Photography: Lenses

Which lenses?
The basic equipment for any photographer is of course the lens. This piece of equipment mostly determines what will be in the picture and how. In wildlife photography you will often be using telephoto lenses several times the price of a camera body. So it can be wise to choose a lens first and then just buy a body to go along with it.

Of course the most important factor is what you want to use the lens for. In newsgroups I have often read discussions about which lens is best for the job. Some people think that only the biggest and most expensive lens will suffice. That may be so if you are a professional photographer and your income depends on your pictures. But for most people wildlife photography is a hobby and they only have a moderate budget to spend. So the question 'which lens is best for birds?' is hard to answer. If you have $10.000 laying around useless, you might want to spend it on a new 500/4 IS or 600/4 IS lens. But for most people who might go on an occasional safari and do some photography at home, such a lens is out of the question. They will be more interested in a prime 300/4 or 400/5.6 or maybe a 70~300 or 100~400 zoom. lensmonkey1.jpg (17809 bytes)

As you can see in these pictures, you don't always need a big lens to get close ups of animals. Some animals will come close themselves. These pictures were shot in a monkey rehab/zoo where the monkeys can walk around freely between the visitors. Of course on safari in Africa you might not want the lions to come this close to inspect your lens. :-)

Lens usage
In the table below I have given a summary of the most used lenses and their application. Of course you can also look at the application first to see which lens would suite your needs most. All focal lengths mentioned are the true focal lengths for 35mm film. If you are using a digital camera with a crop factor like 1.3x or 1.6x for Canon and 1.5x for Nikon, you will have to multiply the focal lengths with that factor. So a 70-300 zoom on a camera with a 1.5x factor will become a 105-450 zoom. This gives you more reach on the tele side but less on the wide angle end.

Focal length	Usage
14	Extreme super wide angle lens, often available as high speed F2.8 version. Extreme in wide angle but also extreme in price. Tilting the lens will result in very strong distortion of perspective.
17	Super wide angle lens. Specially suitable to emphasize the wideness of a landscape. Also very nice to make panorama pictures. Aperture usually around F3.5 of F4.0 Be careful of perspective distortion when using this lens. My favorite super wide angle.
20	Similar to a 17mm but not quite so pronounced. Usually has a bigger aperture of F2.8 and therefore brighter viewfinder.
24	Wide angle lens for landscapes. But without the effect of a 17mm or 20mm. Still be careful with perspective distortion. Very widely used for landscapes but not my favorite focal length.
28	Similar to a 24 but even less pronounced. I would rather use a 35mm with a big aperture.
35	For me this is the standard lens which I would like to use for normal photography. Specially the ones with an aperture of F2.0 are usually very high quality and the viewfinder will be very bright. Also available as extremely expensive F1.4 version.
50	Standard lens with a perspective similar to that of the human eye. Usually big aperture of F1.4 of F1.8 Creates a nice and bright viewfinder image. Mostly extremely sharp. Can be used for close ups. Very small and the F1.8 version are mostly very inexpensive. In the past such a lens was sold with every SLR. When zooms became popular it was forgotten, but lately coming back as a very nice small and super sharp lens which will always fit in your bag. On most digital cameras this lens will become a very fast portraitlens for a bargain price!
85	Short telephoto for portraits. Aperture is mostly F1.8 of F2.0 so the viewfinder is very bright. Because of the limited tele effect I use this lens mostly inside. Very nice for portraits of adults but I find the tele effect not strong enough for portraits of little children.
100	Ideal portrait lens also usable for close ups or macro photography. For real macro photography you should of course look for a special macro lens. Mostly extremely sharp. Ideal lens for shots of bigger animals like elephants or giraffes or groups of smaller animals like zebras. Very nice also to photograph an animal in its natural environment. Apertures can be F2.0 or F2.8, macro lenses sometimes even a bit smaller.
135	Used to be the most widely sold telephoto focal length in the past. Therefore relatively inexpensive, specially the second hand ones. Comparable to a 100mm but with a little bit more pronounced tele effect and often with a smaller aperture. Can be usefull for indoor sports in low light as well. The Canon EF135/2.0L is claimed to be one of the very sharpest lenses ever made.
180	Usually these lenses are tele macro lenses, but there are some available without macro. These are comparabble to the 200mm lenses. The 180 macro lenses are very nice for photographing small creatures such as insects, butterflies or little reptiles because you can work at a bigger distance. So you don't scare your subject away. Usually very sharp. The Sigma 180/3.5macro is very sharp and a great lens at a low price.
200	Usually available with apertures of F2.8 or F4.0. Some brands have a special F1.8 of F2.0 version which is extremely expensive. My favorite is the F2.8 version. A disadvantage can be the size and weight of such a lens. Nice for total shots of animals smaller in size than an elephant. If you can approach the animals it is very nice for portraits. Also very nice for unnoticed portraits of local people. But a zoom will be more convenient. The 4x enlargement factor will often force you to move around, which isn't always possible, whereas with a zoom you can adjust the focal length. Therefore I now use the EF 70-200/2.8L.
300	My favorite focal length for photographing animals on safari. As prime lens usually F2.8 or F4.0 aperture. This is the first telephotolens that really creates a tele-effect. Your subject will be sharp but because of the limited depth-of-field (D-o-F) everything else will be out of focus. If I could own just one lens to photograph animals, then this would be it. Disadvantage of this lens is it's weight and size. A 300/4 may still be used to photograph handheld, with a 300/2.8 this is already much more of a problem. With an enlargement of 6 times, distortion also becomes apparent. Therefore many manufacturers have a version of this lens with special glass, often called ED, L, or APO. These lenses are extremely sharp and can very well be used with high quality 1.4x or 2x teleconverters. The resulting lens will still be sharp enough for high quality shots. Focussing with a 300/2.8 is quite an experience. Your viewfinder is very bright and shows lots of details. Because of the limited D-o-F your subject will either be very sharp or very unsharp. There is hardly any margin between these two. This lens is ideal for total shots of smaller animals and for details of bigger animals. For birds this would be the absolute minimum focal length. Even then only for bigger and approachable birds like vultures. This is also the focal length were image stabilization (IS or VR) becomes very handy. Certainly if handheld or when used from a car on safari.
400	Nice focal length for wildlife on safari. A little bit more powerful then a 300mm but the price you have to pay is usually a smaller aperture of around F5.6. With a lot of practice, it can be used handheld but I don't advice it. An exception may be the new Canon EOS 400/4.0 DO IS which can be used very well handheld, but only for shorter periods of time. This expensive lens was introduced at the end of 2001. It is small and light and very sharp. But personally I would rather use a 300/2.8 with 1.4x converter. The 8x enlargement factor is just enough for bird photography, but not for smaller species of birds. Unless of course you will be shooting from a hide.
500	Very nice focal length for wildlife which isn't very approachable, or for wildlife portraits. Nice focal length for birds too. Aperture is often F4.0 or F4.5, enough to still be used with a 1.4x converter. Remind however that most cameras won't autofocus with a F4.5 and a 1.4x converter combined (Canon EOS-3 and newer EOS-1x bodies will AF). Both Canon and Nikon now have a 500/4.0 available. The IS becomes very hadny at these focal lengths, even if always used from a tripod. Much smaller and lighter than a 600mm and a bit less expensive. Usually closest focus distance will be around 5 meters (or 15 feet). If you travel a lot by air and are not exclusively photographing little birds, the 500/4.0 is a much better choice than the much bigger and heavier 600/4.0 lens. The EF 500/4.0L IS is my favourite lens.
600	The ideal lens for bird photography, if you do not have to transport it too much! This lens is massive in both weight and size. Requires very sturdy (and therefore extremely expensive) tripod and ballhead. Because of the size and weight, using this lens will mostly be limited. I know from experience (Canon let me use one for almost two months) that it is hard to walk around with such a lens all day long. Also transporting it by air may become very difficult. For me that was the main reason to but the 500/4 instead of the 600/4. Most of these lenses are built using special glass elements and are extremely sharp. Together with a 1.4x converter still sharp enough. The resulting 840/5.6 will still autofocus. Even when combined with a 2x converter, the resulting 1200/8 is still sharp (and will still autofocus with the Canon EOS-3 and newer EOS-1x bodies). But extremely hard to keep stable (Here the new IS version is really helpful, in fact almost necessary).
800	Massive lens. Requires very big and sturdy tripod. Actually sometimes two tripods would be better. One for the lens and one extra for the camera. Therefore this combination is not very suitable for fast moving animals. Very nice for small birds or nesting birds which may not be disturbed. Great lens for bird photography from fixed position in a hide. At the moment Sigma is the only brand that offers such a lens with autofocus. Nikon still has a MF version available, while Canon only had this lens as FD version.
1200	Like the 800mm but even more extreme. Canon produces a 1200/5.6 AF lens on special order. It's about the price of a normal house. Not really suitable for wildlife any more. Maybe only for very remote nesting birds which can't be approached, like an eagle's nest on a ridge. But then who could afford it????
10-24	Recent innovation in lens design. These extreme zooms are specially designed for digital cameras with a 1.5x or 1.6x crop factor making them act like a 16-35 zoom and giving wide angle to digital users again. Normally these zooms do not fit film cameras or fullframe digital cameras as they are specially designed for cameras with small sensors.
16~35	Very nice combination of focal lengths for general photography. Suitable for landscapes and for habitat shots (to show the natural environment in which the animal lives). Nice lens to take with you on trips when luggage has to be limited. Sometimes focal lengths are 16~35 or 20~35. Available as very expensive F2.8 lens from Canon and Nikon. Canon now also has this lens as 17-40/4.0L version at a much lower price. Tests show that this F4 version is at least as good and on some points even slightly better than the F2.8 version. There is also a much more moderately priced F3.5/20~35 version. With the advent of digital cameras these lense have become very popular as a replacement for the standard zoomlens as they get a 28-90 focal length because of the cameras crop factor.
28~70	Nowadays the standard lens sold with most cameras. Has taken the place of the old 50mm prime lens. Nice lens for general photography, but I personally prefer a wide angle zoom. Available with big F2.8 aperture. Very high quality but bulky and very expensive. Also available with smaller aperture F3.5 or F4.0. Smaller and very affordable. Big quality difference between brands and versions. Focal lengths seem to expand as new lenses are sometimes 24~85 or 28~105. Canon has replaced it's 28-70/2.8L with the 24-70/2.8L version.
70~200	Standard telephoto zoomlens. Suitable for bigger animals or groups of animals. Available as big expensive F2.8 version or as more moderately priced F3.5 of F4.0 version. Sometimes also 70~210 or 80~200 or alike. Some brands offer both normal and APO versions. I would always go for the APO version. The Canon EF 70~200/2.8L, which I use, is extremely sharp and outperforms many primes. The high quality F2.8 lenses can be used with with a 1.4x converter but I would not use the other lenses with a converter. The effective aperture will make the viewfinder very dark and focussing difficult. Autofocus won�t work anymore. Also image quality will drop significantly. Canon now has a new 70~200/2.8L with IS available. It is replacing the older version, but it is much more expensive.
70~300	Standard telephoto zoomlens with enhanced tele ratio. Suitable for bigger animals and groups of animals but with the extra focal length of 300mm. Very suitable for safaris if you can take only one lens with you. If you can, always use the APO version. Specially with longer focal length the quality difference will become obvious. Never use such a lens with a converter (often it doesn't even fit physically) as image quality will drop very much and the effective aperture will make photography very difficult. Remind that opn a digital camera with 1.6x factor this will become roughly a 100-500 zoom lens. So you will need a tripod to get sharp results! Canon has it available as 75-300 IS and more recently they also have a version with IS and DO optics. That lens is very small and light, but of course at a bit higher price. Sigma now has a 100-300/4 zoomlens which has received very positive reviews for it's sharpness and contrast.
100~400	Lenses with this focal lengths have become very popular over the last few years. Of course these focal lengths offer the wildlife photographer exactly what he is looking for. Image quality can be good, but a tripod should be used because of the weight and the rather small aperture. If you like to photograph animals and don't want to buy a big prime lens, this might be a nice alternative. I wouldn't advise to use a converter on such a lens. Maybe only as a last resort. Both Canon (100~400) and Nikon (80~400) now have such a lens available with a system that reduces camera shake. With Canon it's called IS (Image Stabilizer) and Nikon calls it's system VR (Vibration Reduction). The Canon has the focussing motor (USM) built into the lens for very fast AF, the Nikon unfortunately doesn't. These lenses can be used without tripod if necessary, though a tripod is always recommended. Recently Sigma also offers a 80-400 lens with stabilization. Ideal general wildlife lenses for an African safari. On a digital camera with 1.6x crop factor, it will become a perfect wildlife 160-640 zoom with IS! The Canon can be used with a 1.4x converter. Recently Nikon introduced the 200-400/4.0VR lens with stabilizer. On their digital cameras this lens becomes a 300-600/4.0 zoom and can even be used with a 1.4x converter. The downside being the very high price tag (around $6000).
100-500	Comparable to the lens mentioned above but with slightly longer focal lengths but also smaller aperture. Does however require tripod and fast film. Suitable for animals and even smaller birds. Again, teleconverters are out of the question. Canon used to have a massive FD 150~600/5.6L lens which was extremely sharp. Many of these big white lenses were converted to be used on movie cameras. Sigma used to have a moderately priced 170~500 (still around?) and now also offers a 50~500 zoomlens which should have quite good optics but is big and heavy and lacks stabilization.
28~200/300	These lenses are gradually becoming more and more popular. Both in the 28~200 version and in the 28~300 version. Often sold together with a camera body as the solution for everything. Often the biggest aperture is only around 4.5 or 5.6 for the entire zoom range. Personally I don't like them very much. They can do a bit of everything but they aren't really great at anything. If you only use relatively high speed print film and don't need enlargements, they can be quite satisfactory. Serious amateurs will always end up buying several specialized lenses instead of this one-in-all lens. One exception might be the new Canon EF28-300L IS lens. But this lens is also big, heavy and expensive and mostly suited for photo journalists.