How To Buy A Telephoto Zoom Lens

A telephoto zoom lens is my favorite piece of glass.

How to buy a telephoto zoom lens. It s the go to telephoto zoom for most professional photographers but which models are the best buys. A lens with a focal length above 200 mm is s a super telephoto lens. You can find both prime lenses and zoom lenses within the range of 200 mm and above. Before we let you in on the secrets of using these long lenses we ll first discuss a couple of basics. A super telephoto is a lens that exceeds that range.

When it comes to classy lenses the 70 200mm f 2 8 is in a class of its own. What is a telephoto lens. What is the best 70 200mm lens. A normal focal length is known to be. Like your standard kit zoom this is likely to be an f3 5 5 6 variable aperture lens.

You can even buy a telephoto lens for iphone. A standard zoom is a general purpose lens that covers a range of focal lengths from wideangle to moderate telephoto. Personally my favourite telephoto lens is a zoom lens. I ve used both primes and zooms but i can t give up the flexibility of a zoom. A 200mm telephoto lens turns into a 300mm lens on a nikon d40.

There are things you need to be aware of when using a super telephoto lens. For example the canon ef 400mm f 5 6l prime lens and the nikon af s fx nikkor 200 500mm f 5 6e. Typically the maximum zoom power you ll find in an interchangeable lens is around 10x but comparing a dslr or mirrorless camera to a point and shoot isn t really fair. Anything over 70 mm is a telephoto. Over the years i ve photographed with canon nikon and sigma telephoto zoom lens.

The most obvious example is the kit lens that comes with the camera generally an 18 55mm f3 5 5 6 for aps c but this can be upgraded to something with slightly more range and better optical quality or with a fast f2 8 maximum. This telephoto zoom lens for micro four thirds mft system cameras provides an angle of view equivalent to an 80 300mm lens used on a 35mm format camera and sports a constant f 2 8 maximum. Likewise canon s 70 300mm f 4 5 6 is lens one of my all time favorites becomes a 112 480mm zoom on a canon digital rebel xti. We round up the best telephoto zoom lenses on the market today. As a nikon user i use the nikkor 200 400mm f 4 vr ii lens.