As I usually do after having my morning coffee with my wife, I enter my office (I’m working from home), and for some odd reason this morning I stopped at the door to look at my gear. By the way, I am a translator, copywriter, UX Writer, graphic designer & I have a YouTube channel with other social media accounts (I know it’s a lot, but it’s me). Anyway! I was shocked by the amount of gear I have, so I decided to build a guide for beginner photographers, to help them identify the best starter kit of gear & what to avoid, saving them money, time & disappointment!
The model of your camera is important in determining which lenses you should and should not use. Not all Nikon lenses work great with each Nikon camera. Some Canon lenses will not function at all on some Canon cameras!
With a few exceptions, Nikon and Canon DSLRs fall into two camps:
- Full Frame Sensor Cameras.
-APS-C Crop Sensor Cameras
There are lenses designed only for crop sensors and lenses that work fine with both.
Let’s start with what I’m recommending to any beginner photographer:
1- Camera:
As a beginner, you don’t need the most expensive camera in the world, instead, you need a camera that is good enough to give you a good start with the best results combined with “easy to use” and a good price, or let’s say affordable.
- Full Frame:
What’s the full format camera?
Every DSLR has an image sensor inside it. It is hiding behind a mirror and looks like a green rectangle. That's what conveys information, which translates into an image. That is what a full-frame sensor is – it is a digital version of a 35mm film frame. They are the same size!
There's a huge collection of Full Frame cameras with a wide range of prices. My Advice, don't start with a very expensive camera, instead, you can go for Canon EOS RP. A beautiful camera with a lot of features & amazing results.
My main camera now is Canon EOS R, & I can assure you, it's better than what the paper says & I don't have any plans to upgrade it any time soon.
Canon EOS RP
- Cropped Frame:
What’s the cropped frame cameras?
This is a smaller sensor – smaller than 35mm. That’s all it is. Imagine a piece of 35mm film, crop the edges down, and this is your crop frame sensor, and in many cases, they're relatively cheaper than full-frame cameras.
Crop Factor Chart
But if I'd go back in time & choose again, The Canon M50 would be my choice, instead of the 77D
2- Lenses:
There are many types of lenses, it’s crazy out there, so you don’t need to get involved in that right now, just stay simple & to the point, or you’ll end up like me, with a lot of gear that is begging to be used.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM
A- Prime Lenses
A prime lens is the kind of lens that only offers one focal length, such as 35mm or 50mm. Although prime lenses are often viewed as less flexible than zoom lenses, their optical quality is usually higher as they only need to be optimised for one particular focal length. Furthermore, prime lenses usually offer wider maximum apertures than zoom lenses with similar focal lengths, making them ideal for low-light shooting and attaining a shallow depth of field in the images.
B- Zoom Lenses
A zoom lens offers a range of focal lengths between (and including) the two in its specific title. A 24-70mm lens, for example, can be set to 24mm, 70mm and all focal lengths in between, such as 35mm and 50mm. This allows you to quickly and easily vary your composition without needing to reposition yourself. The numbers after the focal length in a lens title refer to the maximum aperture at each end of the lens. So, an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens offers a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at the 18mm end and f/5.6 at the 55mm end. Zoom lenses whose names only refer to one aperture – such as 24-70mm f/2.8 – have this maximum aperture throughout the entire focal range. These are desirable but usually more expensive than those with a variable maximum aperture.
Within both prime and zoom types of lenses, there are a variety of lenses, all with different focal lengths:
- Macro Lenses
A macro lens is designed for close-up photography. ‘True’ macro lenses offer a reproduction ratio of 1:1, meaning that the subject can be imaged at its actual size on the camera’s film or sensor. A reproduction ratio of 1:2 means that the subject can be imaged at half its true size, and 1:4 a quarter. True macro lenses often make use of special optical designs to correct for aberrations, such as floating elements and aspherical surfaces. True macro lenses are always prime lenses, while zoom lenses may use the term ‘macro’ in their title to denote suitability for close-up shooting.
- Telephoto Lenses
Just as a wide-angle lens is one whose focal length is shorter than that of a standard lens for a particular system, a telephoto lens is one whose focal length – or focal range in the case of zoom lenses – is longer than the same ‘standard’ focal length. So, taking the full-frame DSLR as an example, this would be a lens whose focal length is longer than around 50mm (as 50mm is still considered standard). These range from mild telephoto versions, such as 60mm, to super-telephoto lenses of around 600mm and longer.
- Wide Angle Lenses
A wide-angle lens is an optic whose focal length is shorter than that of a standard lens for that particular camera system. In the case of a full-frame DSLR, this means anything shorter than around 43mm. So, a 35mm lens would be classed as wide-angle, as would a 28mm lens. Wide-angle lenses can be either prime or zoom lenses.
- Standard Lenses
A standard lens is one whose focal length approximates the diagonal measurement of the imaging format for which it is designed (ie the sensor or film). The sensors inside full-frame DSLRs measure approximately 43mm across their diagonal, so it is lenses around this focal length – most commonly 50mm lenses – that are referred to as ‘standard’.
- Fisheye lens
Commonly used for Astrophotography but creatively elsewhere too, a fisheye lens offers a particularly wide angle of view for capturing expansive scenes. While conventional lenses are designed to be rectilinear (designed to reproduce a straight line in a scene as a straight line in the image), fisheye lenses are not corrected for this, meaning they exhibit pronounced curvilinear distortions. Fisheye lenses come in two varieties: circular, which produces a circular image on the sensor surrounding black borders; and full-frame, which fills the whole frame with the image. These are most commonly prime lenses, although zooms are also available.
- Tilt-shift lens
Also known as a Perspective-Control lens, these allow the optical configuration of the lens to be shifted and tilted relative to the film or sensor. These movements allow architectural photographers to correct an effect known as keystoning, where buildings appear to be toppling over, and it also allows the depth of field to be adjusted independently of the aperture, which is useful in landscape and product photography. Because of their construction, tilt-shift lenses lack the ability to autofocus, meaning all focus must be performed manually by the photographer.
Well, now you know about lenses, BUT WHAT TO GET?!
I will not confuse you with a lot of advice & will keep it very simple.
GET A 50mm 1.8, no matter which camera you are starting with!
Make this lens your starting point in photography. A 50mm prime lens is a simple, versatile lens and is great for all types of photography. When you become comfortable with a 50mm lens, you can think about moving to a 200mm or 300mm lens or even a fixed wide-angle lens. Using a fixed focal length lens has many benefits and can really help to improve your photography skills.
3- Tripod
Tripods can add a tremendous degree of flexibility to your photography, but purchasing the right one for your needs can sometimes be a confusing process. That's why (Again), I will keep it very simple:
The Benro Mach3 is one of my favourites. High-performance twist locks and magnesium castings make this 9X Carbon Fiber tripod ideal for indoor or outdoor photo shoots.
But I discovered, what I call "My run and gun Tripod", the K&F Concept Tripod Monopod 67" Overhead Tripod.
Really light tripod, made of High-density Aluminum Alloy, comes with a Transverse Center Column & a monopod.
That's it?!
Absolutely... That's all that you need as a beginner photographer. After more than 10 years of photography, I can assure you that if you got what I mentioned, you are good to go & get some amazing shots.
Also, it's a good base to build on.
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.
