Photography Notebook: Lenses

With interchangeable lenses, you can capture a variety of perspectives in photos. My goal in buying lenses was to cover the various focal lengths used in photography--ranging from ultra-wide angle to telephoto focal lengths. I've accomplished this with a set of lenses that give me a good basis for enjoying photography.

My Lens Summary

This chart shows the lenses I have and characteristics including their full-frame equivalent focal length (due to the cropfactor of my camera) and supplies for them.

Lens	full-frame focal length	filters	other
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM SLR	16 mm - 35 mm	77 mm UV filter CIR-PL filter IR filter ND filters Adapter Ring	hood
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR	29 mm - 88 mm	58 mm UV filter Adapter Ring	hood
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II	80 mm	52 mm UV filter CIR-PL filter	hood
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS	88 mm - 400 mm	58 mm UV filter Adapter Ring	hood

Kit Lens

The Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens usually is sold with the Rebel XSi (hence can be called the "kit" lens, that is, the lens sold with the camera "kit" itself). This is a great lens, because it gives you a way to take photos in the range of what is considered normal focal length plus dabble a bit in wide angle and telephoto at the ends of the spectrum.

At first, I thought because this lens was included with the camera it was somehow not as useful as specialized lenses that I might purchase. However, I've learned that this is an absolutely fantastic lens for many situations. As I've learned more how to use camera controls properly, I get more out of this lens.

Here is a shot I took with this Kit Lens:

I find this lens particularly useful for shots at shows.

"Nifty Two Fifty" Lens

I read great reviews of the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens, so I purchased one from Amazon.com. I was pleased in particular that this lense works so well to zoom into subjects. This lens gives very clear photos.

Here are photos of the moon taken with this lens:

I would recommend getting this nifty two-fifty lens as the first lens beyond the kit lens if you expect to take long-distance pictures.

Wide Angle Lens

I enjoy wide-angle views, and so I got a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLRs wide-angle lens.

This wide-angle lense allows me to get a whole building facade in a single shot from across the street:

"Nifty Fifty" Lens

I read raving reviews of the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens, so I purchased one from Amazon.com. I was pleased in particular that this lense works so well in low light. For a modest cost, you get a good-quality lense that you can set to very low aperture (f1.8). This allows you to create photos that have a sharp focus for your subject, then a soft blur for the background.

This lense is fixed at 50 mm focal length and is therefore termed a "prime" lens. It is an excellent lens to have.