In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had some questions about my camera lens recommendations, so I thought I’d put my opinions out there for all of you!  Before I do that, let me give you a 2 second lesson on the naming of lenses, because I remember when I wanted to buy my first lens that did not come with a camera, and I had no idea where to begin.  The naming system goes like this:

Canon 50mm f/1.2 L

• Brand (ie. Canon)
• Focal length (ie. 50mm)  Anything lower than 50mm is considered a wide angle – meaning that you see more things through the lens.  Lower than 35mm is where you start getting some distortion on the edges, which can be really cool, but is something to keep in mind for portraits.  You can get feet at the edge that look extra long… 50mm is considered what you see through the naked eye.  The 85mm is considered a portrait lens.  100mm to 200mm is considered a macro lens (when you want to take a picture of something really small and have it magnified (ie. an insect, a ring, etc.) – if you try to take the same picture with a 50mm, you have to stand so close to the subject that you block the light that can get to the subject, and the lens might not be able to focus when it’s that close to the subject, either.  When the focal length is a single number, that is called a prime lens.  That means that if you want to zoom in on the subject, you need to physically move your body closer!  One of the key advantages of a prime lens is the clarity you will find it can achieve.  And the colour.  When the focal length is a range (ie. 24-70mm) that is called a zoom lens.  It means that you can turn the dial on the lens to zoom in or out all the way from the 24mm focal length to the 70mm focal length.  The best thing about this that I have found is that, when you’re taking pictures of a moving subject, you don’t have to run around quite as much.
•  Aperture (ie. f/1.2)  The number that is given for the aperture is the widest (lowest number) that the lens can go.  Quick lesson in aperture (or f-stop) is that the wider open the lens is, the more light that is let in, and the blurrier the background will be.  If you’re using f/1.2, then you could take a picture of a person and just have their eyelashes in focus, and the rest of their face would be blurry.  Also, when a lens has a low number for the aperture, that means that they do better in low light situations.  Your camera probably came with a lens that has a range for the aperture (ie. f/3.5-5.5).  This means that your lens does not have a fixed aperture, which makes it tricky for learning to use the manual setting on your camera, as you don’t have full control over setting the aperture.  That would be the main reason that people buy lenses other than what’s called a “kit lens” (the lens that your camera comes with), so that they can have a lens with a fixed aperture.
• Not sure what to call the last thing, but we’ll go with “status” or “quality”.  I can only speak for Canon lenses here, but there’s a letter “L” at the end for all of their very best lenses.

Now that I’ve give a lesson on lens naming, on to the fun part! I’ll show you the lenses that I have and a couple of photos that I’ve used them for.  Keep in mind that all of these pictures were taken with my Canon 5D mark iii body, which is full frame.  If the same lenses were on a body that is not full frame (ie. the Canon 60D), then they would be more zoomed in.  If you want to know more about that, let me know…

1.  Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L

I am 100% in love with this lens.  I saved up and bought it after my amazingly generous friend, Leanne, had let me borrow hers to shoot a wedding.  After I did the wedding, I kept it on my camera to take photos of my kids playing around outside.  And then I did a family portrait session with it.  It is so versatile, and the bokeh (blurry background) that it creates, especially at the 200mm length, is so dreamy.  This has become my workhorse for family photo sessions.  I love that I can stand a nice distance away from the family I’m shooting to allow them to interact with each other more naturally, too.  And yes, the background it can give on a portrait shot, and the artsy creaminess of it make me smile.

145mm f/2.8 1/250, ISO 100

135mm f/4.5 1/320 ISO 125

200mm f/2.8 1/500, ISO 100

2.  Canon 35mm f/1.4 L

My next favourite lens these days is the 35mm.  I just purchased this one this fall, in time to take the Clickin Moms Storymaking class with it!  My dilemma was that I wanted to take more everyday shots of my kids, but a lot of those moments occur indoors.  I wanted to be able to take a wider angle shot and have it be super sharp.  The 50mm just wasn’t allowing me to get the full context of the shot (was too zoomed in for what I wanted to show in the image).  Here’s a couple of shots that I took for this class.

35mm f/3.5 1/80, ISO 1250

35mm f/3.2 1/200, ISO 500

35mm f/3.5 1/160 ISO 4000

3.  Canon 50mm f/1.2 L

Before I had my 35mm, this was the lens that I left on my camera most of the time for when I was out and about.  It’s a prime, so it’s sharp, and it’s just a solid focal length.  Most of our European trip last year was recorded using this lens!  I also like doing portraits with this lens, and like using it in low light situations.  And for those of you looking to buy your first non-kit lens, the nifty fifty is the best place to start.  Each brand has their own 50mm f/1.8 lens that is sold for a really reasonable price (usually $120-$150) and this is a great value!

50mm f2.8 1/125, ISO 800

50mm f/2.5 1/800, ISO 200

50mm f/2.5 1/400, ISO 100

4.  Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L

The flexibility that this lens offers is great, and before I had my 35mm, this was the only wide angle option I had, so I used this for many indoor shots.  My biggest complaint about this lens has been that it is not very sharp and the pictures can be a bit noisy (grainy), even when the ISO is low.  Another photographer friend I have has mentioned that she has had the same issues, so I know it’s not just me.  That said, when I was looking for pictures to post for my 50mm lens, I was surprised to see that a couple of photos that I thought I must have taken with my 50mm were actually done with my 24-70mm.  So, there you have it.

60mm f/3.5, 1/125, ISO 640 and 30mm f/3.2, 1/100, ISO 2500

24mm f/2.8, 1/60, ISO 1600 and 34mm f/2.8, 1/60, ISO 2500