Everyone who makes the big jump from a point-and-shoot to a SLR camera comes face-to-face with an unfortunate reality: There is no such thing as a high quality, do-everything lens. The camera powerhouses of Canon, Nikon, Olympus and the rest have yet to produce a lens that will take wide-angle shots and, with a twist of the barrel, reach out and touch someone with a deep zoom. While my trusty and rather aged Canon PowerShot A70 had a very usable 35mm – 105mm range (3x zoom), a prosumer is typically looking to double that to something along the lines of 10mm – 200mm.
Unfortunately, if a quality 20x zoom lens is out there, it’s the world’s best kept secret.
Today’s solution? Pack multiple lenses in your camera bag: Two, maybe three. But before you commit to potentially spending thousands of dollars on a set of lenses that do it all, take a moment to consider the type of photography you’re likely to undertake. In the process, you may not only save yourself a load of cash, but also realize something about the kind of photographer you’re destined to be.