Lenses & Focal Length-what lens is best for you?

I always have people asking me what lenses they should buy, and it really depends on what you are using it for.  The longer the focal length the higher the magnification and a narrower angle of view.  The shorter focal length has a wider angle of view.  To make it easier to understand, I will just show you what it means with some pictures I took standing at the same spot, but using different focal lengths and lenses.

All of the pictures were taken at ISO 125 at 1/160th of a second shutter speed and 8.0 aperature.   I love shooting with all of my Canon products that I have bought at my favorite camera store in the world, Pictureline, in Salt Lake City.  No, I’m not getting paid to say that-I love them that much!!!  Honestly the best customer service ever and if you ever have a problem with your equipment, they take care of you!

Anything above 50 mm length is considered a zoom lens.  You will have less of your background in your frame and it will appear closer to you than it actually is.  These focal lengths are great for portraits and can actually slim your subjects.  I love using the Canon 135 2.0 lens for portraits and couples.

50 mm lenses are a “what you see is what you get”.  There is no distortion at this length.  This lens is also great for portraits and small groups of families.  The Canon 50 mm 1.2 lens creates a great blur effect that is very popular in today’s photography.

The Canon 24-70 2.8  is a great all around lens because you can use it to get wide and zoomed lengths in one lens.  Plus it has a 2.8 aperature, which is great for low light situations.  At the 24 length you can use it to get large group shots and wide landscapes.  At 70 you can zoom to use it for portraits.  One of my favorite photographers, Sue Bryce, uses this lens for most of her photography.

Hopefully now that you can visually see what focal length means, you can choose which lens is best for you!  And if it was up to me, I would choose a Canon from Pictureline! 😀

Now go and check out an amazing shoot from Erin Summerill at the Las Vegas Neon Boneyard.  I have always wanted to shoot there and am so jealous that she was able to when we went to WPPI!

Thanks for stopping by!