Without a Lens a Camera’s Just a Box

     Now that you are getting a camera, would you like a lens to go with it? Obviously. The choice however, is not entirely simple and straightforward. Many cameras are available in a "kit" form with a lens included. This is usually the cheapest way to buy a camera and lens, but it is not necessarily the best way.

The Kit Lens

     The lens included in the kit is invariably going to be the cheapest, lowest quality zoom the company makes. There is a reason for this, and oddly enough it is not greed. They want a lens that will add the least expense to the body and will appeal to users on a tight budget. While it is not going to be a great lens for those of us who pursue photography as a hobby, it will serve quite well for family holiday snaps. In fact it will probably be the best lens the average vacation shooter ever used.

     These lenses usually have a range of roughly 28-80mm. They can be as narrow as 35-70 or as wide as 28-90. Bought separately they sell for 100-150 dollars. In kit form they add only about half that to the price of the body. Not a bad deal, for the casual user.

The Fast 50 `

     All the major camera companies make at least one 50mm lens that is quite low priced. It might be a 50 f1.8 or a 50 f1.7, there may even still be 50 f2.0s in some lines. These lenses are usually under 100 dollars and they have two major advantages over the low priced zooms.

     They produce sharper pictures.

     They can be used where there is less light.

     Lenses with a single focal length are simpler to design, and do not have as many compromises as zooms. They are less expensive to produce, allowing a better lens for about the same money. The 50mm is the simplest of all lenses to make for 35mm cameras, with fewer and less expensive glass elements and no fancy tricks needed to get a good sharp picture. They can be made to gather more light without compromise too. The "f" number on a lens indicates this light gathering ability. The scale is the reverse of what most people think of as logical however. An f1.8 lens gathers More light than an f3.5. This will be dealt with in detail later.

     You do lose the ability to zoom with a 50mm lens. To some this might seem like a serious loss. I feel the gain in quality far outweighs the loss in versatility.

     Usually the camera body and one of these fast 50s is a little more expensive than the kit. The lens can pay for itself very quickly though, in film savings if nothing else.

The 28-100

     Most camera companies also make a 28-100 lens which, while still in the consumer price range is superior to the 28-80 in every respect. It may seem like all you are getting is 20mm and a whopping great surcharge, but these lenses are quite frequently a bargain. They are sharper than the kit lenses, and many are easier to use, with full time manual focus ability, and/or a non-rotating front element. This last may not seem like much now but when you put a polarizing filter on the lens having it rotate constantly as you change focus can be very frustrating.

     The actual range of the zoom will differ with the brand. The short end range from 24mm to 35mm. The long end from 100 to 135. You can find out about the specific lenses for your brand by checking with the rec.photo.equipment.35mm forum.

     With either the fast 50 or the 28-100 zoom you get a lens that would stay with you for the long term. If you check out the used section of most camera stores you will find few if any of these lenses in stock, but probably a goodly number of the "kit" zooms. These are traded in very regularly, as the original owners outgrow and replace the 28-80. They therefore have very little trade in value.

Third Party Lenses

     Other companies also make lenses to fit the major camera brands. These are known as third party lenses. I have no idea why. I assume the party of the first part is the camera manufacturer, but who is the party of the second part? You? Me? Somebody else?

     I usually don’t recommend these as a first lens. Some of them are quite good, but there can be compatibility problems which might not be obvious to a beginner. Once you have some experience, especially in testing a lens, these lenses can save a careful shopper a fair amount of money.

      In third party lenses I would stick to the Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma brands, avoiding Vivitar, Cosina, Phoenix, Promaster, Cambron, Quantary, and any "house" brand. Most of these lenses are poor performers, and/or poorly made. There are exceptions, so check with the 35mm forum, and get a few opinions about any specific lens you find interesting.

Buying a Used First Lens

     This can work out well, as there is not much that can go wrong with a lens , at least not much that isn’t immediately obvious. Make sure you have a money back guarantee on a used lens, and make sure you are really getting a substantial saving off the price of a new unit. If you are completely new to photography, get a friend to help you select. Things to watch for include fungus growing inside the lens, chipped glass, cracked glass, bent front threads, over-tight or over-loose focus ring, and/or zoom ring, or a damaged aperture diaphragm. With an AF lens, the focus motor should perform as well as a new lens of similar size. If it does not - don’t buy it.

How Many Lenses Do You Need?

     For the moment just one. There is nothing wrong with owning more, so long as you don’t get so involved in trying to determine which lens would be "perfect" for this shot - that you end up missing the shot. Indeed there are uses for many many lenses, and there are many many lenses to fit each use. The surest way to know which lenses you will need, is to shoot for a while with only one. You may find that you need a longer lens, perhaps even much longer, or a really wide angle lens. You could be perfectly happy with only the lens you have. Carrying an entire bag of lenses will not guarantee you will be ready for every shot. Carrying the right lenses may not get you every shot either, but it will get you closer. You may also be more willing to carry about one or two lenses rather than a bag of six.

Protection

     The front element of your lens is going to be exposed to a lot of damage. There is garbage in the air, there are bratty kids, there are nosey dogs, and other dangers out there waiting to get at your brand new lens, and the filter threads surrounding it. A UV or Haze filter costs a small fraction of the price of a new lens, and can be thrown away without heartbreak when it gets damaged. I have thrown away filters, but never a lens.

     Some advise against these filters, claiming they hurt the image quality, or encourage the photographer to be careless. If you agree with them, save your money. If you do not, then buy good quality. Hoya multi-coats are good, and not very expensive. Some people use only B+W, or Heliopan, but I’ve never found them to be any better than Hoya. Tiffen is popular but they are not coated . The coating cuts down on stray light bouncing into the lens. This is called flare, and even if it is not noticeable it can lower picture quality. Off brand filters can be good, or terrible, and anything between. The distributer buys whatever can be found "cheap" and in many cases two identically branded filters will be very different in colour, and quality.

     Lens hoods are helpful in preventing flare too. With wide angle lenses however, the hood is rarely more than a semi-functional shade. While you should use a hood whenever possible, it is frequently not possible and more frequently not practical. Out in the street when you are trying to be discreet nothing says "Photographer Here!" like a big ol’ lens hood.

     Lens caps are essential. They protect the filter that protects the lens that… I usually carry mine in my shirt pocket when using the camera, but keep one on the lens when it is sitting on the shelf. Lens caps are very clever little beasts and have a strong desire to escape. Get a spare.

     Some stores will try to sell you little lens socks, similar to golf club covers. I have never found a single use for them. Some lenses come with them. They are even mentioned prominently on the box. One with straps to hold a large tele on your shoulder can be useful, but the little vinyl drawstring purses for shorter lenses will merely get in your way. If you store the sock with the box, it will be in pristine condition when you sell the lens. Maybe the next owner will find a use for it.

     So what else does a photographer need? The accessories section will give you some good suggestions, but once you’ve got the camera and the lens you are ready to go…. Almost.

     How about some film?