A deep dive into the long lens line-up
The do-it-yourself/buy-it-yourself blog series is all about ways you can upgrade your mediocre camera equipment, mostly by throwing money at the problem. We’ve been focusing lately on getting rid of the kit lens that came with your camera in favor of more specialized lens choices, and in our last two lens roundups, we talked about ultra-wide angle lenses for capturing the big picture, and mid-range versatile zooms and fixed lenses for general purpose photography and portraits.
In this installment, we discuss options for going well beyond the outer limits of normal lenses into the telephoto and ultra-telephoto range. This should interest you if you are looking to get more into wildlife, sports, or other types of action photography at a distance. Be forewarned, once you start looking at quality telephoto glass, the size, weight, and, of course cost start to get higher than you might expect. And the truly specialized long range lenses used by wildlife and sports professionals reach the realm of the absurd in terms of price. So for this blog, we’re limiting ourselves to choices that will be within the price range of the typical photo enthusiast. And all of these lenses will be usable on both crop sensor and full frame cameras.
What you need to know
As of the last 5 years or so, every camera and lens you can buy is very high in quality regardless of the cost, and can take great images in the right hands. So buying a more expensive camera or lens will not make you a better photographer. Your purchases should therefore be towards equipment that can do things that your existing equipment cannot, rather than just upgrading towards something “better”.
The capabilities of your next lens boil down to two things: Focal length and maximum aperture. Other factors such as sharpness, distortion, and more nitty gritty things like “coma” and “chromatic aberration” are so well-controlled across all modern lenses that I would argue they’re not worth worrying about, because you will not notice them in your photos unless you look very, very closely. But focal length and maximum aperture have no substitute.
The focal length is the first number, or range of numbers, in millimeters, that identifies the purpose of a lens. It represents how wide or narrow (telephoto) the perspective of a lens is - a wide lens is best for landscapes, whereas a telephoto lens is better for portraits, wildlife, or sports. A wide angle lens would typically have a low number such as 16mm, while a telephoto lens would be 100mm or 200mm. A mid-range focal length such as 50mm would be considered “normal”, because it represents approximately the same perspective as the naked human eye, and is neither wide nor telephoto.
A “prime” or “fixed” lens has only one focal length, such as 14mm, or 105mm. A zoom lens contains a range of focal lengths, such as 18-55mm, or 24-70mm.
The maximum aperture is the next number that identifies a lens, and represents how wide the aperture of the lens can open to let in more light. A lens that has a lower maximum aperture number can open wider, and is therefore better for low-light situations such as star photography, or for limiting depth of field for portraiture. So for instance a lens that is called a “14-24mm f/2.8” is a wide angle zoom lens that can open up to f/2.8 at it’s largest aperture setting, and is ideal for landscape photography, including low-light and night situations. A lens that is called a “85mm f/1.8” is a prime (fixed) telephoto lens with a very large aperture suited for portraiture. Generally lenses with larger maximum apertures (lower f/ number) are bigger, heavier, and more expensive than the same focal length lens with a smaller maximum aperture (higher f/number)
Don’t be too enamored by a zoom lens that has too wide a range of focal lengths, such as 24-270mm, and claims to do it all. That might be the one situation where you end up a bit disappointed by a noticeable lack of sharpness in your images. Lenses that are somewhat specialized tend to perform better than lenses that try to cover too much ground.
Lenses for digital SLR and mirrorless cameras are made for two main types of camera bodies: Full-frame (35mm sensor size) cameras, and crop-sensor cameras (smaller sensor sizes). And the focal length numbers mean different things depending on what camera you are using.
For camera brands that make both full frame and crop sensor models, usually the full-frame lenses will also fit on their crop sensor cameras, even though the focal lengths will change in meaning.
Choose your lens based on the shots you intend to make and the type of camera body you have. These are the lenses we recommend based on our personal experience and the experiences of photographers we trust.
The versatile telephoto zoom
Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6
A step up from the rather lackluster and cheap 75-300 that comes with entry level Rebel camera kits, this new zoom has a fast, smooth, and quiet autofocus that works well for both stills and videos. It also features something I’ve never seen before: A little digital LCD on the lens barrel that shows you important lens information including your focus distance, focal length, and stabilizer information. Cool. This should serve intermediate shooters well, who want a lens that can go into the ultra-telephoto range without getting too expensive.
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6
Shopping for Nikon lenses can be difficult, because they always seem to have two versions of the same lens - a cheap one and a more pricey one. This is the better version, and features image stabilization (called Vibration Reduction by Nikon), faster autofocus, and unlike the cheap kit version, can be used on both full frame and crop sensor camera bodies. Like the Canon version above, this is the mid-priced version of the most popular telephoto zoom range, and unfortunately you’ll need to stop here if you want to keep your spending under $1000.
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 for e-mount
As usual, Sony turns in, by far, the most expensive version of this common focal range for its mirrorless cameras. The good news is that it’s a very good lens, with smooth silent focusing that’s great for stills and video, and nice image stabilization. When it comes to whether or not it’s worth paying this much for a lens, you don’t really have a choice! While most lens manufacturers give you a budget option and a higher priced option in this zoom range, Sony just gives you one option: the best. If you’re getting into the Sony mirrorless system, be prepared to spend.
The more specialized super-telephoto for wildlife enthusiasts
Canon 100-400mm Ff/4.5-5.6
Upgrading from 300mm to 400mm on the longest end of your lens doesn’t at first seem to look that different through the viewfinder. But the more specialized you become in shooting certain subjects such as small animals and birds, the more you’ll care about the subtle improvement in reach. Unfortunately, a lens that goes beyond 300mm brings up the cost much more than the incremental jump in performance: The retail cost of the newest version of this lens is over $2000. It is a huge upgrade in sharpness, image stabilization, weather sealing, and autofocus speed over the previous version, though. Rent to see if you think it’s worth it before you buy.
Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6
This lens seems to have been around forever, but still fetches over $2000 new. That must mean it’s good. Like I mentioned with the Canon version, going to a 400mm is really only for people insistent on getting that little bit of extra reach for wildlife and sports subjects, and only you can decide if the price tag is worth it to you. The strong image stabilization (Vibration Reduction) is key in a lens this size, in case you want to shoot handheld. Rent before you buy and see if you like it.
Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6
Thank you, Sony, again, for creating a shockingly expensive lens that’s so good that people are actually buying it. At $2500, you’d expect it to be amazing in every way - and apparently it is. This built-like-a-tank lens is the only game in town for Sony mirrorless users who need this focal range.
Going even further…
Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 for NIKON and CANON
When you get something in this range, the size starts to get big enough where you’re buying a new camera pack for it, or at least leaving a bunch of other equipment at home. When the first version of this lens came out, it established Tamron as a pioneer in the field of lenses that can do amazing things for not that much money. Coming in at around $1200, the newest version of this lens has improved on the sharpness and image stabilization while still staying, somehow, cheaper, than name-brand lenses that only go to 400mm. Buy, or try, this lens as an option for wildlife photography if you’re not ready to drop $12,000 for a dedicated 600mm prime lens.
Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3
When Sony announced this lens I was not surprised - but when I saw that the opening day price tag was a hair under $2000, that’s when the shock and awe hit: But why? But how? Shouldn’t they be charging more? In any case, in what seems like a short time, Sony has established a reputation for releasing only the highest quality cameras and lenses. So in my book, there’s pretty much no reason not to buy this lens, if you’re a Sony mirrorless shooter that “needs” something this long-reaching for wildlife and sports.