Orangeville Camera Club presentation

by Martin Lamprecht

The Creative Eye

Buyer’s Guide to Building a DSLR Lens System

Lenses are the extensions of the photographer's eyes. They are also what the various types of brushes are to the painter – the tools for creativity that help produce compelling images.

The selection of an optimal lens system for the photographer's "tool kit" may be the most important equipment decision; more so than deciding on the camera body and other accessories. Over the course of several years, evolving technologies and expanded camera features may compel the photographer to replace camera bodies or add to his / her collection. But the lenses can have a much longer useful lifespan, to be used on a successive line of new camera bodies. Therefore, it pays to select carefully and opt for top quality and performance.

Generally speaking, it is easier to pick a good camera body, helped by the great number of camera reviews in photography magazines. Separating the good from the not-so-good is harder among the huge number of lenses that camera brands (i.e. Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Sony, Leica) and third party lens manufacturers (Sigma, Tokina, Tamron, Zeiss) offer. Detailed tests are not always available or are harder to find (see links on the last page).

Interchangeable lenses are a main reason why amateur and professional photographers chose to buy a SLR / DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) system. It is a major feature that sets this type of camera system apart from point-and-shoot and “bridge cameras” (with built-in super zooms). However, there are other types of cameras that feature lens mounts for interchangeable lens systems: rangefinder cameras (i.e. Leica M9) and rangefinder-style cameras (without rangefinder, but with a digital screen, like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 or Olympus E-P1) and professional, medium format cameras with sensors much larger than the 35mm film size sensor in Full Format DSLRs (i.e. Hasselblad).