Prime Lens In the earliest days of photography, lenses were originally created to be of fixed focal lengths. Originally called ‘Primary’, it was shortened in time to the word Prime. Such lenses offer a very high optical quality in general, usually due to the minimal obstruction of light from the time it enters the lens to the imaging sensor itself. Due to this very reason, prime lenses tend to have a larger maximum aperture as well, allowing for very shallow depth of field that blurs the background (known in many places as ‘bokeh’) and allowing you to shoot in low-light conditions. Prime lenses come in many different focal lengths, from the ultrawide to the higher telephoto end. The most common of them would be the 50mm, known for reproducing a natural perspective similar to what our eyes see. 5
Macro Lens Similar to prime lenses, macros are mainly used for closeup photography, but the inherent sharpness of the images produced by such lenses made them useful for photographers trying to capture intricate details of a cosplayer’s outfit. Be careful when using such lenses as the sharpness sometimes emphasizes skin and facial features too much. Macro lenses are also generally slower to focus than other type of lenses.
Conclusion There are still a few more lenses, which I did not cover here, mainly because some of them overlap the features explained here. Each of these type of lenses are capable of helping you take better shots, but it is really based on your preferences and budget as well. I hope you can learn something useful from this article to help you decide on buying cameras lenses that suit your needs. Enjoy your photography!
(Extra) Are third party lenses viable? Many friends and photographers have asked me if buying a third-party product (in comparison to the ones made by the manufacturers) is a viable option. I would safely say that there are no absolute yes or no in this because the quality from thirdparty manufacturers has been steadily improving during the last few years. Third-party lenses tend to be cheaper. They also have a slightly different quality and variable autofocus (AF) performances when compares to the manufacturers’ versions, but the gap is closing, so try them. Just remember to read the online reviews and get feedback from other third-party owners if possible.
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// Article by Thomas Kuan aka Hexlord (hexlord.deviantart.com, hexlord.daportfolio.com)
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