Looking for the best lens for travel photography? Stop searching and keep reading! Here is everything you need to know to choose your first travel photography lens!
“What is the best lens for travel photography?”, that’s a question you must have asked yourself if you are about to purchase your very first camera or if you want to start taking incredible photographs of your travels!
Camera, lenses, and all photography gears are big purchases, and you should learn about it before buying such expensive items. This way, you won’t regret your decision, and you will have the best equipment that fits your needs and desires!
I remember when I first started photography, I was so lost with all the options there are on the market… So, I hope to make your life a little easier with this blog post! Honestly, I can’t wait for you to take impressive photos of your travel!
This post is all about the best lens for travel photography, how to choose it and how to use it!
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST LENS FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY?
In order to pick the best lens for travel photography, you first need to understand the differences between all the lenses.
Here are the basics information about the most common LENSES:
- 16 mm lens: The angle of a 16 mm lens is very wide. Which makes it great for landscape photography. And travel photography if you want to capture the beauty of the places you visit. This type of lens has the particularity to keep everything in focus and make everything appear further away than it really is.
- 35 mm lens: Less wide than the 16 mm lens, the 35 mm lens still shows a wide angle. It would also keep everything in focus, unless you have a very close subject. In which case, you will get some shallow depth of field. Some compare the results of a 35 mm lens to what you would get with your phone.
- 50 mm lens: The 50 mm lens is what we could call “the basic” lens. The angle is normal and could be compared to what we see as humans. It is used in almost every kind of photography, as it is easy to achieve different results by playing with the aperture range.
- 85 mm lens: If you want to focus on your subject, and not on the background, that is the lens you would need. Mostly use for portrait photography, it would be really easy for you to get a shallow depth of field with an 85 mm lens.
- 200 mm lens: The 200 mm lens could be compared to a telescope. And is mostly used to shoot subjects that are really far away. I believe it is not the one you require for travel photography. Unless you want to capture the fauna on a safari trip, for example!
THE MAGIC OF ZOOM LENSES
Well, first, you will be happy to know that you don’t need to buy different lenses to get different results. There is something called “zoom lenses”. And if you are traveling and don’t want to carry around 4 different lenses, that is what you need!
But what is a zoom lens?
A lens allowing a camera to change smoothly from a long shot to a close-up or vice versa by varying the focal length.
So basically, it is a lens that regroups different type of lenses in one. It is very handy when it comes to travel photography as you will only need one piece of equipment.
All the biggest photography brands (Nikon, Canon, Sony…) sell that kind of lens. And if you are looking for the best lens for travel photography, I strongly suggest that you get an 18-135 mm. This way you will be able to capture different places with different angles with only one lens.
And if later on your travel photography journey you want to upgrade your equipment and get more specifics lenses, you will still be able to do so!
IMPORTANT TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING YOUR LENS
Before purchasing a new lens for your camera, you have to check the compatibility between the two items. It seems complicated, but it is indeed really easy.
Here is what compatibility between camera and lens means:
Usually, lenses are designed to correspond with their respective mounts (the part that will link the lens to the camera, also referred to as “the socket”).
Each lens and mount is identified by a specific name, and even within the same brand of cameras and lenses, there might be incompatibility.
In the same way, sometimes different brands will share the same mount. Which means the lens of one brand could be compatible with the camera of another brand.