How many and the range of lenses should a DSLR user have?

Answer 1

As Edwin noted, the crop effect comes into play here.

Most DSLR's have sensors smaller than 35mm film, and only use the center region of the image circle created by the lens. For Canon (with the exception of the 5D and 1 Series), the crop factor is 1.6x, which means that one multiplies the focal length by 1.6 to get the *effective* focal length. Some cameras (that aren't cheap!) like the 5D or Nikon D3 use full-frame. I will quote all numbers in full-frame, so you'll need to consider the crop factor if you're on such a DSLR.

The number and range of lenses is based entirely on your shooting style, but here are some things to think about:

1) Most people would consider 24mm to 200mm as a pretty important range to cover. 24mm is a "classic" wide angle view, and 200mm is a good medium telephoto distance. A photojournalist is generally expected to be able to cover in this range.

2) The more specialized a lens is, the better it will typically perform. Thus, prime (non-zoom) lenses typically offer better image quality and have larger maximum apertures (for less money) than zooms. Zooms offer greater flexibility, but the larger the range a zoom covers, the more compromises must be made on image quality. As a rule of thumb, I've never seen a zoom where the long end was more than 5x the wide end that offered overall quality I'd consider acceptable for my work.

3. A "classic" basic PJ zoom kit would include a 24-70 f/2.8 and a 70-200 f/2.8.

4. I encourage everyone to buy at least one prime for low-light situations. 50mm primes are inexpensive, perform well optically, and make great portrait lenses *on crop cameras.*

Answer 2

The standard pro lens kit (for 35mm film) has traditionally been 20-35, 35-70, 70-200mm.

For full-frame DSLR that's still the kit to have, although the wide end has migrated to 17-35.

For small-sensor DSLRs, 10-20, 18-55 and 70-200 would be the kit.

Depending on the brand there may be some variations, so let's just say you should cover 10-200.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

One can have too many lenses but one can never have enough.

Seriously, you have to first determine what your main photographic interest is.

Sports? Very fast (f2.8 constant aperture) and long Image Stabilized zooms.

Wildlife? 300mm to 400mm or longer with a tripod.

Landscapes? Wide angle (21mm to 35mm equivalent, based on the crop factor for your camera) with a polarizer and a tripod.

Architectural? A tilt/shift lens to eliminate that "falling back" look so common when you tilt the camera up to get the whole building in the frame.

Interiors? A true rectilinear wide angle - one that doesn't cause vertical lines at the sides of the frame to "bow" - I, not )
is what you want.

Portraits? In the days of 35mm film cameras a fixed focal length between 85mm and 105mm was considered the ideal portrait lens. You'll want something fast - f1.4, f1.7 - that is the equivalent of the 85 to 105 fixed focal length.

Hope this helps with your decision.