This is for those of you who have recently purchased a new Digital SLR with the standard zoom. Presumably, you’ve been shooting with that 18-55mm or 18-70mm lens for a while. And you’ve found that there are a number of times where it just doesn’t give you what you want in the picture.

Deciding what lens to buy next is a personal choice based on needs and your preferred subject matter. The simple question to ask yourself is whether your standard zoom 1)gives you pictures where everything is so small and looks far away or 2)never seems to be wide enough to cover what you’re shooting. The answer to this question dictates whether you need a telephoto zoom or a wider angle zoom.

Simple, huh?

If you shoot a lot of landscapes, scenics, or buildings and architecture, then you should be looking at a wider zoom. A few popular focal lengths you’ll find are 12-24mm or even an 11-18mm. Don’t worry that you have some overlap in coverage between lenses.

If you tend to shoot wildlife, kids soccer and baseball, or sports in general, you’ll be wanting a longer zoom. Most people start with a 70-300mm lens and grow from there. For nature and wildlife you may want to investigate something up to 400mm or 500mm since you can’t always get physically close to your subject.

Examine what types of subjects you shoot and buy a lens (the right tool) to suit your needs. Eventually you’ll wind up like most of us, with 5 or 6 lenses to cover all the bases!