But which lenses do you need? Cameras are often sold with what’s known as a “kit lens.” These lenses tend to be lower quality, but are also a cheap way to get started. Most kit lenses are zoom lenses spanning the 35-mm to 80-mm range. I recommend beginners start with a kit lens if there’s one available for the camera you’ve got your eye on. After you’ve shot with the kit lens for a while, you’ll have a better feel for which focal lengths you like.
Lenses are generally divided into three basic categories: wide-angle lenses (anything from 12 mm up to 35 mm), “normal” lenses (anything from about 40 mm to 65 mm), and telephoto lenses (anything longer than 80 mm). There are also two types of lenses: zoom lenses, where the focal length changes, and prime lenses, where the focal length is fixed. Both have their place. Zooms offer more versatility, but usually have a larger f-stop, which means less depth of field and worse low-light performance. Prime lenses are faster, meaning you can shoot wide open for that sweet, sweet bokeh, but are less versatile.
I should note that technically, you can adapt lenses from one manufacturer to another, but you often lose autofocus or spend considerable sums on expensive adapters, and the experience of using a Canon lens on a Nikon body isn’t nearly as nice as a native lens.
Bags, Cards, and Accessories
When you’ve made your camera decision, don’t forget to protect your new investment. We have a guide to our favorite camera bags and straps, but whatever you do, get some padding around your new baby. You’ll also want to pick up a memory card. These days that usually means an SD card or CFexpress card, whichever your camera uses. How fast of a card do you need? We have a whole guide to answer that question. I like these Lexar SD Cards and have been using them for about a decade now. For CFexpress, I like Sony’s cards.
Now, Go Take Pictures
If you made it this far, hopefully you’ve come to some kind of decision about your ideal camera. Buy it, learn to use it, and then stop reading articles like this. It’s not the camera that matters. No one cares what laptop I wrote this on, but for some reason, everyone cares which camera you’re using. Forget all that now that you have the best camera for you.
Go shoot with your new camera. Make images. Make good images. Make bad images. Learn from both, make better images, and keep shooting. Look at photo books by the masters of the form, spend your time on the three keys to great photographs—light, composition, and timing—and don’t worry so much about the camera.