I’m new to photography and would like a basic understanding of which lenses are best for each job.
If you can, please also go into detail and explain different attachments that produce better shots.
P.s. im interested in food, fashion, architectural and still life photography.
Thanks, much appreciated!
Here is a mini-tutorial I made myself to compare focal lengths. This is NOT a lens test or a camera test! It is merely intended to show the difference between various focal lengths. The lens was the Nikon 18-200 VR lens, which is (by definition) an 11X lens, but that 11X does not tell you what the final image will look like. I added one more frame taken with a 300 mm lens. The camera was a Nikon D200 so there is a 1.5X "crop factor," "lens factor," or "focal length multiplier." There is further explanation on the image itself. It would help if you click on "All Sizes" above the image.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04/476181737/
This was done with two different lenses: the Nikon 17-55 and 70-300:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1245831147/
Here are a whole bunch of photos in the range of 55 to 200. You could do ANY of these with the 55-200 lens, so this means you can leave the lens on your camera and take any of these styles. You might look through these and see if any are in the "range" you are interested in shooting and think about getting a lens in that range.
I don’t know what camera you have, but many pros are using a 28-80 zoom for general purpose shooting and that covers pretty much of your stated interests. I like the 17-55 for digital.
Scenic:
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1305139426/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/511707803/
65 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/449115543/
70 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1250011561/
70 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/690735085/
75 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/733766045/
85 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1153481782/
135 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564887/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564890/
Wildlife:
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564893/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/487852172/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2354313789/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2353975578/
122 mm:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/935084171/
90 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/550805973/
70 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1190289084/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/434299892/
People:
55 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1316716419/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/856121027/
80 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/935013470/
80 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/414331743/
95 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1189419565/
170 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/539500186/
"Pseudo macro":
55 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1024659410/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/539996212/
105 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564880/
122 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/935486613/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/408446616/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1190290008/
November 17th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Here is a mini-tutorial I made myself to compare focal lengths. This is NOT a lens test or a camera test! It is merely intended to show the difference between various focal lengths. The lens was the Nikon 18-200 VR lens, which is (by definition) an 11X lens, but that 11X does not tell you what the final image will look like. I added one more frame taken with a 300 mm lens. The camera was a Nikon D200 so there is a 1.5X "crop factor," "lens factor," or "focal length multiplier." There is further explanation on the image itself. It would help if you click on "All Sizes" above the image.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04/476181737/
This was done with two different lenses: the Nikon 17-55 and 70-300:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1245831147/
Here are a whole bunch of photos in the range of 55 to 200. You could do ANY of these with the 55-200 lens, so this means you can leave the lens on your camera and take any of these styles. You might look through these and see if any are in the "range" you are interested in shooting and think about getting a lens in that range.
I don’t know what camera you have, but many pros are using a 28-80 zoom for general purpose shooting and that covers pretty much of your stated interests. I like the 17-55 for digital.
Scenic:
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1305139426/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/511707803/
65 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/449115543/
70 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1250011561/
70 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/690735085/
75 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/733766045/
85 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1153481782/
135 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564887/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564890/
Wildlife:
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564893/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/487852172/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2354313789/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2353975578/
122 mm:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/935084171/
90 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/550805973/
70 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1190289084/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/434299892/
People:
55 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1316716419/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/856121027/
80 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/935013470/
80 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/414331743/
95 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1189419565/
170 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/539500186/
"Pseudo macro":
55 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1024659410/
60 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/539996212/
105 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/409564880/
122 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/935486613/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/408446616/
200 mm: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/1190290008/
References :
November 17th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Architectural =- wide, wide and did I mention wider? Architecture demands wide focal lengths. Think medium format cameras. Or full frame cameras with 14mm lenses.
Fashion – 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 100mm. Fashion photography is a broad subject, so there are lots of lenses for different jobs within the subject.
Food photography – small close subjects, so nothing too long – 50mm or 35mm and faster is better.
Still life photography – another broad subject – is your subject bigger than a breadbasket or smaller? Typically you can shoot stills with anything, but a zoom is a good choice for versatility.
References :