As a professional photographer I often get asked by hobby photographers, "What lens should I buy next?"


What lens should I buy next?

Most Kit lenses supplied with camera bodies are generally pretty rubbish and unless you are going to go for the expensive Canon L-series lenses or Nikon Pro level stuff the glass is always going to be the weakest part of the system.

So if you are looking for some great quality glass that will not cost the earth and also help you progress with you photography what should you buy? Well the simple answer is a 50mm prime lens. (Assuming you don't have one already!)





Nikon' r1.8 50mm



 The Canon 50mm comes in at around £80 with the Nikon version being around £100.
So why would I recommend these?

1. They are cheap and very lightweight
2. With only 2 elements they are about as sharp as you can get
3. With the being f1.8 they allow you to experiment and learn about depth of field
4. Because there is no zoom they force you to move and orientate yourself around the subject

I obviously understand that there are many other manufacturers apart from Nikon and Canon although due to the simple nature of these lenses they should all be pretty cheap.

Happy Snapping.
A few examples of my 50mm shots are here: http://dougjacksonphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/r1200gs-adventure-wallpaper.html