How to choose a lens: to help beginners. Lens selection. In simple language without too much theory!

Choosing a lens for a SLR or hybrid camera is not easy, especially for beginners. Immediately so much information, so many different nuances that need to be taken into account! Where to start? How to learn to “read” the technical characteristics of lenses and with their help understand whether it is suitable for your camera or your tasks? All this is in a series of articles dedicated to camera lenses. And we will begin it with a discussion of the very basics - the most important characteristics of photographic optics and their influence on the resulting images.

Why do I need another lens? I already have a whale!

Interestingly, according to statistics, among the users of SLR cameras, only a few acquire and actively use more than one lens. When switching to SLR or hybrid cameras, most amateur photographers use a complete (“whale”, from English kit, kit) lens - often rather mediocre in design, “soapy” in terms of sharpness and “dark” in terms of aperture, as well as slow autofocus. And they do not even know how much better their work can become with a good choice of high-quality optics! Thus, in essence, a reflex camera from an instrument with great creative potential turns into an expensive and very cumbersome “soap box” - and in fact it is bought, as a rule, with the goal of improving the quality and raising the level of its shots.

When the wealth of choice does not please

But novice users of SLR cameras can also be understood. They just solved the most difficult task of choosing the first camera, they still confuse the aperture with the shutter speed, start at the words “photosensitivity” and “white balance”, and even the incomprehensible optical terms “zooming”, “chromatism”, “vignetting” - and then and, good, "MTF", "field characteristics", "low dispersed glass" and "tilt shift" - are able to scare away even the most inquisitive from the task of choosing the next lens. So they take pictures over the years with the help of a single “whale glass”, periodically wondering why their works are quite far from the shots of experienced photographers and masters.

Of course, the acquisition of a new lens is unlikely to immediately make you a pro. In the end, renowned photo-minimalists, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, are known for taking all of their best shots with the help of a single “full-time” 50 mm Leica lens. But this will allow you not only to take a different look at the world through the camera's viewfinder, but also to shoot scenes that were previously simply inaccessible to your camera.

However, this case, as already mentioned, is not easy. Table of technical characteristics for modern lenses can contain dozens of lines with complex technical terms. But among them there are two most important, without an understanding of which the choice and use of the lens is simply impossible. This is the focal length and luminosity.

"Shirik" and "TVs"

Lens focal length   determines its field of view - in fact, the angular dimensions of the space, which can be transferred to the picture with its help. There are wide-angle (wide-angle, “wide”, etc.), normal (standard, “regular”) and long-focus (telephoto, “telephoto”, telephoto) lenses. Already from the names themselves it is easy to understand what is what - wide-angle lenses allow you to capture a large part of the space in the picture, telephoto - by analogy with telescopes - are designed for shooting distant objects and bring it closer. Well, normal lenses convey space and perspective in much the same way as human eyes perceive them.

Thus, if it sometimes happens that you want to photograph an architectural landmark or an impressive landscape, and you see with regret in the viewfinder that it does not fit in the frame as a whole, even at maximum zoom distance, this means you need a more wide-angle lens. If the object of your shooting in the photo turns out to be too small, and when you try to get closer, it flies away or runs away - it's time to think about purchasing a telephoto.

The focal length of the lens is denoted in millimeters and is most often indicated for the so-called "35 mm equivalent." It sounds difficult, but it is much easier to remember: wide-angle lenses have an equivalent focal length up to 36 mm, normal - 36-70 mm, telephoto - from 70 mm and more. Modern lines of lenses in the arsenals of their manufacturers are very extensive, and among them you can find both 8-14 mm super wide-angle fisheye lenses (when removing them, you have to be careful to ensure that your own legs do not get into the frame) and super telephoto 300-1000 mm, very reminiscent of telescopes not only by its name, but also by its appearance:

Where does the “cropping factor” come from??

When photographers shot on a 35mm film, the focal length figures on the lenses were clear and unambiguous, and therefore remembering what the particular field of view in the viewfinder corresponded to was easy. But our life has become much more complicated with the advent digital photo   - unlike the standard film, there are many variations on the theme of the size of the camera matrix.

Full-frame matrix size of 35 × 24 mm (ie, with a film frame) provide a very high-quality picture and retain the angle of view conceived by the manufacturer for all 35-mm lenses mounted on them. However, they are worth while fabulous money. Therefore, among photographers, when speaking about cameras, the word “full frame” is pronounced with a kind of aspiration and special intonation, implying both a different level of quality and a different level of prices.

In the majority of mirror and hybrid cameras for amateur photographers, APS-C matrices are installed, or semi-frame ones. It is obvious that the smaller size of the sensor, other things being equal, narrows the field of view through the same lens, which leads to the emergence of the notion of crop factor, also called the focal length multiplication factor. For APS-C Canon cameras it is 1.62x, and for similar Nikon it is 1.52x. The cameras of the Four Thirds system (Olympus, Panasonic) have even fewer matrices, respectively, the crop factor is even larger - 2.0x. As a result, the same lens in combination with matrices of different sizes will give different angles   view:

Speaking about the focal length of the lens in terms of "wide-angle" and "telephoto", you should always specify on which camera it is installed. For example, the old soviet lens   Helios-44 with 50 mm FR can be used on the Zenith film and on a full-frame digital camera (for example, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II through an adapter) thanks to the M42 screw mount. At the same time he will keep the same angle of view. But you can put it on APS-C canon SLRs EOS 600D or Pentax K-5 - in this case, the resulting angle of view will be equivalent to about 75 mm, and the lens from the category of normal will switch to "light telephoto." Should it be screwed to the Olympus E-PL2 either Panasonic Lumix   DMC-G3, the focal length indicated on the lens should already be multiplied by 2, and from the 50-millimeter “staffer” it will turn into the most “telephoto-porter” with an angle of view equivalent to 100 mm DF in the full frame.

Therefore, each owner of the DSLR when choosing a lens should keep in mind the crop factor of its camera, and focus on the historically adopted 35-mm equivalent, multiplying by it the DF of the lens in question.

"Portrait" lenses: focal length and perspective

A small lyrical digression. An important rule that every photographer should learn is this: the focal length of the lens determines only its field of view. Which, in turn, does not affect the transmission of perspectives on the photograph. The nature of the perspective, that is, the size ratio between the objects in the picture, is determined only by the distance from the camera to them, but not the size of the FR of the lens.

To remove the same object on an equal scale on a wide-angle lens, the photographer is forced to come closer to him. But this will change the nature of the transfer of perspective.
  (Photo: http://bernies consumption.com)

Therefore, don’t believe it when they tell you that “a wide-angle lens cannot shoot portraits due to distortion”. The distortions in question arise not from a wide angle of view, but from the fact that the photographer, trying to take a close-up shot, came too close to his model. In fact, “shooting portraits wide” is even possible - you just need to go far away and include the body and sometimes the legs of the model in the composition.

But to photograph the faces of people from a distance closer than 2 meters (and preferably 3-5), in fact, is usually not worth it. The proportions of the face are distorted, the nose and cheeks become larger, the ears are smaller, and it usually looks grotesque and unattractive.

In the picture on the left, the error is not in the fact that a wide-angle lens is selected, but in that a close-up shot is taken too close up. In the photo on the right, the error is corrected - the photographer has moved away from the model, but because of this, he is forced to use a longer-focus lens. (Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazytallblond/1196701508/)

And one more remark. Focal length (focal distance) beginners are sometimes confused with the minimum focusing distance ( MDF, MDF, minimum focusing distance). Despite some similarities in Russian terms, these two values ​​are not related to each other. The DF determines the angle of view, and the MDF determines how extremely close the object can be to the camera in order to be sharp in the picture.

Many photographers use wide-angle lenses and their features for portraits - but not classical, but creative, non-standard.
  (Photo: http://leggnet.com)

"Zuma" and "fixes"

The focal length of the lens is determined by its design, and therefore, in antiquity, all FR objectives were fixed (hence the fix jargon). At that time, it was believed that to obtain the maximum image quality, the optical formula of the lens (that is, the number, shape, and mutual placement of the lenses of which it consists) for wide-angle, normal, telephoto and other types of lenses should be different. With the accumulation of experience and the improvement of optical technologies, it has become clear that sometimes you can sacrifice a little in terms of quality for the sake of convenience - which is ensured by a variable focal length. In Russian, officially, this is called zooming, “among the people” the tracing from English has taken root - “zoom” (zoom).

The zoom lens has two rings: zoom and focus.
  Marking indicates the focal length range.
  and lens aperture in the wide-angle position and in the telephoto position

The zoom range (zoom) is indicated as a pair of minimum and maximum RF (for example, 18-55 mm), or as a multiplicity (say, 24x). In the latter case, it is impossible to understand what specific minimum and maximum focal lengths are inherent in this lens from the “24x” figure alone, since it can be 10-240 mm, and 20-480 mm, etc.

For many phototasks, the ability to quickly change the focal length without changing the lens turned out to be so valuable that over the past 30 years, zoom lenses have strongly pressed “fixes”. And most photographers would rather abandon the possibility of manual focusing than the zoom lever on the camera or the ring on the lens. It must be assumed that banal human laziness played a significant role here, because to “draw closer” or “put off” the picture, on the spot, is often much easier than coming up or moving away from the subject. The very fact that a change in focal length affects not only the size of the picture in the viewfinder, but also the transfer of perspective (due to the different distances from the camera to the object), very few people think. It got to the point that inexperienced photographers blame ... "whale zoom distortion" while being completely confident that this effect doesn’t exist in distortion of the proportions of the face and body parts of people in the photo when shooting from close range to a "wide angle". Although in order to understand the causes of this phenomenon, it is enough for any person to use his innate “lens”, having carefully examined and with his own eyes made sure that the transfer of perspective and proportions depends on the distance to the object you are looking at.

On the “fixes” only one ring - focusing.
  Marking such a lens directly indicates
  fixed focal length and luminosity

Lenses with a fixed DF, commonly referred to as "fixes" (English prime lens), still have significant advantages over zooms. First, their design is simpler, so the lenses themselves are usually smaller, lighter, and cheaper than zooms in the same range. Secondly, the optical formula "fix" is specially optimized to obtain the best quality of the transfer of pictures on this RF, and is not a compromise, like in the zooms. Therefore, if you want to get pictures with the best resolution and with almost no distortion, it makes sense to prefer “fix”. Finally, in lenses with fixed DF, it is much easier to obtain such a desired characteristic as high lens aperture, as discussed in more detail below.

Light and aperture

A photograph is not in vain called photography - without light it is impossible. In photography, it also rarely happens that there is too much light - usually it is always not enough, which makes us use flashes, tripods and image stabilization systems, raise the photosensitivity of the matrix or lengthen exposures, and hope that the photo will not drown in noises and will not be smeared. from the movement of the camera or an object in the frame.

The maximum amount of light that a lens is capable of transmitting to the matrix is ​​actually called aperture. It is denoted by the so-called f-number written after the letters "f /" or "F", for example, "F2.0" or "f / 16". The smaller this number, the higher the luminosity - it seems illogical, but it’s already established, and the lens with f / 2.0 transmits more light than the lens with f / 8. At the same time, “f / 8” and “F8” are just different forms of recording the same value. Another synonym for aperture and f-number is relative aperture. All three terms denote the same thing - how much "bright" or "dark" the lens in question is, how much light it can pass to the matrix.

With the help of the diaphragm, you can reduce the amount of light entering the matrix.
  But to increase it beyond the maximum, determined by the aperture of the lens, will not work.

Obviously, a high lens aperture is very desirable for all photographers. After all, it is always possible to reduce the amount of light falling on the matrix with the help of a diaphragm - that is, in effect, temporarily reducing the aperture of the lens, artificially blocking the path to the light. But to increase it beyond the maximum, given by the design, alas, will not work.

Blur the background: what determines the depth of field

In addition to the ability to shoot in the twilight without the risk of blurring, for more short exposure   (either without noise, at reduced ISO sensitivity), the aperture ratio (maximum aperture) of the lens affects another important parameter - the depth of field. The higher the lens aperture, the y can be in the photo area of ​​sharply depicted space. This allows you to visually separate the subject from the background - “blur the background.” And when the depth of field in the photo needs to be increased, on the contrary, you can always cover the aperture.

Above: shot taken with f / 1.4 aperture open.
  Below: same picture with f / 16 aperture closed.

So, you have a digital SLR camera. Or are you just going to buy it. And you are confused: how many different lenses to it, how to choose the one that is needed? This article will help to understand the variety of lenses and choose your own.

Having opened the manufacturer’s website, an inexperienced user is lost in the abundance of incomprehensible letters and numbers in the lens name right from the start. In fact, everything is not as scary as it seems. The first thing that newcomers should pay attention to when choosing a lens is only 5 parameters:

Bayonet
- focal length
- diaphragm
- matrix size
- image stabilization

Zoom or fixed lens

Bayonet Lens

The bayonet (ENG.: LENS MOUNT) is a special fixing unit, with the help of which the lens is mounted on the camera. It is not accidentally chosen the first item in our article: most serious firms have their own bayonet design, i.e. Nikon lens won't fit Canon camera.

Lens manufacturers, such as Tamron, Sigma and Tokina, produce lenses with different types   bayonet for cameras from different manufacturers.

Below is a table of markings of bayonet lenses from different manufacturers.

Manufacturer	SLR (SLR camera)	ILC (interchangeable lens camera)	Notes
Canon	EF, EF-S		EF-S lenses are designed for cameras with an APS-C matrix and will not work with cameras with a larger matrix (with a crop factor of 1.3x or full frame). In this case, all EF lenses can be used for cameras with an APS-C matrix.
Nikon	F		In Nikon entry-level SLR cameras, autofocus will not work with older lenses that do not have an integrated autofocus motor.
Olympus / Panasonic	Four thirds	Micro Four Thirds	Four Thirds camera lenses may be suitable for Micro Four Thirds cameras using an adapter, but autofocus may not work properly or may not work at all.
Pentax	KAF		Some recent Pentax autofocus lenses with integrated autofocus will not work with older cameras that lack contact for its operation.
Samsung	KAF	NX	Lenses for Pentax K-mount SLR cameras can be used on NX cameras via an adapter
Sigma	SA		Only Sigma lenses are suitable for these cameras.
Sony	Alpha (A)	E	Alpha lenses can be used on NEX E-mount cameras through the transponder, but autofocus will not work

FOCUS DISTANCE LENS

When choosing a lens, first of all pay attention to its focal length.

The focal length (ENG: FOCAL LENGTH) (FR) is the distance from the matrix or film plane (focal plane) to the main rear optical plane of the lens when it is focused to infinity. The ratio of the DF to the diagonal of the matrix characterizes the angle of view achieved with the help of this lens. The smaller the value of the DF, the greater the viewing angle. The characteristics of the zoom lens indicate two “extreme” values ​​of the DF - the smallest and the largest that the lens provides.

In connection with the widespread use of 35mm film format, it is customary to characterize the lens with the so-called “equivalent focal length” (EGF). For film and digital cameras that have so-called full-frame matrixes (i.e., the matrix size is equal to the film frame size), the EGF is simply equal to true, i.e. FR. Digital matrices with a diagonal smaller than that of a film, in order to provide the same angle of view (and, accordingly, the same frame from the same place), the true focal length of the lenses is proportionally smaller. Depending on the DF, lenses are classified as follows:

If the DF is approximately equal to the diagonal of the matrix, then such a DF is called normal and it is believed that in this case the angle of view (45 degrees) corresponds to human eyes. If the DF is larger than the diagonal of the matrix, then such lenses are called long-focus or tele-lenses - they provide a stronger approximation compared to “normal” ones, but at the same time the angle of view decreases.

If the DF is smaller than the diagonal of the matrix, then such lenses are called short-focus or wide-angle - they provide an extension of the field of view compared to “normal”, but at the same time, the size of objects in the frame decreases.

Lens classification taking into account EGF.

Lens type	Full-frame 24x36mm, aspect ratio 3: 2	DX and APS-C, about 16,7x25,1mm, aspect ratio 3: 2	"4/3”, 13,5x18mm, aspect ratio 4: 3	Medium format matrix 60x45mm, aspect ratio 3: 2
Super wide-angle lens (field angle of 83 ° and more)	24 mm and less	16 mm and less	12 mm and less	41 mm and less
Wide-angle lens (field of view from 52 ° to 82 ° inclusive)	From 24mm to 28mm	From 16mm to 18mm	From 12mm to 14mm	From 41mm to 75mm
Normal lens (field of view from 40 ° to 51 ° inclusive)	50 mm	28 mm, 35 mm	25 mm	75 mm
Long-focus lens (field of view from 10 ° to 39 ° inclusive)	80 mm and more	55 mm and more	42 mm and more	75 mm and more

Thus, in the characteristics of the lens, we can see two different RFs - the true and the equivalent.

DIAFRAGM LENS

Lens aperture (ENG.: APERTURE) is another important parameter when choosing. It allows you to change the amount of light passing through the lens, which determines the ratio of the brightness of the optical image of the photographed object to the brightness of the object itself, as well as set the required depth of field.

Aperture can be specified in several ways: F4, f / 4, 1: 4 - they all mean the same thing. The smaller the number, the larger the aperture, i.e. The more light passes the lens.

The standard values ​​of aperture (relative aperture) are based on increasing or decreasing the illumination of an optical image by two times: f / 0.7; f / 1; f / 1.4; f / 2; f / 2.8; f / 4; f / 5.6; f / 8; f / 11; f / 16; f / 22; f / 32; f / 45; f / 64.

For example, an f / 2.8 lens transmits twice as much light as an f / 4 lens. The more light a diaphragm can pass, the more opportunities it gives, such as shooting in low light or shooting indoors without a flash, the ability to adjust the depth more flexibly. sharpness: the more open the aperture, the smaller the depth of the sharply depicted space (DOF) it gives.

SIZE MATRIX CAMERAS

The most affordable SLR cameras use not a full-frame matrix (24x36mm), but an APS-C matrix (16.7mmx25.1mm). Panasonic and Olympus in cameras of this level use a matrix of the format “Four thirds” (13.5mmx18mm).

All four major manufacturers of photographic equipment (except Olympus and Panasonic) produce a line of lenses adapted for the APS-C matrix. They are labeled as follows:

Canon - EF-S
- Nikon - DX
- Pentax - DA
- Sony - DT
- Sigma - DC
- Tamron - Di-II
- Tokina - DX

IMAGE STABILIZATION

Image stabilization is a technology that mechanically compensates for the camera's own angular movements to prevent image blurring at high shutter speeds (“shake”). The stabilization system is not designed to compensate for the movement of the subject and, in fact, serves as a substitute for a tripod in a certain range of shooting conditions.

In the past few years, all manufacturers of photographic equipment began to use the image stabilization system, but different manufacturers have introduced it in their own way. Pentax and Olympus placed the image stabilization system in the camera itself (body), and Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Samsung are building a stabilization system in the lenses. Sony uses an image stabilization system built into the body ("Super Steady Shot") in Alpha SLR cameras, and an image stabilization system built into the lens ("Optical Steady Shot") for Nex cameras.

Image stabilization is especially useful in telephoto lenses, which should be considered when comparing characteristics when choosing from several models.

The image stabilization system reduces the “shake” that occurs when the camera is shifted during shooting in low light or using long-focus lenses. If your camera does not have an image stabilization system, you will most likely want to buy a lens in which it is present, especially with telephoto lenses.

Different manufacturers label lenses with an image stabilization system in their own way, so when choosing a lens one should pay attention to the following marking:

Canon - Image Stabilization (IS)
- Nikon - Vibration Reduction (VR)
- Panasonic and Samsung - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
- Sony (Nex system) - Optical Steady Shot (OSS)
- Sigma - Optical Stabilization (OS)
- Tamron - Vibration Control (VC)

ZOOM OR FIX-LENS

According to the focal length value, lenses are divided into “zoom” and “fix”:

Fix - a lens with a fixed focal length.
- Zoom (zoom lens, zoom lens) - a lens with a variable focal length.

Recently, zoom lenses have become increasingly popular. At first glance, they are more versatile, and buying a fixed-lens with the advent of zooms loses its meaning. However, fixed lenses still have a number of advantages: compared to zoom lenses: they are smaller, lighter, faster, have a larger aperture and give a sharper image. These advantages make the fix irreplaceable in solving specific tasks, such as shooting in low light due to a larger aperture or when applying artistic shooting techniques using blurring objects that do not fall into the focus of the lens.

Updated: 2016-08-22   Oleg Lazhechnikov 77

With lenses everything is somewhat simpler than with cameras, there are much fewer parameters and everything is much simpler. There is a focal length, measured in millimeters, aperture ratio, and the presence / absence of a stabilizer. I will tell about everything in more detail.

Focal length

In fact, you don't really need to know what it means physically. It is easier to remember that the larger the millimeter, the closer the object will be to you, or it is often said that the angle will be narrower. This is true, when zooming in on an object, as if you were cutting a frame around the edges, and it doesn’t have something that could fit into the field of view of a wide-angle lens. Using a little of your first lens, you will immediately understand what focal length you need to use. Therefore, at first, do not buy a lot of lenses, one is enough to tune in, for example, a cheap whale Canon EF-S 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6 IS II, going as a kit to many budget Canon cameras.

There are fixed lenses (they are called fixes), but there are zoom points. In the first - the focal length does not change in any way, in the second - it can be changed manually by turning the ring on the lens. If you are just starting, then most likely you do not need fixes, because they are bought for maximum quality and good aperture, and the price will be appropriate. Moreover, when you take pictures, it is much more convenient to be able to quickly zoom in or out the object, otherwise you will need to change one lens to another, which is much longer, and even if it happens often, then you really get bored.

Crop factor

Next, I just have to tell you that there is still such a thing as a cropping factor, which in some way tells us about the size of the matrix of our camera compared to others. The matrix of a full-frame camera is taken as a unit (the cheapest full-frame ones are Canon 6d and Nikon d600), and the rest of the cameras have crop factors that mean how many times the matrix diagonal is smaller than the full frame. For example, in 1.6 (Canon 650d, Canon 60d, Canon 7d), in 1.5 (Nikon d300, d7000), in 2.5 and more in different soap dishes. These figures (1.6, 1.5, 2.5, etc.) are the crop factor. I think it is clear that the larger the matrix, the better quality   the resulting image, and if the price of a carcass from this would not increase dramatically, then everyone would only go with full-frame cameras and it would be possible not to write about the crop factor.

All right, figs with it with a diagonal, more importantly, the crop factor conditionally increases the focal length, that is, the larger the crop factor, the more the object will be approximated. For example, for a Canon 5d mark (crop factor 1) the standard lens will be 24-70 mm, and for a Canon 60d (crop factor 1.6) - 17-55 mm. That is, looking into the viewfinder of both cameras with the above-named lenses, the objects will be visually at the same distance, although millimeters are different. Crop factor is sometimes called a focal length multiplier. For crooked carcasses, you need to recalculate the focal length to get real numbers. That is, take the lens 17-55, mounted on the sprinkled camera and multiply it by the cropping factor of 1.6 (for all amateur DSLRs) and get 27-88 mm (17 * 1.6 = 27 and 55 * 1.6 = 88), that is, almost the same as the lens 24-70 for a full frame. That is why we see equally close objects on these two cameras with these lenses. Remember that millimeters on all lenses are always indicated for a full frame, no matter for which camera the lens is intended.

If the above said you found it difficult, then do not worry, by and large it is not so important. You put one or another lens on your crooked camera and get used to those millimeters that will be indicated on the lens housing and will be operating with these numbers without any recalculation. And only if you suddenly move to a full frame, then only you will have to get used again to the “new” millimeters.

Luminosity

Denoted as 1: 4 or 1: 1.2 and is indicated on the face around the front of the lens. In fact, the aperture is how weak the light is when passing through the lens, the magnitude of the aperture depends only on the lens itself and nothing else. But in common people aperture is called the maximum open aperture, which we can put on the camera with this lens. That is, if you don’t go into theory and talk about practical application, then the figure after one is just important for us (in this example, f4 and f1.2). The smaller the number, the more bright the lens. Usually those are considered to be lenses with a value somewhere 1.2-2.8, and they are very convenient for shooting at night or. But not only in this is their plus, but also in a small depth of field (depth of field). Surely, you have seen photographs, where a clear person is in the foreground, and the background is beautifully blurred, so these things are done through open diaphragms and, accordingly, high-aperture lenses. Of course, it is possible to do this with a normal diaphragm (for example, f5.6), but I'll write about this in the next article.

Some nuances

• If you buy a lens for Canon, it will not fit the bayonet (connector) for Nikon, and vice versa. There are also other companies that make lenses (as a rule, they are cheaper) for all cameras and bayonet - Tokina, Sigma, Tamron. Separately, I want to mention the cheap fast fixes Samyang, they are very praised, but they do not have autofocus, which is not suitable for everyone.
• There are adapter rings to mount lenses not on my bayonet, but I never used them.
• Each lens has a glass diameter (also measured in millimeters), you will need to know it if you buy a light filter. From the really necessary is the polarization filter CIR-PL. It is also possible to purchase ultraviolet UV, which is essentially ordinary clear glass and is only needed to protect expensive optics from scratches and bumps. But there are different opinions on this score, and someone says that there is no point in him.
• The larger the zoom (focal length range), the worse the image quality. Usually this is really noticeable on large zooms, like 18-135 mm or 18-200 mm, and manifests itself as distortion, poor sharpness, aberration, and so on. It is necessary to look at pictures of a particular lens for these distortions and decide whether they are satisfied or not.
• A wide-angle lens (shirik) is about 10-15 mm for a crop, and 15-20 for a full frame. There is also a lens called a fish eye. Despite the over-wide angle, it is not an analogue of the width, because they peculiarly break out the picture, stick it out.
• A typical lens (portrait) is usually called 85 mm for a full frame and 50 mm for cropping.
• Before buying a lens, always read reviews about it and see pictures already taken by other people, all this is on the Internet.
• Once again, whale canon lens   EF-S 18-55 is a good thing and you will definitely have enough of it for the first time if you still don’t know anything. When you buy a camera with this lens right away, you overpay literally 1-2 thousand rubles, that is, you get it almost for nothing (if taken separately, it is more expensive). True, there are other sets, where there will be another lens.

• For shooting landscapes, architecture, you need a zoom, whose focal lengths start from 17-18 mm (for cropping) and from 24-25 mm (for full frame).
• For shooting in a narrow space or a starry sky, a wide-angle lens, 10-15 mm (crop) and 15-20 (full frame) is useful.
• For reportage photography, it is convenient to be able to bring a person closer, which means you need a zoom with a far end of about 100-150 mm. There are more (70-200 or 70-300), but then the near end will be too narrow and not very suitable for anything other than reportage from afar.
• Lens types 70-200 and 70-300 are usually used in landscape photography to approximate a piece of nature or to shoot animals and birds. You can also use it for macro.
• For shooting flowers and flies, there are special macro lenses. But, if you really need a strong approximation, you do not need zooms, as I already wrote above.
• For portraits, it is best to buy a fix 50mm (crop) or 85 (full frame), then you and the bokeh will be beautiful and the background is perfectly blurred, and the aperture is good. But this is all if you want to shoot portraits directly, often with a pretense of professionalism. Otherwise, the usual zoom will do. By the way, fixes are of different aperture speeds, and at first do not chase the most expensive ones. For example, Canon 50 f1.8 is enough for you, instead of Canon 50 f1.4 (twice as expensive). And about the Canon 50 f1.2, I generally keep quiet, it is clearly not for beginners.
• If you are not picky about image quality, then for travel photography you would be best to take a large zoom (18-135 or 18-200), then you will cover all the focal lengths and you will not have to constantly change lenses. A sort of universal lens. In addition, a photo bag with you will be quite small from such a set, which is important in those travels where weight is important.

If you somehow summarize the choice of lens for traveling, then in most cases you will need a line of lenses, or one universal lens with focal lengths somewhere from 17 to 100 mm, they are most often used, we are talking about crop. Naturally, this is in my opinion. When traveling (and at home too), the range of two lenses and total focal lengths of 11-105 are enough for me (Shirik Tokina 11-16 f / 2.8 + standard zoom Canon EF 24-105 f / 4). Moreover, if I didn’t like wide-width photos, I could have done without width, after all, 11 mm is rarely needed in everyday life. True, then 24 mm would be too narrow in tight spaces. That is why I wrote that it is best to have a ruler starting from ~ 17-18 mm (for cropping).

3.00 out of 5 (ratings: 4)

Are you going to buy a Nikon SLR camera or have already bought the so-called "carcass" (camera body without a lens) and are wondering what kind of lens to buy? Right. Choosing a camera lens is a very serious issue that must be approached with all care. Why? Because the lens is the most important part of the photo set, if not more important than the camera itself. When choosing a camera + lens kit, knowledgeable photographers always prefer a more expensive lens to the detriment of a newer camera model within the limits of the available amount. Those. if they have the choice to buy either a more advanced camera model with a less good lens or a less advanced camera model, but with a more expensive and high-quality lens, in most cases the photographer will choose the second one. And this is not by chance. Because A bad lens will in most cases reduce to naught all the advantages of your clever DSLR, whereas even an older model of camera, but with a good lens will give you much better pictures. An example of that is the Nikon D90 cameras, which are still being bought, although it is morally obsolete, but with good optics, the photographs are simply excellent.

In this article we will talk not so much about the choice of the lens (although it is present), but rather about the purpose for which a particular lens serves. The entire range of lenses will not be affected, because it is quite extensive, and some lenses are very specific, we will discuss only the most relevant models. But this article will help you with the choice of the lens for your DSLR. So, let's begin...

1. Regular lens

Most often, the standard lens is the one that comes with the camera (the so-called "whale" or "whale"), in the Nikon camera lineup, there are only 4 such lenses, consider each of them:

18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6G AF-S VR DX Zoom NIKKOR
  Length - 79.5 mm; Weight - 265 g; The diameter of the filter - 52 mm.

   Complete lens for low-cost cameras (D3100, D3200, D5100, D5200), has 3x zoom, quiet focusing motor, good sharpness. This is where his merits end. Otherwise, this is a cheap lens, with a rather weak indicator of aperture, to achieve on it photos with a beautiful bokeh (blurred background) is almost impossible. Recommend this lens can only be people who firmly believe that by taking a DSLR camera, they will immediately get good photos, as well as believe in the brownies, witches and mermaids :). Of course, on the Internet you can find a lot of good photos taken on this lens, but, in most cases, they were taken by people who have been involved in photography for a while, and are able to shoot.

18-105mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 89 mm; Weight - 420 g; The diameter of the filter - 67 mm.

This lens is often complemented by more expensive cameras with a cropping factor matrix (D90, D7000), sometimes you can find it in the set for younger models. Unlike the previous model, it has a zoom ratio of 5.8, otherwise this lens is similar to the previous one, it is also quite sharp, it has a silent ultrasonic autofocus motor, in contrast to the younger “brother” on this lens you can get quite good bokeh (if you shoot on the focal order of 85 -105). In general, this is a very good option as a first lens, firstly, it is almost universal, and secondly, it allows you to get very nice shots. Taking this lens separately, for its price of about 11-15 thousand rubles is worth it only if you still do not know what you are going to shoot, in other cases it is better to take something more narrowly focused, but better.

24-85 mm f / 3.5-4.5G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
Length - 82 mm; Weight - 465 g; The diameter of the filter - 72 mm.

This lens is equipped with full-frame cameras, in fact 24-85 for the full frame is the same as 18-55 for the crop, almost the same focal length, the same aperture. From the advantages of the lens can be noted all that is characteristic of all lenses of this class, sharp and quiet. The full-frame matrix will give a more or less beautiful bokeh and a slightly shallower depth of field. I don’t recommend taking this lens for a crop of camera, it’s good for a crop of such characteristics, it’s rational to buy it only if you are sure that you’ll soon move to a full frame.

24-120mm f / 4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 103.5 mm; Weight - 710 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

Relatively new, quite expensive staff for full-frame cameras. It has a constant aperture ratio of 4, dust and moisture protection, quiet ultrasonic motor. The lens is not very bad, with good color reproduction, sharp, with a fairly good bokeh at the far end, unless it is not very fast, not reportage. For a full frame - a very good choice as a staffer, for the crop there are more cheap counterparts, albeit without a constant aperture.

You can also call a regular lens, which has a “universal” focal length (i.e., not too wide, and not too far); in the Nikon lineup, there are 3 such lenses:

16-85mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 85 mm; Weight - 485 g; The diameter of the filter - 67 mm.

An expensive enough lens for non-full-frame cameras. According to its optical characteristics and the picture, it will be almost like a whale 18-55, you should take it only if you need a compact lens that has focal lengths slightly more than from a whale, or if you bought a camera without a lens, and you want such a range of focal lengths. In other cases - unnecessarily expensive glass, without any significant advantages.

17-55mm f / 2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 110.5 mm; Weight - 755 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

An expensive, heavy, professional medium focus lens for non-full-frame cameras. Due to the large luminosity is well suited for shooting indoors without a flash, it is also good for some general plans, for reporting. Like all professional technology declared dust and moisture protection. Buying this lens must be conscious, you must understand exactly what you need this lens for. If you are just satisfied with the whale, but you want to get a better picture, then third-party manufacturers have an analog to this lens for much less money, for example, the Sigma AF 17-50mm f / 2.8 EX DC OS HSM Nikon. In general, I don’t really feel about third-party lenses, but this is one of those rare cases where a third-party lens is practically not inferior in quality and costs much less. Attention - the 17-55mm f / 2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX NIKKOR does not have an image stabilizer, at shutter speeds longer than 1 / the effective focal length, you need to shoot carefully.

24-70mm f / 2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 133 mm; Weight - 900 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

This is probably the most popular professional reportage lens for full-frame cameras. Very sharp, very fast, very accurate, very ... not cheap :). Ideal for indoor shooting, club shooting, portraits. You should only buy if you have a full-frame camera, on a crop it will turn into a body of a lens, and the price is higher than any Nikon carcass carcass. In the lens, as before, there is no image stabilizer.

Established fixes
  The standard lens does not have to be a zoom, yes, the zoom is more convenient, yes, the zoom is more universal, yes, the zoom looks kosher, but, firstly, almost any, even the cheapest fix, surpasses any, even the most expensive zoom, in quality and secondly, regular fixes are cheaper than good regular zooms. Among the regular fixes, the choice is not great, there are only 5 of them, and by the focal length there are only 2 - 35mm and 50mm, let's take a closer look at them:

50mm f / 1.8D AF NIKKOR
  Length - 39 mm; Weight - 160 g; The diameter of the filter - 52 mm.

The cheapest and easiest fix from Nikon, focal length - 50mm, there is no built-in autofocus motortherefore, autofocus is possible only with cameras that have a drive built into the camera, the so-called “screwdriver” (D80, D90, D7000, D600, D700, D800, D4). The lens is sharp, with a pleasant bokeh, but not without flaws. Firstly, there is a very small probability of the back and front of the focus, secondly, there are moving parts in the lens when focusing, which makes it not the best dust and waterproof lens, and thirdly, it can not be called quiet. A full-frame lens, I do not recommend buying it on cameras with a crop matrix, you’ll get a bigger portrait lens than a staff member. On a full-frame camera, it is very good for shooting indoors, for portraits to the waist, but it's better to buy the G version right away, about it below.

50mm f / 1.8G AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 52.5 mm; Weight - 185 g; The diameter of the filter - 58 mm.

Perhaps the best "fifty dollars" Nikon, not expensive, silent, with internal focusing, works on all cameras. In contrast to the D version is not so sharp, but it has a more plastic figure. Ideal for all full-frame cameras.

50mm f / 1.4G AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 54 mm; Weight - 280 g; The diameter of the filter - 58 mm.

More high-aperture "fifty dollars", the difference between the 1.8 version is almost invisible, with less sharp. It is worth taking in the event that 1.4 is critical (or strongly it would be desirable :)), in other cases 1.8 versions will suffice.

35mm f / 1.8G AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 52.5 mm; Weight - 200 g; The diameter of the filter - 52 mm.

The lens for full-frame SLR cameras, on which the effective focal length will be just 50mm, well, what you need 50mm for, you already know :). Must have for all owners of cropped cameras. On the full frame, it will work with a small vignette on the open diaphragm; on the closed diaphragm, black spots in the corners will increase.

35mm F1.4G AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 89.5 mm; Weight - 600 g; The diameter of the filter - 67 mm.

Dear, heavy, professional lens, used mainly as a wide-angle for full-frame cameras, you can use it as a standard for cropping, but the latter is not justifiably expensive, it is better to take version 1.8, which is several times cheaper.

2. Universal zoom

These lenses can also be called "ultrazoom", of course, this is not a 30+ fold increase, but a factor of 10+ is typical for these lenses. Such lenses, as a rule, are not inferior in quality to the standard whale zoom (with the exception of 24-120 f / 4, of course), but at the same time they have a greater range of focal lengths and are almost perfect lenses for traveling, some sort of city shooting and not complicated reporting These lenses are only 3, consider them:

18-200mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR II AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 96.5 mm; Weight - 565 g; The diameter of the filter - 72 mm.

Excellent universal zoom for cropping factor cameras, 11.1 times zoom, high-quality optics, vibration reduction system, quiet focusing motor, the lens is fast enough, sharp, you can get very nice shots at the far end. If you are not ready to carry several lenses with you, like versatility, mobility, then this is your choice. The only drawback, like of any lens of this group, is that it can tempt the image a little on the high resolution matrices, but there's nothing to be done about it, and this is not so critical.

18-300mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 120 mm; Weight - 830 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

It’s the same as the first option, only the zoom ratio is increased to 16.7, an even more universal option than the previous one, though it costs much more. At the focal point close to 300, the sharpness drop is already underway, but up to 250-260 it is quite working. If you need the largest range of focal lengths for a cropped camera SLR factor, this is your choice.

28-300mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 114.5 mm; Weight - 800 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

In fact, this lens is a complete analog of the first, only for full-frame cameras. It is possible to buy it for a crop of cameras, only on the crop it becomes not so universal, because the focal range becomes 42-450, and at the price it is slightly more expensive than 18-200.

3. Tele-zoom lenses

These lenses do not have a large zoom ratio, while their minimum focal length starts from 50mm and above. These lenses are primarily intended for outdoor shooting, sports events, photos of birds, etc. In terms of quality, almost all of these lenses are the same as universal zooms, while, due to the smaller scatter of the focal length, they are usually much cheaper. Among what is available on sale, there are 5 models:

55-200mm f / 4-5.6 AF-S VR DX Zoom NIKKOR
Length - 99.5 mm; Weight - 335 g; The diameter of the filter - 52 mm.

Cheap zoom for a reflex camera krop factor, sometimes goes in the kit kit. A good choice if you want to try a telephoto, or as a purchase with a second lens to a regular 18-55. It does not have some outstanding characteristics, but for the beginning it will be enough. Attention, there is also a version of this lens without a stabilizer, be careful.

55-300mm f / 4.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 123 mm; Weight - 530 g; The diameter of the filter - 58 mm.

A more serious model for the crooked SLR cameras, in general, very decent, sharp on almost the entire range, and relatively inexpensive. If you are sure that you need a telephoto camera and you have a cropping camera, this lens will be an ideal choice.

70-300mm f / 4.5-5.6G AF-S VR Zoom NIKKOR
  Length - 143.5; Weight - 745 g; The diameter of the filter - 67 mm.

A very good body lens for full-frame cameras, the same case as with 55-300, if you are sure that you need a telephoto and you have a full frame - this lens is an excellent choice. Whether or not to buy it for camera sprigs is up to you, but there is no point in this, you will lose both in focus and in price, and in quality it is the same as the previous telephoto.

70-200mm f / 4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 178.5 mm; Weight - 850 g; The diameter of the filter - 67mm.

New An excellent body lens, suitable for reportage photography, has dust and moisture protection, a constant aperture ratio of 4, internal focusing, suitable even for a non-complex professional shooting. Good optically, you can safely buy at any resolution of the matrix, even to 36 megapixels D800.

70-200mm f / 2.8G ED VR II AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 209 mm; Weight - 1540 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

Dear, professional tele-lens. Very fast focusing, very sharp, very light (for zoom), what a hard kapets :), well protected, with internal focusing, suitable for both reportage, sporting events, and for portraits, will work fine with any camera. Perhaps Nikon's best tele-lens, if you do not need very long focal lengths, which uses a completely different technique.

4. Wide angle lenses

Wide-angle lenses are especially in demand in landscape photography, architecture photography, shooting indoors, when there is very little space, since wide-angle lenses are quite complex in optical design - their cost is just a disaster ....
For lenses of this class is characterized by the absence of an image stabilizer. The range of wide-angle lenses in Nikon is represented by a variety of models, let's start with wide-angle zoom lenses:

10-24mm f / 3.5-4.5G ED AF-S DX NIKKOR
  Length - 87 mm; Weight - 460 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

Super wide-angle lens for Nikon cameras, a good option for shooting in bright rooms, shooting landscapes, shooting on the street, at a wide angle of the lens is characterized by a small distortion (barrel). The lens is quite expensive, but from the native lenses - the best option. If you need a native, “not expensive” wide-angle lens, this is your choice.

12-24mm f / 4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom NIKKOR
  Length - 90 mm; Weight - 485 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

Unlike its younger brother, this lens has a constant aperture of 4, this lens is better suited for indoor shooting, like the previous one will be very good for shooting landscapes and wide shots on the street, a lens for sprinkling cameras, the price for it is pretty biting. Like all the equipment about the level, declared dust and moisture protection.

BUT!!! Here comes the second of those rare cases when it is better to buy a third-party lens, namely the Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX AF Nikon F. In the picture, this lens is in no way inferior to your relatives, it exceeds them in light intensity, and at a price cheaper than any of them . In general, the Tokin 11-16 f / 2.8 is the best wide-angle lens for Nikon full-frame cameras, a must have for wide-angle lovers on a crop, which is not important for the lens to be native. Lens to the envy of the owners of full-frame cameras :).

18-35mm f / 3.5-4.5G ED AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 95 mm; Weight - 385 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

An inexpensive (cost about 20-25 thousand rubles) wide-angle lens for full-frame cameras, is well suited for shooting landscapes, shooting in bright rooms, not difficult reporting, will be a good choice for travelers who like to shoot at a wide angle. The lens is essentially a full-frame analogue of 10-24. The lens is quite fast and sharp. An excellent choice if you need a shirik for a full frame, but because of rare use, there is no desire to allocate a large budget.

16-35mm f / 4G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 125 mm; Weight - 685 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

Excellent wide-angle lens for full-frame cameras. Pretty heavy, dustproof and waterproof, with built-in stabilizer! (this is a big rarity for wide-angle lenses). Perfect for reportage photography, for dynamic shooting, and of course, like any wide-angle lens, perfect for landscapes, for which, by the way, the stabilizer is better off. The lens is VERY sharp, one of the sharpest in the entire Nikon lineup.

14-24mm f / 2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 131.5 mm; Weight - 1000 g

Extremely extremely ultra-wide-angle lens :), unique in its kind, very sharp, light, high-quality, heavy, expensive. People who see you with this lens do not immediately believe that it is shirik. Ideal for all types of shooting, where you need a wide angle, distortion at the short end is, but it is not large. The best wide-angle lens in general, even some owners of other systems use it through an adapter. If you are a wide-angle lover, and you don’t feel sorry for money, take it, you will not regret it. The lens is protected from dust and moisture. There is one caveat - the front lens is very bulging, as a result, there are no protective filters on this lens, the hood is not removable.

Wide-angle lenses with a fixed focal length.

There are not many such lenses in the Nikon lineup, among modern ones, only 2 and both under full-frame cameras.

28mm f / 1.8G AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f / 1.8G
  Length - 80.5 mm; Weight - 330 g; The diameter of the filter - 67 mm.

This is probably the widest lens that shoots at full frame without distortion, making it great for photographs of architecture, and thanks to its high luminosity, it allows you to take pictures indoors without using a flash. The lens is sharp across the entire field of the frame, while you can get and not bad portraits, the depth of field allows not bad separation of people from the background. Also an important advantage of this lens is its price, it is very tolerant for glass of this class. On the crope will not be a bad staffer, though there are 35 mm 1.8 on the crope, which is 4 times cheaper.

24mm f / 1.4G ED AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 88.5 mm; Weight - 620 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

The widest fix lens with an ultrasonic motor from Nikon, there is a slight distortion, very light, so that has a wide range of applications. The lens is very expensive, almost 3 times more expensive than the previous one, you need to accurately determine for yourself whether there is a small difference in the viewing angle (which is really quite noticeable in the photo) and aperture ratio 1.4, such an overpayment, or not.

Honorable Mention:

14mm f / 2.8D ED AF NIKKOR
  Length - 86.5 mm; Weight - 670 g.

Nikon's widest fixed lens still stands quite expensive, the lens distortion is not large for such a wide angle, an excellent choice for landscapes and reportage photography. There is no built-in autofocus motor, so it will only work with carcasses that have a “screwdriver”. There is no protective filter for it for the same reason that it is not present at 14-24 f / 2.8. Due to the fact that 14-24 f / 2.8 is not much more expensive, I recommend digging and taking it, it will be more versatile, and will fit all cameras.

Fish

Fish is a creative ultra-wide-angle lens with a viewing angle of 180 (not always, more) degrees (diagonally), has a characteristic, very pronounced “barrel” picture, use this lens too often is not worth it, not everyone will appreciate such photos, but in some situations The phishai will be perfect, the Nikon's phisks are only 2, full-frame and cropped, they do not differ in principle, except that the full-frame one does not have a built-in focus motor. Protective filters for these lenses are not provided.

Fish under Crop:

10.5mm f / 2.8G ED DX Fisheye-NIKKOR
  Length - 62.5 mm; Weight - 300 g

Fish under the full frame:

16mm f / 2.8D AF Fisheye-NIKKOR
  Length - 57 mm; Weight - 290 g.

And here comes the time of the 3rd case, when you can recommend a non-native lens. The thing is, fish is a rather specific lens, and for many it's just a toy for a week or two, of course, if you are sure that you need fish, take your own one - you won't regret it, but if you want to try it, then the best choice there will be a Soviet Zenitar 16mm f / 2.8 Fisheye, this lens is for all bayonet, and the price for it is about 5-6 thousand rubles, an excellent choice for "try." The lens does not have autofocus, but since it begins to focus on infinity almost immediately (from 1 meter), it is possible to press the diaphragm to 5.6+ on it, and to photograph blindly, everything will be abrupt. The lens will be good only in the full frame, all the most interesting things will be cut off on the crope, for cropping it is necessary to take either a native cropping of fish, or, alternatively, there is a very good Samyang 8mm, without autofocus.

5.Portrait lenses
Portrait lenses - lenses designed for shooting people without distortion of body proportions, these lenses are not characterized by ringing sharpness :). These are quite long-focus fixes, from modern, Nikon has only 2 such lenses:

85mm f / 1.8G AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 73 mm; Weight - 360 g; The diameter of the filter - 67 mm.

Excellent, not expensive portrait portrait, silent fast focusing, good quality   optics, heat moisture protection, excellent separation of a person from the background. Among the shortcomings, it may be noted that it is not uncommon chromatic aberrations, which, however, can be easily removed through graphic editors.

85mm f / 1.4G AF-S NIKKOR
  Length - 84 mm; Weight - 595 g; The diameter of the filter - 77 mm.

Professional portrait, has excellent quality optics, excellent heat and moisture protection, fast focusing, beautiful bokeh, almost complete lack of HA, if for you the portrait is the most important thing in photography, this lens is for you. there is old version   This lens, without the built-in autofocus motor, the model is also not very bad, but inferior to this in a number of parameters. By the way, in general, it is not very different in the picture from the previous one; therefore, before buying it, look at the examples of photos from it and with 85 1.8G, you may be able to save a decent amount of money;). The main differences from version 1.8G are better contrast (and in general, and microcontrast), but slightly slower focusing.

Honorable Mention:

135mm f / 2D AF DC NIKKOR
  Length - 120 mm; Weight - 815 g; The diameter of the filter - 72 mm.

135mm - perhaps the best focal length for portraits, the perfect combination of shooting range and beautiful bokeh, Canon has a legendary Elk 135mm, Sony has at least cool 135mm Carl Zeiss, who is generally considered the best portrait lens, but Nikon slows down something , Does not update 135k. The current model, though not bad, does not stand up to competition with Nikon’s 85mm lenses, and even more so with the 135mm lenses from other manufacturers, and it’s worth a lot. It is worth taking it only if you need a long-focus fix, the model is very worthy according to the picture (if you are not confused by the megahedral chromatic aberrations :)). Model without built-in autofocus motor!

6. Macro lenses

Macro lenses are designed for shooting small objects (or small parts of a large object) close-ups. The most often objects of macro photography are plants and insects. The feature of macro lenses is that they allow focusing from a very close distance. On macro lenses you can also take portraits, but, unlike portraits taken on a portrait lens, portraits (as I often did in this sentence with this word :)) shot on a macro lens will have just ringing sharpness, which is not always appropriate, although sometimes the opposite, they get a much more interesting look. In the Nikon lineup there are not so many macro lenses, let's consider them:

40mm f / 2.8G AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR
  Length - 64.5 mm; Weight - 235 g; The diameter of the filter - 52 mm.

Not expensive lens for crop cameras. The minimum focusing distance: 0.163 m, has a built-in quiet autofocus motor and not much weight. Not a bad option for those who only want to try macro photography, although macro rings are more suitable for these, which will allow turning any lens into a macro. Among the shortcomings it can be noted that there is not a big distortion at all and the fact that when focusing the lens, the trunk leaves.

85mm f / 3.5G ED VR AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR
  Length - 98.5 mm; Weight - 355 g; The diameter of the filter - 52 mm.

Excellent macro lens for non-full-frame cameras, minimum focusing distance: 0.286 m, has an integrated ultrasonic autofocus motor, internal focusing, image stabilizer. An option for those who have a cropped camera, and he is sure that he needs a macro photo, taking it with the first macro lens is doubtful, it is relatively cheap. The lens does not have a high luminosity ratio of 3.5, but this is absolutely not critical, the macro is usually shot at the diaphragms covered up to 10 and below.

60mm f / 2.8G ED AF-S Micro NIKKOR
  Length - 89 mm; Weight - 425 g; The diameter of the filter - 62 mm.

An entry-level macro lens for full-frame cameras, the focal length for a full frame replicates a non-full 40mm lens, the design is more like the 85 mm non-full frame. There is no stabilizer, but the focus is internal, with no moving parts, the autofocus motor is built into the lens. Instead of this lens, as in the case with the 40mm, I advise you to try the macro rings, if you like, then take something more serious right away, although if you are going to photograph only static objects, then this is enough. Closest focusing distance: 0.185 m.

105mm f / 2.8G AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR
  Length - 116mm; Weight - 720 g; The diameter of the filter - 62 mm.

The strongest middling for full-frame cameras is the best option for lovers of macro photography. The lens has everything that amateur and even a professional need. Convenient focal length, image stabilizer, internal focusing, heat and moisture protection. The minimum focusing distance is 0.314 m. The lens is very sharp with a beautiful pattern, similar to 50mm 1.8. The price for this lens is at the level of 1000 dollars, if you are sure that you need a macro photo - take it, you will not regret it.

200mm f / 4D ED-IF AF Micro NIKKOR
  Length - 104.5 mm; Weight - 1190 g; The diameter of the filter - 62 mm.

Nikon's top macro lens, an elegant optical quality, has no vignette, no distortion, no chromatic aberration on this lens. Made entirely of metal, the minimum focusing distance is 0.260 m. The lens is heavy, the bokeh, oddly enough, comes out less beautiful than the previous one, and it loses in focusing speed, although the focus largely depends on the carcass on which glass is used. The lens does not have a built-in focus motor, therefore autofocus will not work on all cameras. In general, the lens is convenient primarily for its minimum focusing distance, if for you it is not so critical, then take the previous version better.

And here comes the last, 4th case, when I would recommend trying a third-party lens, in spite of all my personal, fierce liking for Tamron lenses, for macro I recommend: TAMRON SP AF 90 mm f / 2.8 Di Macro, lens It does not have some outstanding characteristics, but this is the case when a third-party lens is practically not inferior in quality to native ones, but at the same time the difference in price is noticeable.

Igor Goncharov, velo-foto