5 Lenses Every Photographer Needs To Try At Least Once

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Many who are new to photography are often mesmerized by the latest and greatest cameras, where large megapixel counts and full frame sensors are often equated to better image quality. I’ve experienced this myself when I was new to photography some 20 years ago, and I even had similar thoughts when I bought a camera again recently.

But instead of splurging all your money on one of the best mirrorless cameras or a DSLR, I suggest that you get a more affordable camera or even a decent used mirrorless camera instead. You can then use the savings from that to buy a good set of lenses that will do more for your photography. Stepping away from the cheap kit lenses often included in entry-level and even some mid-range camera models can let you unlock your creativity and even give you more flexibility in executing your vision.

However, there are a ton of lenses available on the market, and they can get quite expensive once you start buying everything. This might make shopping for lenses confusing, as you wouldn’t know which to prioritize when you’re building your kit. Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this, as lens preferences will vary between shooting styles. But, at the very least, these are some of the lenses that every photographer needs to try at least once in their life, allowing you to explore the different styles and capabilities you get with these lenses.

The 50mm lens is popularly known as the “nifty fifty” in photography circles, and if you ask any professional photographer or serious hobbyist, this would be one of the first lenses that they’d recommend. Many say that 50mm approximates what the human eye sees, but that is debatable. Nevertheless, it’s still recommended because this focal length has limited distortion, so the photos that it would take typically look natural. It’s also quite versatile, and I used it for portraiture, still and product photography, travel photography, and as a photojournalist.

More importantly, it’s one of the cheapest, “fast” lenses that you can buy, usually offering a f/1.8 aperture or bigger. You can find a brand-new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens on Amazon for just $166, while a comparable Sony FE 50mm F1.8 Standard lens goes for $278. If you find this still a bit steep, there are several other third-party lens options from manufacturers like Yongnuo and Viltrox. You can get them even cheaper by buying a used camera lens, but you need to know what to look for.

Note that if you have a cropped-sensor camera, the 50mm lens is cropped like a 75mm (for Fujifilm and Nikon), an 80mm (for Canon), or a 100mm (for Lumix) lens, depending on the model and camera brand. But if you have a Canon camera with an APS-C sensor and want to recreate the field-of-view (FOV) of a 50mm lens on it, a 35mm lens is the closest that you can get from the brand (although a 30mm lens from a third-party manufacturer like Sigma is closer to the FOV of the 50mm on a full frame camera).

Although the 50mm is a handy lens for nearly every situation, its FOV is rather narrow, especially if you’re shooting in enclosed spaces or when you want to include the environment for a bit of context. That’s why street photographers prefer the wider focal lens of the 35mm — it allows them to capture wider vantage points without getting too much distortion from even wider lenses. It’s also still useful for portrait photography, with the lead photographer on the team that I worked with as wedding photographer getting a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art lens after he got to try my more basic Canon EF 35mm f/2 lens.

As usual, you wouldn’t get the same FOV when you mount a 35mm lens on a cropped-sensor camera. And since I sold all my full frame cameras when I retired from the wedding photography industry and “downgraded” to this cheap, yet high-quality digital camera, I bought a Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM lens which equates to about 38.4mm when attached to my Canon EOS 200D Mk II. 

I love this lens for my street photography because it’s relatively small and unassuming, even with a lens hood attached, and you can see a sample in the Instagram post above of a photograph taken with the lens I mentioned. The only downside is that since it’s a prime lens, the only way that I can “zoom” into the image is to physically get closer to it.

I would’ve recommended the 85mm lens as a must-try lens, but I often just relegate it to a portraiture and candid photography duties. So, I’d rather suggest a 100mm macro lens which can achieve a similar effect (although at slightly smaller f/2.8 aperture vs. the larger f/1.8 found on the 85mm) of compressing the space between you and the subject, resulting in more flattering portraits. But what I like best about the 100mm is that it’s also a macro lens, and it unlocks a whole new world that you wouldn’t otherwise get from other lenses.

The 100mm macro lens let me get so much closer to my subject compared to the other lenses. My old Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro lets me get as close as 12 inches to my subject (versus the 33 inches minimum focusing distance of the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8), allowing you to see finer details and even reveal the textures of the surfaces of the objects you’ve photographed. That’s why it’s one of the essential lenses you need if you want to get into product photography.

When I worked as a wedding and event photographer, almost everyone in the industry had this lens, even though it’s quite expensive. For example, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM is currently priced at more than $1,200 on Amazon, making it even more expensive than some entry-level and even mid-range cameras. But it’s worth the investment because of how well-rounded it is.

The lens can capture wide areas on the 24mm end of its range, and you can even use its distortion to create an effect. It also retains the ability to take decent portraits at 70mm, while the 35mm and 50mm focal lengths we discussed above are also covered. More importantly, it has a fixed f/2.8 aperture, so you do not need to push the sensitivity on your camera when shooting in low-light situations.

Of course, this lens has its own downsides, too. Aside from being quite expensive, it’s also a large and heavy piece of equipment, weighing 805 grams. It’s a great lens, and I love its wide range and large opening for covering events. But its size and heft tend to make it unsuitable for street photography, especially as you lose the discretion of smaller and lighter prime lenses.

As a newbie photographer, I’ve always wanted the long reach of a zoom lens, and I achieved that with the 70-200mm lens. However, this is more than just a zoom lens — aside from getting me nearer to the action, the narrow FOV of this lens brings the background much closer, allowing them to look so much bigger than what you’d usually see with your naked eye. 

You can see in the sample photo above the shallow depth-of-field that lets me isolate my subject from the foreground and the background, making it easier to guide the viewer to what I want them to see. This is next to impossible to achieve on other wider lenses, unless you edit the image on your phone or computer.

This is going to be an important part of your kit if you’re into sports and wildlife photography. The 200mm reach can give you decent reach so you can capture the action up close even if you’re sitting courtside or behind the safety barriers of an F1 race. It also lets you capture images of birds and other animals without endangering them or yourself.

However, just like the 24-70mm, this lens is quite expensive. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM currently costs $2,399 on Amazon, a small fortune for most hobbyists but a crucial investment for professionals. But whether you plan to turn your passion into a business or just want to enjoy capturing the beauty of the world the way you see it, you need to try out this lens at least once in your life to see the possibilities that it will give you.