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“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
— Aaron Siskind
— Aaron Siskind
The Do-It-All Lens
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All-in-one zooms that can cover wide-angles to telephoto
Over time, many pros build up an impressive arsenal of lenses for specialized use, but if you're just starting out, superzooms are a great way to save on cost while still being able to cover most subjects. Digital lens design has mitigated the difference in image quality between zooms and prime lenses for the most part, as well, so what are the downsides? Unlike prime focal-length lenses like a 35mm or 50mm lens or very expensive professional zooms, the aperture on a superzoom is variable. This means that at the wide end of the zoom, your minimum aperture is different than the minimum aperture on the telephoto end. That's problematic if you're shooting manually, as your aperture may change while you're moving through the zoom range, and this affects your exposure and focus.
The Canon EF 24-105mm ƒ/4L IS USM all-in-one professional zoom, for example, is available with a constant aperture of ƒ/4 through the whole range of the zoom. Lenses require very sophisticated designs and expensive optics to maintain a "constant" aperture throughout the range, so this lens is comparatively very heavy to other zoom lenses, and is also more expensive than most at $1,149.
Canon also has a number of their own affordable all-in-one zooms, including the EF-S 18-200mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS and the EF-S 18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS, as well as a Stepless Motor version of the same lens for silent autofocusing during video, the EF-S 18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS STM. (The EF-S 18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS STM is available in a kit purchase with the well-regarded Canon EOS 70D if you happen to be looking for a good prosumer camera.) The more capable EF-S 18-200mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS gains much further reach, however, with a 35mm equivalent zoom range of 29-320mm. Optical image stabilization on all three lenses provides up to four stops of shake compensation. Estimated Street Price: $499 (EF-S 18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS); $549 (EF-S 18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS STM); $699 (EF-S 18-200mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS); $1,549 (EOS 70D with 18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS STM).
The Sigma 18-250mm ƒ/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM is a popular lens thanks to its massive coverage range at an incredibly low price point. Unlike any other lens in this class, it also has macro abilities for close-up photography at a magnification ratio of 1:2.9 and a minimum focusing distance of only 13.8 inches from the front of the lens. With approximately 28-400mm of coverage in 35mm equivalence, the zoom is available for a variety of APS-C mounts, including Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma and Sony Alpha. Each weighs 1.04 pounds, with a length of 3.5 inches. Estimated Street Price: $349.