How To Pick Budget Lenses
As you all know, photography is an expensive hobby. You also know, quality lenses are
required for taking quality images. The price of a lens depends on its focal length,
speed, construction, the type of glass used, and the manufacturer. All manufacturers produce
affordable lenses for beginners on a limited budget. You can buy new lenses at reasonable
prices and still get quality results. Budget lenses are not generally as fast as pro versions of the
same focal length. Professional lenses are made to withstand heavy use with better optical
quality. This is especially true with telephoto lenses. You can find a pair of 28-80mm and
70-210mm zooms for less than two hundred dollars with most manufacturers. Both zooms cover
most popular focal lengths in a pair of light and very affordable package. The quality of
these zooms depends on the manufacturer.
Camera manufacturers budget zooms cost more than
generic versions and maybe worth the extra money. This really depends on which other
models you do the comparison against. Vivitar and Phoenix for example, make very affordable zooms with
good optical performance. Lens construction may not be as good as camera manufacturer's
lower cost lenses, but optical quality is acceptable.
Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina fall in
between, both in terms of price and quality, except for their professional
models that can rival those of the camera manufacturers. Optical quality of budget zooms made by these
companies can also rival camera manufacturer's own lenses. Lens construction also matches budget lenses
made by camera manufacturer at lower prices.
Generally speaking, you get very good results
with moderate zooms made by all camera and lens manufacturers. Keep in mind that we are
talking about budget lenses. You cannot compare a 70-210mm f-4-5.6 Vivitar against a Canon
70-210mm f-2.8 L. You can however, compare zooms with identical focal length and speed.
I'll give you an example. Minolta Maxxum 100-400mm f-5.6-6.7 APO costs around seven
hundred dollars while the Phoenix 100-400mm f-5.6-6.7 costs less than three hundred
dollars. Minolta version is without any doubt a much better lens in terms of optical
quality and body construction. The Phoenix or Vivitar 100-400mm f-5.6-6.7 produce very
good results at their shorter settings, but average at 400mm. Tokina 80-400mm f-4.5-5.6 on
the other hand, can easily rival Minolta's 100-400mm while saving you two hundred dollars.
Phoenix or Vivitar 19-35mm 3.5-4.5 zoom on the other hand, is another story. Quality of
this type of zoom is very good. Minolta 20-35mm f-3.5-4.5 and Tokina 19-35mm f-3.5-4.5 are both
better built, but optically, the Phoenix and Vivitar come close, and very close when
stopped down two or three stops, while saving you between one-hundred to three hundred
dollars.
My advice is to decide which lenses you need or will need in the future. Once you
decide on the focal length, see how much you are willing to pay for a lens. Lets say you
are willing to spend $200 for a 70-210mm f-4.5-5.6 lens. The choice here shouldn't be very
difficult since most manufacturers make 70-210mm f-4.5-5.6 zooms for less than $200. In
this case, buy the best one in terms of quality and construction. Since you are already
willing to pay up to $200, don't try to save money to buy a less expensive lens and loose
quality unless you are sure a less expensive brand is equally good.
Longer telephotos are
different. Buy the best you can afford. If you can pay more for a 300mm or
400mm, either fixed or zoom, you'll see the difference in quality. If you
can't spend more, a good budget telephoto lens can produce quality results
if used properly. The good thing about modern lenses is that quality have improved while prices have gone down. It is
now possible to take good photographs with any lens. Remember, better technique is better
than any equipment.