Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones and this is episode 96 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.
This week I’ve been asked by quite a few people about lenses. So this week’s episode is …
There are so many lenses available that it can be really difficult to know which one to buy. So I’ll go through a few questions that will help you narrow the search down.
If you are just starting out the answer to this might be everything. To move on you need to think about what you want to shoot in the future. What do you want to specialize in, portraits, weddings, commercial shoots, pets, or sports?
I bought my first DSLR with the intention of shooting my daughter's figure skating events.
Knowing what you are going to shoot will make it easier to narrow your search for the perfect lens.
The chances are that you will have another type of photography you like shooting. In fact, there is nothing wrong with shooting a couple of different genres. You just need to decide which is the main income earner.
If you shoot family portraits as a business, and wildlife as a hobby, the emphasis needs to be on getting a quality lens for the business. The hobby lens can come at a later date.
The business lens will make you the money to buy the hobby lens.
Do you have the lenses that will allow you to take photos of individuals, large and small groups, and capture the action at a distance?
If you shoot family portraits, you need to take photos of groups. Sometimes those groups are very big, and if you only have a 50mm lens you might struggle to get everyone in the frame.
So you need to make sure that you have the lenses to take all the photos your customer expects.
So which lenses do you need? Well, you need to know if your camera has a crop or a full-frame sensor.
On a full-frame camera, a 50mm lens acts like a 50mm lens, but on a Nikon DX, it acts more like a 75mm lens. That is because the Nikon DX sensor is smaller than the full-frame sensor. The smaller crop sensors are given a multiplier so when compared to a full-frame sensor you can get an equivalent focal length.
So the Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm crop sensors have a multiplier of 1.5x. Canon APS-C sensors have a multiplier of 1.6x. My Canon 1D MK4 has an APS-H sensor, which is about halfway between an APS-C sensor and a full-frame sensor. It has a multiplier of 1.3x. An Olympus Micro Four Thirds sensor has a 2x crop factor.
So a 50mm lens acts like …
Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm 50 x 1.5 = 75
Canon APS-C 50 x 1.6 = 80
My Old Canon APS-H 50 x 1.3 = 65
Olympus MFT 50 x 2 =100
A family portrait photographer with a full-frame camera would be able to get all their group shots with a 35mm lens.
If they used a Fujifilm crop sensor body they would need a 24mm lens to get everyone in the frame. The 24mm lens would act like a 36mm lens, 24 x 1.5 = 36mm.
If they used an Olympus MFT body they would need a 16mm or 17mm lens.
So as you can see the length of the lens needed is dependent on the sensor size in your camera body.
From now on when I talk about the focal length of a lens it’ll be for a Full-frame camera.
So which lenses do you need?
Well, the lenses you need have a single maximum aperture, like the 50mm f/1.8 or the 24-70mm f/2.8. Stay away from lenses that have an aperture range, like 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. This means the maximum aperture (its widest opening) at 18mm is f/3.5 and as you zoom in to 55mm the aperture closes to f/5.6.
Now there are plenty of good-quality lenses that have an aperture range, like the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 models from Nikon, Sony, and Canon. An indicator that these are excellent lenses is the price, they range from $2000-$2600.
So, don’t kid yourself and think you can save lots of cash by buying a 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens for $200. There is a really good reason it’s a tenth of the price of a pro lens.
Ok, so these are a range of focal lengths I think you would need, but not always critical.
Family Portraits 35 - 85mm
Weddings 16 or 24 - 200mm
Sports - Soccer 100 - 400mm
Sports - Basketball 24 - 200mm
When I shot weddings I used 24-70 and 70-200 zooms and a 50mm 1.4. I always wished I had a 16-35 zoom.
You might think the 70-200 wouldn't get that much use, but it is a fantastic portrait lens.
Now I covered the focal range I needed using zoom lenses, but there was a time when I nearly changed over to primes. I also briefly thought about adding the primes to my collection and using both zooms and primes. But, these are tools that I use to make money, and leaving thousands of dollars worth of lenses at home gathering dust wasn’t really an option.
This is something you need to decide on when starting out. None of the professional quality lenses are cheap, but some third-party primes are way cheaper than 2.8 zooms.
You could buy some zoom lenses like the 16-35, 24-70, and 70-200. Giving you a focal range of 16-200mm. Or buy primes, 16, 24, 35, 50, 85, and a 70-200 zoom. My daughter did great with 24mm and 50mm primes. As long as you can get the shots you need you are good to go.
I checked the prices on Canon lenses and $2000 will buy you a 16-35mm f/2.8 zoom, or a 35mm f/1.4 prime. You just need to decide which is best for you, walking back and forward or staying still and zooming.
If you bought third-party lenses and got the f/4 versions of the zoom lenses instead of f/2.8 you can save thousands. Then if you went a step further and got used equipment you could save even more.
I just checked the used prices on KEH.com and the three Canon zooms I mentioned, the 16-35 2.8, 24-70 2.8, and 70-200 f/2.8 can be had for a little over $2100 for all three. If you got the f/4 versions you could save even more.
If you want to shoot family portraits and don’t have a big budget you could get a used 24-70 2.8. It will cover all your needs and pay for other lenses at a later date.
There is no need to start your business buried under thousands of dollars worth of equipment debt.
The one thing about pro-level photo equipment is how fast it focuses, it will blow you away the first time you use it. Not only do they focus fast but the photos are tack sharp. Quality lenses let more light onto your sensor and have wider maximum apertures.
So your images will be sharper, and clearer than anything you could capture using a cheaper hobbyist lens.
Yes, without a doubt, your photos will improve because of the quality lenses you use, and they will definitely improve because you are trying to improve right now, listening to me waffle on.
So let’s do a recap …
A good quality lens will change everything. Put a pro lens on an entry-level body and the results will be amazing. That won't happen if you put a hobbyist lens on a pro body.
Ok, I how you found that helpful, if you need help you can ask me questions in the Facebook group or through Facebook Messenger. You can also record a question or message through SpeakPipe, there is a link in the show notes.
I did get one message from James, but I couldn’t make out what he said. There was lots of background noise. So, give it another try James.
Right, that’s it for this episode, I’ll be back next week, bye.