Hey there! First off, if you are new to the photography community I wanted to give you a big giant WELCOME! This Photography Lenses for Beginners guide will give you the tools and the knowledge necessary to make your next lens purchase.

It’s so great seeing people pick up photography at any time in their lives – it’s such a great way to be connected to others, connected to nature, and gives us the power and ability to capture moments of a lifetime.

So you’re probably here because you’ve recently picked up photography, or maybe you’re doing research on your first camera and lens to purchase…

Either way, I’m glad you’re here! A common question I get asked is “which lens should I get?” and there isn’t really one answer to this question.

If you haven’t bought a camera yet, I encourage you to check out my recent blog “5 Photography Tips For Beginners”. I also break down several of the steps you should take before even buying the camera.

If you’re a beginner photographer and want to know the best lens to start with, well, it takes a little bit of research and personal preference.

In this post I am going to show you some of the best lenses that will help you determine which is the best fit for you.

Also, make sure you grab my FREE photography checklist to help you with before, during, and after your shoots! You can get access to the checklist here:

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Determine What You Want To Shoot

Okay, so you’re ready to purchase your first lens? Or maybe your second lens?

The first thing we need to do is determine what you’re wanting to shoot. The reason for this is because each lens has a different function (some are more similar in functionality than others.)

With that said, let’s say you want to shoot portraits. Typically you’re standing somewhat close to your subject, blurring out the background and just focusing in on whoever you’re shooting.

I would recommend a 50mm or 85mm lens for portraits. Even a 35mm will work. These three will give you stunning results – IF you purchase the right one.

So let’s break down the structure of the lens model numbers for a second…It’s important to know what this means so that you understand what you’re paying for.

Portrait Photography Lenses

Let’s look at these two pictures here (and I’m going to use Canon as an example because that’s what I use.) First let’s break down the model number, and then I want to go over the differences between the two.

EF 50mm f/1.8 STM

This is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM. 

The “EF” is the standard lens mount on the Canon EOS family of SLR film and digital cameras. EF stands for “Electro-Focus”. Automatic focusing on EF lenses is handled by a dedicated electric motor built into the lens.

The “50mm” expresses the focal length which is measured in millimeters. In this case, 50mm represents the standard focal length that also resembles the human eye.

The “f/1.8” represents the Aperture. If you want to learn more in depth detail on what aperture means and how it relates to the exposure triangle, check out one of my other posts “Camera Settings For Beginners: Understanding The Exposure Triangle”.

To sum it up briefly, the aperture (represented by the letter “f”) gives you an indication of how much your background will be blurred. 1.8 is a very wide aperture, meaning the opening of the lens remains wide open to let in a lot of light. You’ll see other lenses that have an aperture of f/4, f5.6, and so on.

There’s a much more in depth explanation of what aperture actually is, but I’m keeping it simple so that you don’t feel overwhelmed with information!

The STM stands for “stepper motor technology”. Basically Canon’s fancy way of saying the focus motor inside the lens is almost silent to help reduce noise when video recording. Not super important unless you’re planning on doing a lot of videography!

EF 50mm f/1.2L USM

This next lens is another 50mm by Canon…you’ll notice that the model numbers are slightly different, and the appearance of each is slightly different.

Guess what else is different? One goes for $125.00 and the other goes for $1,299.00…why is that?

The two biggest things to recognize here are the aperture which is f/1.2, and the “L”’. 

The “L” doesn’t have much meaning other than it standing for “luxury”. But that’s just it – this lens is built with far superior materials, better quality glass, better motors, and the overall quality of the lens is that much better. Whenever you see the “L” listed after the aperture, you’ll immediately know that it’s a pretty costly lens!

You’ll also notice that this lens has an aperture of f/1.2 while the other one is f/1.8. What does this mean?

This means that the f/1.2 allows twice as much light, which also means it’s a “faster” lens. And what I mean by faster is that by shooting at twice the speed, you’re lessening the motion blur to help you get really smooth crisp shots. 

So whenever you see someone talk about a “L” lens being faster, this is what they’re referring to.

Many people don’t have it in their budget to spend $1000+ on a lens which is fine! But I think it’s important to know that these options are out there, so that if you do eventually start your own photography business these will be things you’ll want to save up for in the future. I’ll go over budget in further detail later on.

Landscape Photography Lenses

So let’s look at another example…let’s say you’re interested in shooting landscapes. In this case, a 50mm would not be a suitable lens because you don’t want to blur the background! 

You’re not close up with your subject…in this case, the landscape IS your subject. So you’re going to need something that is wider and doesn’t blur out your subject.

I would recommend something like a 16-35mm lens…anything in that range is great for landscapes.

EF 16–35mm f/2.8L III USM

Okay so the first thing I am paying attention to here is the “L” lens – great build quality, solid glass, a really great lens for landscape photography. 

However…this lens goes for about $1,899! 

If you have the budget for this and you’re really passionate about landscape photography, it’ll be a great investment. 

If you don’t have the budget for it, that’s okay! There are lots of other alternative options – which we’ll get to here in a bit.

Telephoto Lenses

So let’s say you want to photograph your kids football games, maybe wildlife, or anything where you aren’t able to be close to your subject…

Telephoto lenses come in handy as they give you the ability to zoom in from a further distance. 

With the nature of these lenses, they’re large and heavy which also means they’re more expensive. Definitely an investment, but you’ll want to start saving up for it if it’s something you’re interested in pursuing!

EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

Canon has several different telephoto lenses, but I just grabbed this one to use as an example.

We’ve got another “L” lens here, and it is a zoom lens so it can zoom from 70mm to 200mm.

If you’re photographing sports, I would definitely recommend also getting a monopod to help you stabilize your shots, and it will keep your arms from getting tired since the lens gets heavy!

There are LOTS of other lenses to choose from, but these three seem to be some of the most common. I also only mentioned Canon here, and there are several other brands like Nikon, Sony, Sigma, etc.

Determining Your Budget

I started mentioning earlier on about determining your budget, but let’s go over that a little bit more.

Obviously this equipment is not cheap – it adds up quickly!

I personally ended up saving for about 3 years before I bought my first camera/lens, but I also went for a better quality camera and lens (which was more expensive) but I wanted it to last and support me through starting my own photography business.

There isn’t necessarily one right answer to which specific lens or camera you should buy, because the truth is it’s all subjective!

Your budget for a lens might only be $400 while someone else’s budget may be $2,000. 

With that being said, once you determine your budget then you can start doing the research to find the right lens that fits within the description of what you’re looking for.

When you’re ready to make your purchase, please be aware that there are a lot of scammers online. Always check the manufacturer’s website for a comprehensive list of authorized resellers. This is really important!!

If you see something online that is selling gear at a very significant discount, chances are it is damaged, it’s a knock-off, or they’ll just take your money and then nothing will show up at your door.

I typically purchase everything through Canon directly since I trust them and know that they offer customer support if anything were to go wrong.

Another thing people ask me about is refurbished gear. The benefit of this is you can often  get certain products at a pretty large discount. This could be from someone simply buying a lens, opening the box and deciding to return it, it could be someone using it once and deciding they want something else, etc.

The manufacturer has to run a series of tests to certify that product so that it can be sold again, but not for the full retail price. 

Long story short, you’re basically getting a virtually new piece of equipment for a significant discount.

Same concept with this though, I would be very careful where you purchase any refurbished or even used gear. Used gear can be a slippery slope, and I personally tend to shy away from it.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully this Photography Lenses for Beginners guide was helpful in learning about the functionality of some of the common lenses! 

There’s so much information here, so feel free to revisit it or reference it in the future as many times as you need. 

If you’re about to purchase a new lens, let this be a guide for you!

Also, if you’re interested in my FREE photography checklist, make sure you get access to that before you go – it’s a great tool to help you remember important details before, during, and after each of your shoots. This is especially great for photographers who are booking their first clients!

Get access to my free checklist here:

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Thank you all so much for reading and feel free to check out my other photography-related posts to learn more about the photography world.

Share your thoughts in the comments below – are you looking to buy a new lens? Maybe you’re new to photography and want to get started?