Lens focal lengths - selecting the correct ones

[nokk]

i generally view focal lengths as a tool to achieve a certain perspective.

I think you meant FOV not perspective. Perspective is the sense of depth or spatial relationship between objects in a photo. I would agree that focal length is a tool, but there's more to it than just FOV. Using a 20mm lens up close on a portrait is not going to be attractive, not only will there be distortion of facial features but the DOF increases, meaning you lessen the ability to blur the background. Conversely a portrait at 200mm gives a better rendering of the subject and compresses the background making those blurry backgrounds creamy smooth. Ideally many find 85mm the best for portrait on a crop sensor, but I prefer either my 100mm f2.8, a legacy 135mm f2.8, or the 70-200mm f2.8 on the full frame.

probably, but vocab is the first thing to go when you're on day 5 of 13 to 20 hour shifts. either way, they'll get the point.

 

[mjcmt]

Just on this, while I'm looking at reviews for lens. Does the lens I have (18 -140mm) when set at 50mm do the same job as a Prime 50mm lens?

Short answer Yes!
By the lens you have you must have a crop sensor Nikon camera vs. full frame camera. This means the angle of view of a 50mm lens is equivalent to a 75mm lens in 35mm film camera terms. Not a big deal to worry about, but you can't compare to your old film camera w/o converting by 1.5. So a 35mm on a crop sensor DSLR is similar to 50mm field of view you'd be use to w/ an old film camera. If you don't have or haven't had one it really doesn't matter. Just zoom your 18-140 lens to compose for the shot your taking. At the end of a summers worth of shooting you'll see what you like to shoot with.

 

[Strodav]

You are going to want to build your own strategy for buying glass. Such a strategy is based on what you shoot, or the focal lengths and lighting conditions you will use the most, and how much money you have to spend. If you get serious about photography, it won't take you long to have a lot more money in glass than in your cameras. Your strategy starts with the Nikon 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR, which is an excellent general purpose, walk around DX lens. Mine came along with a D7200 and I've taken thousands of shots with it and it is one of the sharper DX lenses out there. Don't sell it! The main drawback is that it is not a fast lens, so you might want to pick up a prime or two for lower light conditions. Excellent candidates are 20mm, 24mm or 28mm f/1.4 or f1.8 or f/2.8 lenses for astrophotography, landscapes, indoor shots, ... . Most of the available lenses in this category are FX lenses, but they work great on DX cameras like the D5600. Nikon makes a very good 35mm f/1.8 DX if you want a more "normal" fast lens. If you are thinking about Macro Photography look at a 105mm f/2.8 micro. If you want a longer reach the Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 is an inexpensive, but worthy choice. If you get into wildlife / birding a great lens is the 200-500mm f/5.6. Formulate your strategy before buying your next lens.

Don't be afraid to buy used glass. I am high on KEH.com, which has a fair rating system, offers a 14 day return policy, and a six month warranty, which can be extended for a low price. I wouldn't hesitate buying any LN, LN-, EX+, EX, or EX- lens from KEH. If you are not sure and want to try something before buying, go to lensrentals.com. It is always a good idea to rent first before buying an expensive lens just to see if you are making a good choice.

A great place for unbiased reviews is DxOMark.com. Another couple of sites I frequent are PCMag.com and KenRockwell.com .

 

[nokk]

I am high on KEH.com, which has a fair rating system, offers a 14 day return policy, and a six month warranty, which can be extended for a low price. I

i would strongly disagree with looking at keh.com for used gear. it just leads to impulse buying...like the two zeiss batis lenses i didn't need but bought from them anyway earlier this week.

 

[smoke665]

I am high on KEH.com, which has a fair rating system, offers a 14 day return policy, and a six month warranty, which can be extended for a low price. I

i would strongly disagree with looking at keh.com for used gear. it just leads to impulse buying...like the two zeiss batis lenses i didn't need but bought from them anyway earlier this week.

Maybe those long shifts left you in a weakened condition, being unable to fight off the GAS. That's the story I'd use. LOL

 

[nokk]

I am high on KEH.com, which has a fair rating system, offers a 14 day return policy, and a six month warranty, which can be extended for a low price. I

i would strongly disagree with looking at keh.com for used gear. it just leads to impulse buying...like the two zeiss batis lenses i didn't need but bought from them anyway earlier this week.

Maybe those long shifts left you in a weakened condition, being unable to fight off the GAS. That's the story I'd use. LOL

nah, i know every time i visit their site i'm buying something, no matter how long my shifts are. i knew the moment i typed the address in that i was buying something, i just didn't know what. the only fix is to stay out.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Remember, if you are new to DSLR, or any other field of endeavor; the problem is, you do not know, what you do not know.

As already suggested just start taking photographs. If you get what you want fine, if not, ask yourself what needs to change. No camera can see what the your eye sees but your eye can see what the camera is seeing through the view finder.

It is temping to buy more gear, but it can starts you down a deep rabbit hole. The trick is to buy what your camera needs for a specific task. For example a tripod for long or hands free shots.

Also keep in mind that very few photos that you admire today are presented "as shot". Almost all are the product of skilled post processing.

 

[ac12]

Hi Everyone.

I recently purchased my first DSLR and with it a an 18 - 140mm lens.

I really struggle to get my head round focal lengths and what the best ones are for specific situations.

Anyone have any tips on what that Lens is best for, and how best to decide what length to use for what photos?

The 18-140 is a very good general purpose (GP) lens. It is MY own GP lens.

• If you travel, you only need to carry that one lens. vs. two, the 18-55 and 50-200.
• It is convenient, you don't have to switch lenses, you just turn the zoom ring.

But it also has limitations, it won't do everything well. Think of the saying "jack of all trades, master of none."

• It is not a FAST lens, so not the best lens for shooting in low light. I use a 35/1.8 for that.
• It is not long enough to shoot your kid playing outfield. You need a longer lens for that. Maybe a 70-300 or 100-400.
  
• It is not a macro lens. You need a macro lens or close up gear.

I think the 18-140 is such a good GP lens that I made it the standard lens for my high school's sports leadership class, and the Canon version (the 18-135) for the yearbook class. Total about 10 lenses.

Just go out and play with the lens.
Shoot the same scene with the zoom in different positions, to see what you like.
Some scenes can be shot both ways, WIDE near 18mm, and TELE near 140mm. Just depends on what you want to show or emphasis. Try it.
As was said, you also have to use your feet, to move closer or farther from the subject. Experiment with this too.

As for what lens/focal length is best for a particular type of photo, it depends, on the specifics.
There may be guidelines, but also a LOT of exceptions.

• What is a "portrait" lens.
  
  • For your Nikon DX camera, some/many say the 50/1.8. That would be similar to a 75mm on a FX cameara (like the Nikon D750).
    But back in my film days, the 105 was considered "the" portrait lens." That would be a 70mm DX lens. Which is correct, 50 or 70? Both and neither.
  • "It depends." Because WHAT is a portrait? It can and does vary: large family, small family, couple, full length, 3/4, head and shoulder, tight face, etc.
  • If you are shooting a 10 person family portrait, inside the home with limited space, you may want a 18mm. If you are shooting that same 10 person family portrait outside, where you can back up more, you may use a 50mm. If you are shooting a tight head shot you may want a 150mm. And everything in between for other portraits. And when I shot one portrait, across a pond, it was a 300mm, and I could have used an even longer lens.
• What is a landscape lens?
  
  • Some would say 18mm to get the WIDE view.
    
  • Others may say 500mm, to get the top of the mountains, or distant glacier.
• What about wildlife?
  
  • Subject size and distance are the major variables.
    
  • At 100 feet, a horse and a bird are VERY different in size. You would need a longer lens for the smaller bird, than the large horse.
  • A bird at 300 feet, maybe a 2,000mm lens.
• Architecture/travel
  
  • Shoot a house from the street, then the same house from down the block. It is the same house, but you need to use different focal lengths, because of the different distances to the house.

Again, just go out and shoot, and play with the lens. IMHO, that is the best way to learn.

 

[weepete]

That 18-140mm is a decent range covering most of the common focal lengths and is a useful general purpose range.

There's no right and wrong focal lengths per say, it really just comes down to composition and trying to compilment the themes in your photographs. So there's no hard and fast rules.

The way I think of it is 50mm will give you a relationship between objects that's pretty much what you see. As you go wider, you'll get more field of view, but things in the background will be smaller and look further away while the foreground is emphasised. The opposite is true as you go longer, with the background appearing closer, and objects in the background appear larger.

Sometimes you'll need to compromise to get the field of view you want, and sometimes you may have spatial constraints that'll limit choice too.

 

[jcdeboever]

Don't take this wrong... if you are just starting out, the lens you have is a great all around lens and should suite you for most things. Use it and become familiar with it and it only.

It's nice to have extra reach for wildlife but I would focus on what you have. What you have will do landscapes, portraits, events, general photography.

 

[ntz]

Hello, look at my signature .. in my opinion the best combination of lens (holy trinity compliant), I have d7200 and

**mid: Nikon 18-140mm - my kit lens, just a workhorse, best performance 18-100, if I need to go lightweight (for vacation) I'd take this, 100% universal, decent performance, not outstanding in any area but perfectly usable ..

**wide: Tokina 11-20mm f/2.8 - ultrasharp wide angle lens (equivalent of 16-30mm on FX), better than 11-16mm because of more usable range .. they are ultrasharp through whole range, just a must-have piece for any landscape or architecture photographer

**long: Tokina 70-200mm f/4 - ultrasharp lens in whole range and center to side, same performance like nikon pro lens 70-200 f/4 or f/2.8, little bit prone for flares and ghosts but with hood this ain't problem unless you have a sun in the picture .. I had nikon 70-300mm f/4.5 but I sold it because the performance of this tokina is just higher by grades

** Nikon 35mm f/1.8 - special purpose and portrait lens .. equivalent of 52.5mm on FX, best bokeh, must have lens, cheap, awesome just grab it

 

[photoflyer]

The Tamron 18-400 Zoom lens is actually very adaptable. It is a true super zoom. I do not own a macro lens but this lens can, at 400 mm focus down to 1 foot. When I need a macro shot this is what I use. And, it is flexible enough to use for landscapes and telephoto shots. It is a total compromise so don't expect superior optics but I have no regrets shelling out $700 USD. I actually got it for business travel when I only have space for one lens and need maximum flexibility. It is weather resistant as well. It is a good place to start. If you get really serious you will want to get better lenses that are specific to a purpose.

 

[ac12]

Yes macro.

Nikon D5600

At the point that you decide that you WANT a macro lens, vs close up attachments, you have a few things to think about.

• Manual focus or autofocus?
  • Older manual lenses are cheap/
    
    • I use a manual macro lens (55mm Micro Nikkor), because I do not shoot macro enough to justify spending $$$ on an autofocus macro lens.
  • To do in-camera focus stacking, you need an autofocus lens and the correct firmware/software to do the focus stacking.
    • I do not know if the D5600 can do in-camera focus stacking.
  • Using a manual focus lens requires practice. If you have never focused manually, it can require practice. The screen of a dSLRs is not as easy to manually focus as the SLR screens.
• What focal length? Here it is again, focal length.
  • For macro purposes focal length affects something called working distance. That is the distance from the front of the lens to the subject. This is important for at least two reasons.
    
    • #1) lighting. I find that if the lens is too close to the subject, it is hard to illuminate the subject. Either I and/or the camera get in the way of the sun, or I can't get the lamps positioned because the camera gets in the way.
    • #2) distance. Some subjects, like insects, will get spooked if you are too close, with a short focal length lens. And I REALLY do not want to be close to an insect that stings, like a bee. So I want a longer focal length lens in that case.
  • Note: Longer is not always better, that is why they make an assortment of macro lenses with different focal lengths.
• For autofocus lenses, DX or FX?
  • If you do NOT plan to migrate to FX, it does not matter DX or FX.
    
  • If you do plan to migrate to FX, your DX lens will kinda only work in crop mode on the DX camera. So you may end up replacing the DX macro lens with a FX macro lens.

 

[greybeard]

Hi Everyone.

I recently purchased my first DSLR and with it a an 18 - 140mm lens.

I really struggle to get my head round focal lengths and what the best ones are for specific situations.

Anyone have any tips on what that Lens is best for, and how best to decide what length to use for what photos?

Right now, you have a lens that gives you wide angle all the way to medium telephoto. At it's widest setting (18) I like to use it for landscape pictures that will give me the widest vista but, I also like to use that setting to get up close to something and fill 1/2 the frame with the subject making the background seem much smaller and farther away than normal. At around 35mm, you will have what is called a "normal" viewing perspective in which objects will look in normal proportions to each other, like you view just looking at them. At settings above 35mm you start to compress the perspective making objects appear closer to each other. At the highest setting (140) you can isolate people in groups and wildlife etc. The best thing about a zoom lens is that it will allow you to compose and crop your picture in the view finder. Don't start buying other lenses until you have learned how to use the 18-140 as it will only slow down the learning curve.

 

[bchalifour]

Get a prime: 35 or around 23 mm (for APS-C cameras) they are light cheaper and give you better quality images, learn to use it, learn its angle/field of vision, learn to zoom with your feet and in doing so review several potential solutions for your image (in other words learn to photograph). In doing so you will more efficiently realize what focal length you are missing if you miss any. And yes a fixed focal length lens is always better than a zoom at the same setting... for many reasons