage ditches don't look to be that deep.....

 

[navastronia]

I'm a portrait and event photographer and my essential lenses are 35mm and 85mm, each on a full-frame body.

This is all I need as long as I'm 1) mainly photographing people, and 2) said people aren't too far away from me.

 

[Aussie shooter]

A wide angle(zoom or prime), a standard zoom(24-70 or 24-105) and a short tele zoom(70-200). After that everything else becomes a specific tool(essential to a certain photographer and job but not an essential allrounder). there is a good reason the holy trinity is the holy trinity