The Lens

While the camera is a light-tight box and for 99% of most ordinary amateur photographer even ancient manual film cameras can produce images of similar quality to the most modern of gear the same cannot be said for lenses.

And while it’s true that in the hands of a photographic artist a pin-hole camera, that is a camera without a lens, can create amazing images most of us use lenses.

And why? Because it’s the glass that makes the biggest difference in your image quality.

There’s a reason people say invest in your glass.

This also means think a lot about what camera system you want to learn and grow with over time.

There’s nothing wrong with working with a good point-and-shoot camera but there is a reason why a German-made Leica lens can easily cost as much as a small car (and the body at $10,000 can be the least expensive part of the system).

There are several different ways to categorize lenses. There are prime lens (which only shoot at one specific focal length) and there are zoom lenses. Plus there are specialty lenses like close-up macro lenses and fisheyes.

In the old days zoom lenses were not as sharp as prime lenses but this has changed over the years and now both can output very similar quality images.

So why would anyone want a prime lens? The biggest difference these days with primes is they are fast. That’s fast not necessary better but fast means it lets in more light. When a fast lens lets in more light it means it can be used in low-light situations. Also fast prime lenses when used with the aperture open to its widest will yield a soft pattern background called “bokeh”. Bokeh is highly desired by portrait photographers among others as the soft patterned out-of-focus background allows the main foreground subject to seemingly just pop out of the image.

But do you need a fast prime lens or for that matter a long, expensive telephoto lens?

Well you might. I have a 17mm f/1.2 (34mm in 35mm terms) that can almost shoot in the dark. It’s a great street lens on my Olympus OM-1.

I also just bought a 150-600mm f/5-6.3 (300-1,200mm in 35mm terms) which is the biggest lens made for micro four-third cameras. It’s an ideal birding and wildlife lens and yes it weighs a ton and costs as much as a full-frame camera body.

But for 95% of what I see published on FaceBook a standard kit lens (that’s the one sold with your camera) and maybe a fast and cheap 50mm f/1.8 lens is all you really need. And with this combo you can use it with everything from the oldest DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) to the newest mirrorless wonder.

BTW that’s Marion enjoying a German beer while we tour the Hamburg harbour. Her standard 12-45 f/4 lens almost never comes off her OM-5 camera.