What Lens Should I Buy?

Guide to Building Lens Collection

What lens should I buy?

I see variations of that question from new photographers all the time. “I have the kit lens, but I want a better lens, what should I buy?”

“What’s the best lens in my system?” “What is the best overall lens?” “I’m not happy with my pictures, what lens should I get?”

These are the wrong questions. I may as well ask a room full of strangers, “what should I eat for dinner?”

Sometimes the person asking the question tries to get more specific, “I shoot people, travel, sports, wildlife, landscapes, and events, what lens should I get?”

Let me address that first: If there was a single lens that did everything well, then we wouldn’t have interchangeable lens cameras. We would all just be using the same lens. To the extent “all in one” lenses exist, they really can do everything . . .poorly.

In this article, I’ll discuss the questions that new photographers should be asking themselves as they consider building their lens collections. I’ll provide details of the Sony lens system, as it is the system I’m most deeply familiar with. But no matter what system you shoot, you should be asking yourself similar questions as you consider investing in additional lenses. If you’re a Nikon or Canon shooter (or any other brand), you’ll find similar lenses within your brand.

But first:

Truth and Fiction of Better Lenses = Better Photographs

Experienced photographers often correctly repeat the mantra that good glass is more important than a good camera. That great lenses should be the priority. While they are correct, they are assuming “all else being equal.” An experienced knowledgeable photographer will get better final images using better quality lenses.

But if you are a novice still stuck in the auto modes of your camera, combating blurry and out of focus images, the lens is not your issue. Upgrading to a more expensive lens will not suddenly bring your photographs into focus. Upgrading lenses won’t typically fix your exposure issues if you don’t understand the principles of exposure. Upgrading your lens, in the same focal length, isn’t going to suddenly improve your composition.

Give a cheap basic kit lens to an expert photographer, they will manage to get some truly superb photographs.  So as you step beyond the basic kit lens, it shouldn’t be with a fantasy that a more expensive lens will magically transform the quality of your photographs.

That said, hopefully you are not repeatedly upgrading the same type of lens. Do your research beforehand, so that you’re buying lenses that you can keep in the long term, far longer than a camera body. It becomes wasteful to upgrade to a slightly better lens, only to want an even better lens a couple of years later.

No matter what type of lens you decide to buy next, you should be researching:

The Factors to Consider When Choosing Among Lenses

Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer stores that stock wide selections of lenses. Big box stores typically will only have a handful of lenses. Unless you live in a major city with a fantastic camera store, you’re going to have to purchase your lenses based on research. For any lens, you should be considering these factors:

• Aperture: This will be addressed more below. But at any focal length, there are “faster” and “slower” lenses. These terms do not describe speed in the conventional sense. Aperture describes the amount of light that the lens can let in, based on the size of the opening in the back of the lens. “Faster” lenses can let in more light. “Faster” lenses are also more expensive and heavier, while typically improving image quality. If you’re shooting a lot in low light, you may want “faster” lenses. “Faster” lenses also can offer improved background blurring.
• Price:  This one is obvious as people will often set a budget right up front. But nobody wants to waste money. With lenses, while you typically “get what you pay for,” the most expensive lens choice isn’t always the best lens choice. So it’s wise to consider whether there are cheaper alternatives that may be better suited for your needs.
• Weight and size: As you research lenses, you may find universal agreement about what lenses have the “best” image quality, etc, but if you don’t consider the size, you may end up with a lens that is too large and heavy to enjoy using. You need to consider how you will be using the lens, how you will be carrying it, how much space it will fill up in your camera bag.

• Build quality, stabilization, focus system, etc: Sony shooters will find all of their lenses stabilized on the newest camera bodies. But Sony users with older cameras, as well as Nikon and Canon dSLR users, will want to consider whether the lens is stabilized. In terms of focus, some lenses have fairly loud and buzzy focus systems while others are completely silent. Some lenses have extra switches and buttons that make them more useful. If you’re going to be using a lens in bad weather, you may be want make sure the lens is weather sealed.
• Image quality: This is last on the list for a reason. Most modern lenses will have excellent image quality. You may read that one lens is slightly sharper than another but these differences tend to be pretty minor. But some lenses are better than others. There are a few “duds,” especially among older lenses. So try not to buy lenses where the image quality will disappoint you.

So once you know the type of lens you want to buy, you should look at all the choices, considering their price, weight, build and image quality. But what type of lens should you buy?

The overriding question you should ask yourself is, “What is it that I want to photograph, that I can’t with my current lens?”

Quick footnote on aps-c and full frame lenses:

  Some lenses are designed specifically for aps-c cameras. They may function with limitation on a full frame camera, but there is no reason to use them on a full frame camera. Full frame lenses work equally well on full frame cameras and aps-c cameras, but are bigger and heavier than aps-c lenses.

When you own an aps-c/crop sensor camera, your final image is essentially cropped, a 1.5 crop with Sony and Nikon aps-c cameras (1.6 on Canon). So if you shoot with a 100mm lens, your final image is a crop equivalent to 150mm lens. As a result, a lens that is wide angle on a full frame camera, may not be wide at all on an aps-c camera.

If you own a full frame camera, you should stick to full frame lenses. To the extent aps-c lenses will work, they will result in heavy vignetting.

If you own an aps-c/full frame camera, then you have choices. If you think you might upgrade to full frame some day, it might make sense to get full frame lenses. Also, you may find better choices available, especially for telephoto shooting, among full frame lenses. But aps-c/crop lenses will tend to be lighter and cheaper.

Questions to Ask When Considering New Lenses:

ARE MY CURRENT LENSES LONG ENOUGH?

The very first restraint many photographers find, when shooting with the kit lens, is that they don’t have the telephoto reach they wanted.  Whether shooting sports or animals, or even simply shooting from some distance, you may want a “longer lens”-a lens with a longer focal length.

(Important footnote: “crop cameras” or “aps-c cameras” like most entry level ILC cameras, including the Sony A6000, utilize a crop factor. Meaning a 100mm lens becomes equivalent to 150mm, 200mm becomes equivalent to 300mm, etc. So automatically, lenses become effectively “longer” on aps-c cameras)

Typical kit lenses are 18-50ish on aps-c or 24-70ish on full frame. 100mm is long enough to shoot people and detail across a room.  200mm is a good focal length for shooting at a “backyard” type of distance. 300mm is good for shooting a deer across a small field. 400mm+ is for small animals like birds, shooting wildlife from a safe distance, or getting close-up sports shots from a distant sideline.

So if you feel your current lens isn’t long enough, you may want to add a telephoto lens. Then you can also choose between replacing your kit lens with a longer lens, or adding a lens that is meant exclusively for telephoto use.

Sony aps-c users can choose between a full frame telephoto lens or aps-c dedicated lens.

Dedicated aps-c kit upgrades would include the Sony 16-70 F/4 (105mm equivalent), Sony 18-135mm (202mm equivalent), Sony 18-200 (300mm equivalent), Sony 55-210mm (315mm equivalent). I personally would not recommend any of these choices. The only 2 lenses that take you to 300mm equivalent are both fairly poor image quality. If you’re just looking to replace the kit lens with something with a little extra reach, then the Sony 18-135mm may be a good choice.

Full frame options (which can be used by A7 owners as well as A6xxx owners) include the Sony 70-200mm F/4 G, Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 GM, Sony 70-300mm G, and Sony 100-400 GM.  All four of these full frame lenses are exceptional. (I have used all four but have not yet posted reviews). Which lens to select is purely dependent on your preferences of the focal length you need, the aperture you need, and price and weight.

For aps-c (A6xxx), I would recommend the Sony 70-300 G. It’s a bit large but not massive. It’s very high quality, and would give the aps-c shooter a reach of the equivalent of 450mm. 450mm is long enough for almost every type of shooting. (Dedicated bird photographers being the exception that will always want longer and longer lenses). You can also consider the Sony 70-200mm F/4 which will be long enough for most uses while delivering excellent image quality and a modestly fast aperture.

For full frame, they are all excellent choices. The 70-200 F/4 and 70-200/2.8 may seem a bit too short for some people, especially if trying to shoot wildlife or outdoor sports. The Sony 100-400mm is an exceptional lens with plenty of length but it is a very very heavy lens. If you’re not doing a lot of birds or wildlife, you probably don’t need 400mm. The Sony 70-300mm G may hit the sweet spot for those who want more reach out of their Sony system.

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DO YOU NEED A WIDER LENS?

Are you constantly backing up to get more into the frame? As you compose your shots, do you wish you could include more in the frame? Maybe you’ve seen breathtaking wide angle shots online that you can’t duplicate with your lens?

APS-C kit lenses typically start in the range of 16-18mm (equivalent of 24mm to 28mm).  Full frame “basic zoom” lenses tend to start at 24mm (such as the 24-70 F/4) or 28mm (such as the kit lens, 28-70).

Sony aps-c users really only have limited options for “ultra wide” shooting, fortunately there is an excellent option.  The Sony 10-18 F/4, which is equivalent to 15mm to 27mm. 15mm is VERY wide. This is actually one of the best lenses in the Sony aps-c lineup.  Other options include a couple of third party prime lenses, including the Zeiss 12mm F/2.8 Touit (18mm equivalent), and Venus Laowa 9mm F/2.8 (beware that it is a manual focus lens).

Sony full frame users have more varied options. In terms of zoom lenses, Sony offers three stellar choices, the Sony  12-24mm F/4 G, the  Sony 16-35mm F/4 and the Sony 16-35 F/2.8 GM. Third party options include the (if you need wide and a really fast lens), the , and others. Most enthusiasts would be well served by the Sony 16-35mm F/4, a nice compromise of weight and price, with excellent image quality and a useful range. Personally, I prefer the Sony 12-24 F/4, as I like the freedom to go ultra ultra wide, but that’s too wide for many people. For those that need a faster lens, consider the prime lenses or the exceptional Sony 16-35 F/2.8 GM.

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DO YOU NEED BETTER LOW LIGHT PERFORMANCE?

As mentioned above, wide aperture lenses let in more light, and therefore perform better in low light. Just to make things confusing, small aperture numbers are actually wide aperture lenses while large aperture numbers are small aperture lenses. I would consider aperture values of 4 or higher to be “slow,” in other words, they don’t let in a huge amount of light. I would consider numbers below 4, like 2.8, 1.8, to be “fast,” letting in significantly more light than kit lenses. Technically, an aperture of 2.8 lets in twice the amount of light as an aperture of 4.

When looking for low light performance, you need to carefully consider prime lenses. Prime lenses cover only a single focal length but they tend to have larger aperture than zoom lenses.  The most expensive zoom lenses may have an aperture of 2.8, while even pretty affordable prime lenses may have an aperture of 1.8. (See my article Primes vs Zooms).

So if you want to upgrade your low light performance, your options are to upgrade to a F2.8 zoom lenses or to add a prime lens to your bag.

For Sony aps-c shooters, there are no 2.8 zoom lenses. There are F4 zoom lenses, but they do not provide any significant low light improvement. Fortunately, there are some excellent primes including the Sony 35mm F/1.8 and Sony 50mm F/1.8.

Full frame shooters can choose between the entire holy trinity of zoom lenses (Sony 16-35mm F/2.8 GM, Sony 24-70 F/2.8 GM, Sony 70-200mm F/2.8), as well as a long list of prime lenses . For enthusiasts who don’t want to spend $2,000+ on a single lens, a strong consideration is the Tamron 28-75 F/2.8. But no zoom lens will let in as much light as a fast prime. There are several exceptional prime lenses over $1,000 each. But most enthusiasts would do quite well, for a “normal” focal length prime lens, with the Sony 50mm F/1.8 or Sony 55mm F/1.8. The difference being that the cheaper lens has more marginal image quality and a loud buzzy focus motor, while the Sony 55mm F/1.8 has exceptional image quality and silent focus.

Some low light examples below (click for larger):

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ARE YOUR LENSES TOO HEAVY?

Every photographer has subjective preferences for weight. Some don’t mind carrying a 10 pound camera bag. For others, every ounce feels like a brick.

While they aren’t typically the best image quality, there are some very compact slower aperture zooms such as the Sony 16-50mm kit lens for Sony aps-c cameras and the Sony 24-70mm F/4 for full frame.

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While the fastest aperture prime lenses can be heavy, you can typically reduce size with medium aperture speed primes, like the Sony 50mm F/1.8. To really minimize size, the Sony 35mm F/2.8 is a walk-around lens that is tiny. While losing the convenience of a zoom, these types of lenses allow for superior image quality in greatly reduced size.

DO YOU WANT A LENS SPECIFICALLY FOR PORTRAITS?

While you can shoot portraits with any lens, there are some unique factors involved that could favor getting a lens more dedicated to the task. First, there is the question of focal length. A wide angle lens will often require you to be too close to your subject, creating an uncomfortable working distance as well as distortion of facial features. If your focal length is too long, you may find yourself having to back up too far, or not having enough room for your composition. Shooting at around 70-100mm will often allow for a comfortable distance for both headshots and full body shots. (Though there are certainly times you will want to use a wider lens). See the below shots all taken at 85mm, going from headshot to half body to full body.

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Second is the issue of background blur. Though it depends on the precise style of the portrait, it’s often desirable to blur the background with high quality bokeh, to remove distractions and bring the attention to the subject. While background blur is controlled by several physical factors, the lens focal length and aperture are significant contributors. So it’s again beneficial to have a longer focal length, with a wide fast aperture.

On an aps-c camera, it’s pretty straight forward. Every camera maker has an affordable 50mm F/1.8 lens. The Sony 50mm F/1.8, used on a Sony A6xxx camera, creates a field of view equivalent to 75mm. The 1.8 aperture and create a lovely background blur.

Sony full frame shooters may be overwhelmed by all of the options. I’ll present them in a list:

• Sony 85mm F/1.8: Light weight and affordable, high image quality
• Sony 85mm F/1.4 GM: Luxurious lens, heavy and expensive but with superior bokeh/background blur capability
• Sony 100mm F/2.8 STF: A specialty lens that does extremely soft background blur. It actually has less background blur than the other lenses, but the quality of the blur is soft and unique.
• Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 GM: Big, heavy and expensive. But with the convenience of a zoom, you will be able to adjust your focal length. Shooting at 200mm F/2.8 can create lovely compression of the subject.

You can click through the below gallery to see samples of each of these “portrait” lenses.

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DO YOU WANT TO GET MUCH MUCH CLOSER TO YOUR SUBJECTS?

Have you tried getting extremely close to a subject like a flower, attempting to capture every detail, but then find the focus on the lens locks up? This type of shooting requires using a true macro lens, designed to focus at extremely close distances.

Sony APS-C shooters can use the Sony 30mm F/3.5 macro lens. There are two full frame macro lenses, the Sony 50mm F/2.8 and 90mm F/2.8 G. I can highly recommend the Sony 90mm F/2.8 macro for aps-c and full frame shooters. An extra benefit of the lens is that it can double as a great portrait lens:

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DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE LENSES LESS OFTEN?

Maybe you just always hate changing lenses or maybe you just want to avoid changing lenses while on vacation. Every brand has “super zooms” which cover somewhat wide to somewhat telephoto. For the most part, I recommend against these lenses: they lead to significant image quality compromises, heavy lenses, slow apertures. All for the sake of avoiding lens changes.

If you are looking to avoid lens changes, first decide what focal lengths you really need to cover. I do 90% of my shooting at below 100mm, and therefore a lens like the Sony 24-105mm F/4 can give me a very useful range, without compromising quality too much. But if you want to stretch the range into true telephoto levels, aps-c shooters can use the Sony 18-200mm while full frame shooters can use the Sony 24-240mm.

Conclusion

This article did not address every lens available for Sony. There is a growing list of available third party options, and I didn’t even specifically mention every first party lens. The whole goal of this post was to get you thinking about your lens roadmap, instead of just randomly growing your lens collection in the hopes of finding a holy grail lens.

The fundamental questions are, how are your current lenses failing you? What is it you are hoping to shoot, that your current lenses are not well suited for?

Once you know what you want to shoot, then you can start researching the weight, price and image quality differences of the lenses that are available.

If you found this post helpful and plan on buying from Amazon, I would request that you use the links in the article. You will help to support this blog without any additional cost to you.

 

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Based on my personal experience, my recommended lenses for the Sony full frame system (Sony A7iii, Sony A7riii and Sony A9) can be found linked below.