Your First DSLR Camera Lens – Which Walk Around Lens is Right For You

2010 March 2

When I bought my first Canon Digital Rebel, I spent as much time laboring over the lens choice as I did over whether to buy a Canon or a Nikon. And, trust me, there are many, many lenses to choose from.

Here's my take on lens choice. If you have plenty of money, get numerous lenses to cover the wide range of shooting promise. You will need a wide angle lens for landscapes, a medium range lens for such things as portraits and street scenes, and a telephoto lens for capturing unsociable objects. Oh, and you will also want to get a dedicated macro lens to shoot those delicate Plants and butterflies.

Once again, if money is no object, certainly get Canon "L" lenses. They are the Cadillac of Canon lenses. The "L" lens has the very best glass and technology that Canon has to offer.

Though, if you are on a budget, you will want to deliberate getting one lens that will cover a crowd of shooting situations. There are a few exceptional choices for a all-function "walk around" lens, and not all of them are made by Canon. Tamron and Sigma make lenses for Canon and other brands of cameras, and they have some fantastic lenses, too.

Here is a small list of fantastic walk around lens choices:

Tamron AF 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di Zoom - this is a fantastic lens if you plot to take lots of family photos. The zoom range is a bit limited, but the image feature is exceptional. You get a bit more length at 75mm than you do with the kit lens 55mm, even if it is lacking a bit on the wide end at 28mm as opposed to 18mm on the kit lens. You also get f/2.8 which means super quick shutter speed in normal situations and better images in lower light situations since the lens allows more light to hit the sensor. User ratings for this lens at FredMiranda.com are very high at 8.5 out of 10 for an off-brand lens (users at fredmiranda tend to be brand-snobbish).
Tamron AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro - This is a fantastic choice if you plot on buying only one lens. The 18mm wide angle is fine for landscape and the 250mm telephoto gets you right up close to nearly anything. There is no need to switch lenses and miss that fantastic photo opportunity. FredMiranda.com users have rated this one at 8.3 out of 10, which is quite excellent for an off-brand lens. It is available for Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras.
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Image Stabilizer USM Autofocus Lens - Canon has been promoting this lens as the kit lens on some of its cameras. It is a fine walk around lens, giving really excellent feature images and a honestly large zoom range (about 5x). Auto focus is exceptionally quick, and the IS (image stabilization) is quite caring especially in low light situations when the shutter speed slows down to compensate for the light. You can get by lacking a tripod in most situations since of IS.

Author: Wayne Rasku
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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