If you don't know what lens to buy...

[unpopular]

Maybe you ought to hold off buying a lens.

I often times hear people here asking which general purpose zoom they should buy. I often kind of wonder what the point is.

Before thinking about buying a new lens, one ought to ask themselves why they think they need a new lens. Is it a specific need, or a vague desire to improve one's photography? If it is specific, what aspect of a lens is your current lens lacking? Is it sharpness, low light capability, contrast, distortion, focal length? If it's focal length, is it not short enough, not long enough?

Be realistic in what you expect from a new lens. How much faster would a f/2.8 zoom be over a f/4 lens? Will it really make that much of a difference in practice? Will the one stop between f/2.8 and f/4 justify the expense?

Are your images actually all that soft, or do they only appear soft when you're zoomed all the way in? Is softness a result of your lack of skill and experience?

If you aren't sure which lens to buy, then there is a good chance that you don't yet understand enough about photography to appreciate what a new lens would offer, and even the best lens won't significantly improve your images. It's very tempting to get into this lens-buying frenzy, and end up with five or six lenses which cover much of the same focal lengths. Lens collecting is fun, no doubt, but unless you know what you're looking for it may also end up being a complete waste of money.

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

Perhaps you're missing the side where people ask because they don't know what is out there. It seems as though this post is a rant about people asking about specific lenses where someone asking "I'm going to start playing with macro photography for my own enjoyment what is a good starting place". You basically just told them the forum isn't the place to educate themselves try google instead - we can't be bothered if you don't know what you needAt least that's how it read to me.

 

[unpopular]

No. I am not even sure how I came across that way.

If you want a lens for a specific reason, like macro, low light, faster AF, that's fine. I'm more talking about the vague "lens upgrade" questions. If you don't have the slightest clue what you want from a lens, then what's the point in upgrading?

 

[IByte]

I think the rant was towards people that want that all in one lens with a minimum budget(which most people rarely includes). Most of the posts I see is " what's the best lens for macro photography?". That question so many others are too broad and all lenses have their pros and cons.

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

Ah so you're syaing "I have xx camera with xx kit lens I want.a new lens what do I buy?" Questions? Ok get it now

 

[Joshonator]

This should be stickied . I agree that too often people ask this question, it's usually a bad idea to buy a really cheap lens but then its equally a bad idea to buy a a really expensive high quality lens in a focal length you will barely use. You decision should be based on what you need and what you're willing to spend rather than on what another photographer from the other side of the world is biased towards. /rant

Of course I can understand if the person is asking about a specific lens type and wants to find out what other people thought about the lenses in that focal range.

 

[IByte]

Ah so you're syaing "I have xx camera with xx kit lens I want.a new lens what do I buy?" Questions? Ok get it now

Yes, it helps if people can give a little more details as to what they are trying to accomplish macro, portraits etc

 

[Contax]

If you don't know what apperture' for, you're in the same boat as the ones you mention. One step faster is twice as fast and on digital cameras you can adjust the ISO instead. That leaves apperture basicly for adjusting the depth of focus and 2.8 does not rock at 50mm.

 

[kundalini]

The thread titles are usually self-evident and one can give the thread a miss entirely. A person could also hit the back button and move on to another thread if these types of questions are bothersome. However, some people with similar questions can often find a benefit if they are in the same quandry.

 

[pixmedic1 1]

I think the implication here is that before people post on what lens or camera or whatever they want us to decide for them to buy, they need an understanding of WHAT they are shooting, WHERE in the end product do they think their current gear isnt producing what they want, and WHY they feel it is the lens that is the issue.

 

[unpopular]

If you don't know what apperture' for, you're in the same boat as the ones you mention. One step faster is twice as fast and on digital cameras you can adjust the ISO instead. That leaves apperture basicly for adjusting the depth of focus and 2.8 does not rock at 50mm.

I never said that the difference between 2.8 and 4 was a lot or a little, depending on the circumstances it could be either. If you're routinely wishing for a faster lens at ISO 800 or 1600, then one stop makes a huge difference. However, short of shooting with a D3 or D4, if you're shooting at ISO 6400 and wanting a faster lens then it's not going to make a lot of difference noise-wise.

As for DOF control, there isn't that much difference between one stop until you get below about f/8.

Image quality wise there might be a significant difference between wide open and one stop under. But again, these are all specific reasons under specific circumstances, not an attempt to buying one's way into better photography.

(so yeah. I know what aperture does)

 

[412 Burgh]

The more gear you own the better you are, right?


:lmao:

 

[IByte]

The thread titles are usually self-evident and one can give the thread a miss entirely. A person could also hit the back button and move on to another thread if these types of questions are bothersome. However, some people with similar questions can often find a benefit if they are in the same quandry.

Lol I only asked one question in the forum was because of multiple threads of the same question/answer .

 

[Tony S]

Wow..... if this is the biggest complaint today then life is good. LOL

 

[Overread19 7]

Sometimes people as the wrong question, or the approach a question the wrong way or they present a question without giving all the necessary information to making it possible to answer the question itself. Sometimes they just don't know that they are missing out key fact or that bits of info they've neglected to include are important.


This is all part of the learning process, even for purchasing something we have to learn. It is a great reason why there are discussion groups and societies and forums and not just product pages and reviews for items. Sometimes people have to start by asking the wrong question so that others can help them to ask the right one