What Lenses Fit My Camera

Digital Photographic camera Lens Ownership Guide - 2022

31 January 2022

With its seemingly limitless range of options, the earth of interchangeable lenses is exciting for any photographer to enter. Understandably, a digital camera lens is i of the near important purchases yous'll make on your photography journey.

To make your next lens purchase as stress-free and successful as possible, we've put together the ultimate guide to buying a camera lens. From central terms to lens types, read on for all the information you need to buy the right lens for you.

First things first - will this lens fit my camera?

Picture this: You've got a new camera that you dear, and are starting to develop specialty skills in a specific type of photography, whether this is macro, landscape, aerial, or astronomy. Yous're interested in broadening your tool kit with a new lens, but don't know where to start.

To brainstorm, it'due south essential to understand which lenses are compatible with your camera. This varies betwixt brands.

Brands such every bit Canon and Nikon have a few different lens mounts, including those for their mirrorless and DSLR camera offerings. Within these mounts, in that location are sure lenses that are only uniform with sure models (Full-Frame or Crop Sensor).

Other brands, such as Panasonic and Olympus, currently operate using a 4 Thirds or Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system for which all MFT lenses will be suitable.

Manufacturers provide this essential compatibility information using a selection of messages or acronyms, the meanings of which are provided below.

Lens Mounts

The Lens Mount is the nigh bones piece of information that yous need to know when ownership a new camera lens. The brand and mountain of a DSLR or mirrorless camera determine which lenses will be compatible with information technology.

With the exception of Panasonic and Olympus and their Four Thirds and MFT mounts, lenses from one mount cannot physically be mounted directly onto a camera with a dissimilar mount.

Total frame or ingather sensor?

Manufacturers use the following acronyms to depict if a lens is designed for use on full frame or ingather sensor models.

Canon and Nikon total frame lenses can be mounted on crop sensor cameras of the same brand, only crop sensor lenses cannot be mounted on full frame cameras. Similarly, Sony full frame lenses can be mounted on crop sensor mirrorless cameras, though Sony crop sensor lenses cannot exist used on total frame mirrorless cameras.

Digital SLR:

Third Party Brands:

Mirrorless:

What do all those other numbers and letters mean?

Once you have a basic understanding of which lenses will mount and function on your camera, the adjacent question is: How do yous decipher all of the other jargon and choose which lens is the perfect fit for your style of shooting?

Focal Length

The Focal Length is the offset number provided in the name of a lens. Information technology is used to describe the field of view that the lens will provide when mounted on your photographic camera.

For zoom lenses, the Focal Length will include ii numbers equally the lens can zoom betwixt two focal lengths using all fields of view in between (e.g. 18-55mm or 70-300mm). Prime lenses offering no zoom and therefore take Focal Lengths of just one number (due east.g. 35mm or 50mm).

Lenses with a smaller Focal Length offering a wider field of view, while a larger Focal Length results in a more magnified epitome. Although the Focal Length of a lens in part determines the blazon of photography information technology suits all-time, this is also dependent on the camera it is mounted to. For example, a larger lens Focal Length will result in a smaller field of view when mounted on a ingather sensor camerathan when mounted on a total frame photographic camera.

Discontinuity

The aperture is usually the 2nd number in the name of a lens, and is also referred to as an F-end. In curt, the F-stop tells y'all the maximum lens aperture, with this key specification reflecting how much light the lens is capable of gathering. Lenses with a larger maximum aperture let in more light, which is desired for shooting in low-light conditions. A larger aperture also allows for shallower depths of field, enabling dramatic images with a sharply focused foreground and blurred groundwork.

Now for the tricky function. A smaller number indicates a larger aperture and faster shutter speed. For case, an f1.4 lens is considered very fast and lets in plenty of light, whereas an f2.8 lens is a slower lens that lets in less light.

To further complicate things, zoom lenses sometimes feature a varying maximum aperture (ie. Nikon AF-S eighteen-55mm f3.v-5.half-dozen).

When considering lens apertures, remember that the maximum aperture of a lens can be displayed in various means that all mean the same affair. For example, the following notations all bespeak an F-stop of 1.4: f/1.iv, F1.4, or one:one.4.

Image Stabilisation

In the digital age, image stabilisation has become a highly sought-afterward feature in camera equipment. Some cameras come up out of the box with in-congenital optical epitome stabilisation, while others require you to purchase a stabilised lens. While this is adequately straightforward, information technology's important to know that different brands refer to image stabilisation applied science using different terms, as set out below.

Autofocus

With the exception of select offerings from a few high-end brands, almost modern lenses offer autofocus abilities of some type. Also known as 'AF lenses', autofocus lenses enable you to simply point and shoot your camera and get a perfectly focused shot with minimal aligning. Equally with image stabilisation, different brands refer to AF features using different acronyms, which are given beneath.

Notably, some entry-level Nikon DSLRs do not characteristic congenital-in AF motors, and instead rely on the motors contained in AF lenses. For these models, we recommend using a Nikon AF-P or AF-S lens.

Focus on finding the right lens for your camera

The right camera lens tin can completely transform your photography practice and open upwardly a new range of possibilities for your camera.

Don't forget to check out this blog, for further reading on choosing the right lens to accept your photography to the next level. Our brand-specific lens guides are too available to aid y'all finalise your next lens purchase.

Set to put your new noesis to utilize? Explore our range of digital camera lenses now, or head to your nearest Ted's Cameras store to get advice from a friendly member of our team.

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