I’m curious as to what people would consider an “essential lens”. I currently have the 70-200 4.0 and the 18-55. I mainly shoot wildlife and landscapes but want to open up what i can shoot with different lenses. What are some suggestions?
Many suggestions can be given, but it depends on what you want to shoot. A few primes are good for portrait: 35/50/85. Macro is fun, I have the 100 non L. A fast wide is nice for astro photos. if you want to shoot buildings there is a Tilt/shift 24mm that will help you straighten the perspective in your photo. Just a few ideas to get you thinking...
What camera do you have aswarola8? i shoot wildlife with canon M50, an essential lens to me is the sigma 100-400c around £600 in the uk new. As johnsey said macro is a great option to have, if you don't want to shell out just yet for a dedicated macro lens getting some extension tubes works very well for close ups. at the other end of the scale i have a 7artisans 7,5mm fisheye lens, its a great fun lens you can create some nice effects with. i have also gotten the laowa 9mm ultra wide and laowa 100mm x2 macro lens, i've been super busy atm so not been out to play with them but they are fantastic lenses. i do try to get canon branded lenses but the type i tend to go for are a bit over my price range the one i have heard great things about is the canon 135L. apart from having the lenses one of the essentials to have is a great imagination and use what you have in a new or unusual way.
My questions would be "what do you feel that you are missing with your current lenses?" We all have different styles, so you get the equipment for the images that you want to take. If you feel that you 18-55 is not wide enough, get something wider. If your 70-200 is too short, get a longer lens. If you want to get in closer, look at a macro lens. If low light is your thing, get a fast lens. Currently for me, a 70-200 is my go to lens. It's fantastic for what I do. I am sure that it would not get on with everyone's style of shooting. Gary
I have a suggestion of 2 lenses and a 2 X extender. First my favorite and possibly the cheapest is the 50mm F1.8 , dirt cheap compared to other lenses but allow heaps of light in, second is in my case the Tamron 28 to 200mm, now to extend out farther to 400 on a full-frame or 620 on a crop c sensor, one draw back with the 2X extender is it loses two stops of light but to fix this bump up your ISO or use a slower shutter speed.
