DSLR Lenses for Beginners

[Grace Szadkowski]

Can anyone please explain to me what's so valuable about fast lenses in landscape photography context? If I understand it correctly, when shooting landscapes, you would typically aim at having as much of the scenery in focus as possible, meaning small apertures, and therefore meaning that those large aperture will rarely be used. Am I right?
Thank you

[RichardTaylor]

You may not use the large apertures whilst shooting, however the fast lenses make it a lot easier to focus and compose when shooting 'scapes in low light, like pre dawn and after sunset.

[xuyuan88st]

I think it is a great idea to get a list of information about lenses together - don't forget the thread on SimCams, which has some useful links which allow you to "try" different lenses via a web browser.

[ccting]

Originally Posted by inkista

Depends on if you know which lens you'd rather have than the 18-55 kit (assuming that's the lens you're talking about). The kit lens is inexpensive (most lenses are in the $300-$1000 range), and good-enough quality for a beginner, and particularly for vacation snaps of landscapes and people. It's a great lens to learn on, but you will probably eventually replace it at some point. If you know what lens you want, then skipping the kit lens is a good idea. But if you have no prior experience of lenses, the 18-55 is a cheap way to get enough experience to figure out what you want.

I believe that one should not buy VR KIT len together with DSLR Camera. The retail price for this len is $899 (USD225), but market price = USD 100. Upgrade to better zoom (18-200) (by adding aroundUSD300-USD400) or low-light len 35mm f/1.8 ( - USD 30) then you help you save a lot of money. You can always buy a new kit len with much lower price.. USD 100. This happens in my country.

But I suggest that beginners should buy 35mm f/1.8 first because it is less expensive but great for multipurpose with great MTF Curve.. Beginners like me have the tendency to hurt the body / lenses, while cleaning, or even drop it. Believe me, VR KIT LEN is not suitable for beginners as it is too slow in autofocus and variable aperture, and not suitable for low-light. That len is more suitable for more experience ones. Beginners should not use "zoom" that hinder them from learning composition, but with fast autofocus and suitable for low-light.

[Flowty]

Great list! I think it would be useful to add this guide to everything you need to know about camera lenses. It covers pretty much all the basic stuff and it's well explained

[irishagold]

Perfect thread for me! I need the basics and simple explanations.
Thank you!

[pinefreshmedia]

Hello, I was just wondering if anyone has recommendations for lenses to use with stop motion on a Canon 550D