Major Update: March, 3 2014
After which camera should I buy, the 2nd most common question I hear from people is which lens should I buy?
NOTE: This article covers DSLR’s. In the future I hope to work on a similar article for mirrorless cameras, but this article does not cover that topic in any way.
No matter which platform you choose, you should remember that if you take photography as a long term hobby that you will replace the camera body over time, but you probably will be able to use your lenses for many years with multiple camera bodies. This means that if you make wise lens choices that they will be good investments for many years to come. You should also understand that you can spend thousands of dollars on a camera body, but if you match it to a crappy lens, you are going to get a crappy picture. It's just like in the world of audio where a $4500+ receiver matched to $120 speakers is going to give you $120 sound.
Your lens is what captures the light and sends the image data to the sensor, so quality is the utmost importance. When get into photography you should prepare yourself to spend more money on the lens (or lenses) than you spend on the camera body itself (if image quality is your top priority).
With this in mind, you also need to think how you are really going to be using your lens when making your first lens purchase. The reality is that most of us can only afford one or two lenses up front. We want something that is practical when we are walking around taking pictures on vacation, or when we are indoors taking pictures of our toddler. Since babies and toddlers don't stay still for pictures, you are also going to need to use a fast shutter speed which means you need a fast lens, so in that sense it is a lot like shooting sports. :-)
A fast lens in photography geek speak is usually one that has a aperture (F-stop number) of 2.8 or lower. It’s called “fast” because you can generally use faster shutter speeds with these lenses as they get more light to the sensor. However, aperture also controls depth of field so the smaller the f-stop number the less depth of field (which can be desirable on long lenses and challenging on short ones). There are times where you don’t want a super shallow depth of field (i.e., f/1.4 might get one of your toddler’s eye in focus, but not the other – and it’s typically not the one you want because they move so much).
At f/2.8 you will generally get enough light into the camera in most situations to avoid using a flash. Often times they’ll help you have a reasonable shutter speed to avoid motion blur of your subject (assuming they are a slow moving adult). The problem here is that, generally speaking (especially in the zoom lens world), f/2.8 lenses are expensive.
Your first lens should realistically be a zoom lens and you'll want to cover at least 24mm to 70mm range (or equivalent on your cropped sensor lens). If your budget can afford it then it should be a f/2.8 or a f/4. For Nikon this means the AF-S Zoom Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and for Canon it means the 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM. For the best results, you’ll want Image Stabilization (or Vibration Reduction in Nikon speak, or OS is also used but several third parties) but not all fast lenses feature this technology so sometimes you have to make a tradeoff. When all things are equal, I generally recommend getting a stabilized lens. This means that the 24-70 f/4L IS might actually serve most people better thanks to its stabilization support, even if it’s “only” a f/4 lens.
Before you buy, consider renting - with a discount!
Can afford a new lens? Me either – ha, ha! It’s still fun and worth checking out and building a wish list. You can also rent your favorite lens have your day of fun with it too!
My friends at BorrowLenses.com and LensRentals.com both offer discounts on my discount coupon code page where you can rent your favorite lens, so be sure to consider that option if purchasing is too expensive for you.
Lenses are expensive, so even I tend to be on the fence for a long time before buying one. If the one I want is good, but it also costs $1000 or more than a cheaper alternative, I worry about making a bad decision. Like you, I don’t want to make a purchase like that and end up having the lens be a disappointment or sit in my closet collecting dust!
Renting lenses is a great way to find out if you’ll really like a lens enough to own it or if you’ll use it so infrequently that renting as needed makes sense (which is certainly true for big lenses like the 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM).
So how do I know which lens is good?
One of the easiest ways to understand which lens is the right lens for you is to ask the right question. All too often I hear people saying, "what should I get a 50mm f/1.x or a 70-200mm f/2.8?" In life there are few stupid questions, but that my friend is a stupid question. Why? Because a 50mm prime has an entirely different purpose than a 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens, and generally you don't get either or you get both (eventually). Instead, you should ask yourself what do you plan to shoot?
There is no one size fits all lens although many think that Canon's EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM and Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR come close enough. However, I disagree as these require fast shutter speeds (1/300 sec+) at their maximum focal lengths yet you’ll be shooting them at f/5.6 when zoomed so you’ll need at least ISO 800 on an average outdoor day. With mostly cloudy skies or indoors you’ll frequently find yourself at your cameras maximum ISO. This will result in noisy photos due to the higher ISO’s required, and by today’s standards I consider their image quality to be very soft.
Instead of trying to buying the “one size fits all” lens that screams “I don’t know what I’m doing”, you should pick a category that makes sense for what you will shoot the most and then purchase the best that your budget allows. To help you with this I'll offer some categories with some recommended lenses, and you can choose the order in which you should tackle the categories:
Cropped vs Full Frame
When shopping for lenses, remember that most of the more inexpensive cameras will have a smaller sensor called a cropped sensor. This means when shopping for lenses in the Canon world you will be able to use lenses called EF-S lenses which are for cropped sensor cameras ONLY. In the Nikon world you would be able to use DX-Format lenses which are for cropped sensor compatible cameras only. The good news is that all cropped sensor cameras will work with the full frame (35mm film equivalent) sensor lenses which are called EF lenses for Canon and FX-Format for Nikon. However, your full-frame cameras can NOT use
WARNING: Certain Nikon bodies require AF-S lenses due to their lack of a AF drive motor, so buyer beware when lens shopping. Be sure to consult your manual for details on what lenses are compatible with your camera.
All Purpose
This is typically going to be the lens on your camera the most and probably the only one you’ll take when you are on vacation or when shooting your kids birthday party.
I recommend that everyone own one of these as their first lens instead of the kit lens if you can afford it. Now the best kit lens I’ve ever tested was the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR, so Nikon shooters can compromise there and still have a great lens. Canon doesn’t have an equivalent great kit lens at this price point, but they have a broader selection of a great all purpose lenses. With that said, here’s what I recommend:
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|  Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED |
 Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM Lens (my review) |
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If these are out of your budget then consider the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM or Nikon AF 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom (ALL for CROPPPED SENSORS ONLY).
If you are buying a cropped sensor Nikon then the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR Lens kit lens that I tested with the D600 is one of the sharpest kit lenses I’ve ever tested. In fact, when I reviewed the D610 and didn’t have the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR Lens I was disappointed! Don’t believe me? Go check out the blur index at SLRGear.com for the 24-85 here and the 24-70 f/2.8 here. As the charts show, you wouldn’t want this lens for a D800, but it’s a great choice as a starter lens for the D7100 and it served me well with the D600 (see my review for sample pics taken with it).
The popular Nikon AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR (my review) isn’t a bad lens, but it’s definitely soft by today’s standards. I’ve also been very unimpressed with the 28-300mm and despite the buzz on the web, the AF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II hasn’t knocked my socks off either.
Despite a better lens selection, Canon has no bargain lens that is on par with the Nikon 24-85mm. The Canon 24-105mm is a great lens which I still own, but it’s definitely soft compared to the newer models as you can see in this article.
Kids in Action, Short Range Sports, Portraits & More
Once you own one of these you’ll try everything to keep it on your camera because magic shows up on your cameras LCD when you use these phenomenal but expensive lenses.
I recommend everyone own one of these after they get their all purpose lens.
These lenses are expensive but they are the investment that will allow you to start getting the killer shots you’ve always wanted to get since you bought your DSLR. The first two are the fastest focusing and offer the best image stabilization of each of their respective platforms with the added bonus of offering wonderful color and super sharp images. You’ll never regret owning one of these lenses after you get over the sticker shock of paying for them!
 Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM |  Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II |
 Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS USM |
I really think the f/2.8 is the way to go but I’m including the f/4 versions because they are similar in sharpness and much lighter weight. What you lose though is the nice bokeh you when you are at f/2.8. If you photograph people or sports, this can really make a huge difference as it allows you to isolate your subject from background distractions.
The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM is an excellent lens but you’ll trade depth of field for the extra reach. Most people will find that he f/4 lenses are the way to go if they want to step down from the 2.8’s for weight or price considerations. I do not recommend the Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED.
Wide Angle
Wide angle lenses are super handy indoors as well as doing landscape work, but in the right hands they can even be used for portrait work in both a traditional way or you can use the distortion they create at an angle to your advantage. They can also be used for a combination of both landscapes or people shots with the landscape as the background.
These are really fun lenses to use and have a ton of useful applications!
 Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM |  Nikon AF-S Zoom Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED |
 Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM |
If you need a super-wide angle I really enjoyed my Canon 8-15mm, but Nikon has no equivalent lens. Keep in mind though that this is a specialty lens that you won’t use very often so don’t base your camera purchase decision based on this lens.
Some may also suggest the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM or Nikon AF 12-24mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX or Nikon 10-24mm (all for CROPPPED SENSORS ONLY).
Portrait Lenses – Bokeh Junkies Dream Lenses
Warning: These lenses can require longer minimum focus distances and have very slow auto-focus performance so they are best suited for static or slow moving objects. They have a wonderful bokeh though and are all super sharp.
 Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM | |
 Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM |  Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G |
You can actually save a ton of money and get great results with the much cheaper Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM or Nikon 50mm f/1.8G. The more expensive lenses are better, but if you aren’t doing pro work then you’ll be plenty satisfied with the cheaper options (which is what I did).
Here’s an example taken with the Canon 50mm f/1.4 and some taken with the Canon 85mm f/1.2L.
Personally, I prefer to shoot my portraits at 200mm using my 70-200mm zoom, but what I lose with that is the very shallow depth of field that can be appealing when you go from f/2.8 to f/1.8 or less. Wedding photographers especially seem to enjoy shooting these very shallow depth of field lenses, so it all depends on what you need.
The Canon EF 200mm f/2L IS USM Lens is also one of my all-time favorite lenses for portraits and offers the best bokeh of any lens I’ve tested. Nikon users swear by the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200mm f/2G ED VR II Telephoto Lens, so you can’t go wrong if you go with either of these. They are just super expensive, so I wouldn’t buy them until you’ve got a good collection of zooms and other lenses first.
Another great option for less money are the amazing Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L USM or Nikon AF DC Nikkor 135mm f/2.0D – both of which give you equally wonderful bokeh for a fraction of the cost, but at the expense of poor AF performance and terrible minimum focus distances.
Sharpness-wise, you will find that the latest top of the line zoom lenses from Canon and Nikon are at least as sharp, if not sharper, than these lenses so don’t be fooled into thinking that you need these lenses for maximum sharpness. The lenses offer better bokeh over the zoom’s – that’s it, but at the expensive of terrible minimum focus distances and very bad focus performance compared to the newest zooms.
If your pockets are very deep and you don’t mind manually focusing, the sharpest lens I’ve ever tested was the Zeiss Otus shown below. It’s an amazing lens that works for both Canon and Nikon (be sure to buy the right one) but it’s a specialty lens for scenarios where you can afford to manually focus. SIGMA is promising a competitor to this lens that I’ll be reviewing soon, so check back for updates.
Zeiss 55mm f/1.4 Otus Distagon T* Lens
Long Range Sports & Wildlife/Bird Zoom Lenses
There’s a joke in the bird watcher community that the lens you need is always 2x the lens you have, and that’s definitely the truth in sports many times as well! These are lens you can rent from my favorite rental place, LensRentals.com when you need them rather than spending a fortune on them only to have them collect dust most of the time.
 Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM |  Nikon AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8G ED VR |
 Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender |  Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II |
The new 2.8 versions of the Canon 300mm and Nikon 300mm are phenomenal lenses, but I find them better for indoor sports whereas outdoor 400mm is significantly more helpful. You can always do extenders, so don’t exclude these lenses from your search but my advice is to go with either the 400 prime or the 200-400 first if you are shooting outdoors mostly and can afford it. If you are shooting indoor sports like basketball then the 300mm may be sufficient for your needs.
To the newcomer, perhaps the not so obvious advantage of these big lenses is that you can get a wonderful bokeh but still get enough depth of field at f/2.8 to get an entire person in focus. Keep this in mind before going up to long lenses that only offer f/5.6 as their wide open aperture.
For those on a tight budget, the SIGMA 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM | S is pretty sharp, but in my testing it lacked the same focus and stabilization performance of the Canon and Nikon lenses recommended here.
I no longer recommend the Canon 100-400mm as it is very soft by today’s standards. Bargain hunters can get decent results with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens, but avoid the 400mm DO version as it’s too soft. Nikon bargain hunters might be tempted to get the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Lens, but when I’ve even mentioned it before I’ve got numerous emails from readers who said don’t waste your money on that lens due to slow focus performance and soft (by today’s standards) image quality.
Sports & Wildlife Primes
These lenses are expensive as some cars, so these are not for the casual shooter. In most cases you’ll want to rent these rather than owning them simply because they are just too bulky to store and the cost justification just isn’t there. I personally recommend renting from LensRentals.com or BorrowLenses.com and saving your money for other purchases.
Teleconverters
It’s also quite common for bird hunters to use teleconverters which are lens adapters that multiple the zoom level of your lens by the value of the teleconverter (1.4 times and 2.0 times are most common):
These sound great, but you can lose auto focus with the 2x on some camera and lens combos, so do your research. You will lose light and sharpness with an extender, but sometimes that tradeoff is worth the extra reach. You should also keep in mind your output format – if you are using a 16 megapixel camera and your highest resolution output will be a 4k television or a 8x12” print then you only need 8 megapixels. This means you can crop 50% of the image and still have high quality without resorting to a 2x teleconverter.
Macro
Everybody who gets their new DSLR wants to shoot pictures of bugs or flowers so to get the best results you need a macro lens which can be fairly affordable and very useful for more than just macro work. Here’s some of my recommendations:
- Canon 100mm f/2.8L Hybrid IS USM Macro ( or EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro) or Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR. I’ve used both of the Canon’s and sharpness-wise my testing showed they were roughly the same, but image stabilization is an advantage worth upgrading to if you can afford it.
- Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM or Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 200mm f/4.0D ED-IF
TIP: Macro lenses make great portrait lenses too! If you search my Photographer’s Notebook you’ll find plenty of cases where I use my 100mm macro for portraits.
Architecture
The advantage of these lenses is that they feature perspective control which allows you to take an image of a building without distortion. Here’s a really bad article I did a long time ago which demonstrates this point.
Here’s some of the recommendations I have:
- Canon Tilt Shift TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Manual Focus or Nikon PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED Manual Focus – Outdoors
- Canon Tilt Shift TS-E 17mm f/4L (No Nikon equivalent) – Indoors
These are just my recommendations
This list is a general guide, not the word of God, so some people will disagree with me. I chose the Canon lenses based on what I would get for each category if I were to (or already have) spent my money. For Nikon, I tried to pick lenses that are equivalent to the Canon's based on discussions with Nikon photographers, but I have less experience with the Nikon lens. I have first choice indicated by 1, a second by 2, etc... In the case where there is no second choice, I personally believe that you shouldn't waste your money on the other choices until you own the first lens choice. For cases where there are more than two, then you can assume that the third choice is a very good budget choice if your budget is tight. Second choices are usually a compromise over the first choice, but still worth your consideration.
Another important thing to mention is that entry level Nikon bodies only support autofocus for AF-S and AF-I lenses because these bodies do not contain a built-in focus drive motor.
Getting more info on lenses
You should do your own research and use the list above as a starting point. I recommend that you start by reading reviews, and I've found the following sites to be a good starting point:
Canon
- http://www.canon-reviews.com/
- http://www.the-digital-picture.com/
- http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/professional/products/professional_cameras/ef_lens_lineup
Nikon
- http://www.nikonlinks.com/
- http://home.zonnet.nl/famwakker/nikonlinkslensesreviewnikonlenses01.htm
- http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Camera-Lenses/index.page
- http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/nikon_articles/other/compatibility.html (not reviews, but useful info about what all of the letters mean in Nikon lens descriptions)
Once you've narrowed down your list of lenses, you can visit my favorite site to research lenses - SLRGear.com and look at their Blur Index for tested lenses (both Nikon and Canon) to see which lens is the sharpest. The Digital Picture also offers a great lens comparison tool.
Lastly, you can go to places like http://www.pixel-peeper.com/ and Flickr.com to look at actual photos taken with a given lens and body (similar to yours) and see what the final results look like (given the limitations or great skill of the photographer).
But what about Sigma, Tamron, EF-S, DX lenses, etc...
Yes, there are alternatives to save you money on lenses, but I’ve found that the Canon and Nikon hold their value very well so the resale on the third party lenses sucks – big time! People who buy third party lenses eventually get around to buying the high end Canon and Nikon lenses so when they sell them they take a beating. I’ve never lost more than 10% when selling my pro lenses but if you search the web you’ll find the third party lenses going for much less than their Canon and Nikon counterparts. This doesn’t mean these lenses aren’t good, it’s just an economic reality that I’ve observed.
Canon does offer some outstanding EF-S lenses that offer a great value, as does Nikon with some of its DX lenses. However, one consideration for these crop sensor lenses is that you can’t take advantage of them on full sensor cameras so if you decide to upgrade you may end up having to sell your lenses at a loss. As a result is my recommendation to get the full frame compatible lenses when possible and if you must get a cropped sensor lens then be sure to get the best ones offered by Canon or Nikon so you can get the best resale price.
If you do decide to go with third party lenses, I’ve noticed a great jump in the quality of SIGMA lenses lately in their new lenses released in 2013 later with the designation of Art, Contemporary and Sports series lenses which can easily identified by the silver dot on the lens (shown below).
These new SIGMA’s are built at a much higher quality level than I felt the previous models were, so they deserve consideration significantly more than the models that came before them. Here’s an example of my favorite SIGMA lens (as of Mar 2, 2014 before I tested the new 50mm):
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Series Lens–The Best Sigma I’ve Ever Tested
I've bought my lens, but now I have buyers remorse
Let's face it, there are so many great lenses that we can afford to purchase so we'll always have to make compromises. This leads to what I call Lens Lust which is a condition whereby you lust after a lens you don't own, but wish you did. For some it is painful, but they survive. For others, it is incurable so they sell their lens (usually at a loss - which they never admit even to themselves) and buy the lens they lust after, only to have the same condition occur again immediately after the purchase. Severe cases of Lens Lust will even cause some to purchase the same lens that they previously owned again at some point in the future as I’ve done with the Canon 50mm f/1.2L (which I own now – for the third time).
There is a cure for lens lust and it is quite simple - go to forums and read the user reviews of your favorite lenses. On these forums you'll have hundreds of people telling you how awesome your lens is and how it is so much better than other more expensive lenses. Of course, most of these people are writing their reviews shortly after they get their lens, so if you look carefully they'll bash the same lens when they review another lens. This happens because an episode of Lens Lust causes them to replace their short-term beloved lens with something they think is better. In the end, this is easiest way to be happy with your decision. Now stop worrying and go take advantage of BillMeLater by PayPal on B&H, Amazon or Adorama and get that lens you've been lusting after!
Carrying and Insuring your lenses
Check out my article about camera insurance to find out why you should insure your lenses and why a good bag is so critically important. Insurance costs me about 1% of the cost of my gear – per year, for zero deductible so it’s a no brainer for me.
I highly recommend Think Tank Photo bags for carrying your lenses as they are bags designed by pro photographers to meet the rough and tumble demands of pro photographers. However, the prices of their bags are competitive with Tamron, Lowepro, etc… which I don’t find to be nearly as well made. See my reviews for TTP bags at the bottom of this other article.
Disclaimer
While none of the companies mentioned in this article pay me in any way, I may get a commission if you purchase using the links provided in this article. Please support the blog by using these links now and/or in the future when making your own lens purchases. It doesn’t cost you a penny extra and helps to fund this blog so I can bring you more articles.
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