I remember shopping for my very first ever lens, I was overwhelmed. What does 35mm mean?! Or what is this f/4 number I keep seeing. My head was spinning and luckily thanks to the internet I was able to research my little heart out and decipher what seemed like a mysterious code.
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Step #1. Choosing your Focal Length
This is the mm number.
Things to think about- how far or close away will you be from your subject? What will your subject be?
Distortion
The wider the lens, the smaller the number is…also the greater the distortion.
So if you choose a “wide” lens, like a 35mm, you will have more distortion than a 85mm or even 200mm lens.
If you have seen those cute expressive pictures of dogs, where their heads look giant and almost bigger than life, it is because they were shot with a wide lens. Distortion isn’t always a bad thing, and can be used to achieve a desired look.
On the same note, if you have ever seen a picture of a horse and their ears look GIANT, it is most likely because they were photographed with a wide lens…or even a person whose nose looks big and out of proportion could have been caused by a wide lens.
If you are photographing horses, I highly recommend that you do not use a lens wider than 85mm as you will start to get the Donkey Ears effect.
For people, you can sometimes get away with a wider lens like a 35mm if you are taking 1/2 or full body pictures, but close up face images will sometimes become a little risky with the distortion.
How much space will you have?
Sometimes we are limited by the space that we have availabe for shooting, for example if you are shooting indoors and taking more environmental or lifestyle type images you may want a wide lens because you will be working in tight spaces, where as if you are photographing a wedding reception a zoom lens where you can get up and close on the action while being far away may be useful.
Step #2. The pesky F word. Wait. It is actually Aperture….why do they put an F there?
This is the confusing one. Really. What you need to know is this. Do you love those pictures where the subject is in focus and the background is magical and melts away?? Well that is accomplished by the aperture.
A big aperture actually means a small number, so f2.8 is a big aperture meaning that more light is let through the lens…also creating previously mentioned creamy background effect and what we call a very shallow depth of field. Depending on what lens you are using it could be as tiny as a strand of hair so you would have to be so incredibly precise when focusing that the slightest error would mean your entire picture if out of focus…or the wrong part of your picture is in focus.
A small aperture actually means a big number, so f14 is a small aperture meaning that less light is being let through the lens. In this instance you would also have a greater depth of field meaning a greater part of the picture is in focus.
Step #3: Zoom Lenses vs Prime Lenses
The biggest difference here is… with a prime lens you can still zoom…but you zoom with your feet, so if you want to get closer to something you will physically have to move closer as opposed to a zoom lens where the lens does the hard work for you.
The major difference you face here is price. Often times you can pick up some nice prime lenses for much cheaper than you can a nice zoom lens.
If you are just starting out I highly recommend starting out with a 50mm prime lens. It is a great lens to get you started and to help wrap your head around using a prime lens.