The inevitable destiny of any objective is to be attached to a camera and be happy by its side, bringing thousands of photographic stories to the world. I already know that I have a somewhat corny and too "anatomical" analogy, but the truth is that a lens does not go anywhere without its camera and vice versa. The future of photography depends on its "combination". This being the case, why have they created them separately? If a photographer is unable to take a photo with the lensless reflex camera, why not make these types of cameras directly with the lens already attached? So we shouldn't bother having to choose one, right? If you have ever had to buy a lens for your camera, you have investigated options and you have been overwhelmed by the number of lenses and alternatives there are, and you have ended up cursing this enlightened inventor who one day came up with inventing cameras and objectives separately, calm, you are about to discover the reason for this logic and how thanks to it you can get impressive photographs, practically "prohibited" for those who do not have a camera with an interchangeable lens like yours. I warn you, today's is an extensive article, so get comfortable, get your favorite drink and enjoy reading.
FIRST, YOU SURE LIKE PHOTOGRAPHY, RIGHT?
Silly question but let's just confirm it just in case. If you are reading these lines in a photography blog, that is that you love taking photos, right? And no, I did not say that you like to "contemplate" photos taken by others, or that you are a patron and dedicate yourself to acquiring photographic works made by other photographers. Nerd. I say you LOVE doing and producing photography yourself. You like to bring photos to the world. Be you the artist. You like to put the glove on a camera, lose yourself in the street with it, go home, go to the computer and start discovering those little art gems that you could "hunt": that portrait of that chubby gangster smoking a cigar while walking hurried on…CAMERAS GO, LENSES LAST
We forget about the lenses that come with the camera in the kit, ok? Those are usually very basic, they are the cheapest and the least expensive for the dealer. They include you I would say almost "gifted" for not selling you a camera with a large hole, almost almost for product aesthetics more than anything else. The real game takes place on another level, the moment you go to the store (or online) and get a "specialized" objective. When you leave the store with a good goal under your arm, you can be sure that goal will last you, if you want, a lifetime. With the camera body this would not be true anywhere. Few things in life have I seen change faster than SLR cameras. No matter how thorough you are when choosing one, No matter how "advanced" and "latest generation" you buy it, at the maximum of 2 a year, the manufacturer will launch another one on the market, much more advanced, and maybe they will even lower the price over time. Don't worry, that's a losing battle, you can't do much to remedy it except mentalize yourself, try to be happy with your camera and move on. This frustration, however, will never happen to you with a good goal. Lens technology changes too little, and when it does it is more "complementary" things. For example, they now make lenses called "silent", which basically focus automatically silently, but of course, that only impacts you if you use your camera to record professional video. They also make targets with stabilizers and the like, but no one changes a good target for this kind of "add-ons." A good target is the materials it is made of, the crystals it contains, its construction. Once you invest in a great lens, there you have it, it will be worth it for that camera, and for all the ones that the manufacturer will release in the future. Unless you decide at any given moment to switch cameras and switch from, say, Canon to Pentax, in which case it is most likely that the Canon lenses are not worth your entry for the Pentax (sometimes there are adapters that you can use but in that case let's say not), and unless the brand itself decides to make a radical change in the system with which they mount their lenses, which happens sooooo rarely or never, except in these two exceptions, your lens will be worth forever, with this camera now, the one you buy from here a couple of years and probably the one you have inside 15 years. The cameras are gone, the lenses last. except for these two exceptions, your lens will be worth you forever, with this camera now, the one you buy from here a couple of years and probably the one you have in 15 years. The cameras are gone, the lenses last. except for these two exceptions, your lens will be worth you forever, with this camera now, the one you buy from here a couple of years and probably the one you have in 15 years. The cameras are gone, the lenses last.CAMERAS ARE DEVALUED, LENSES ARE NOT
As I said in the previous section, cameras are worth less over time. At the time I bought the Nikon D60 for around 750 Euros and in fact I was lucky thinking that I had hit a bargain, and indeed it was. But this model was soon replaced on the market by the Nikon D3000, which in turn was replaced by the Nikon D3100, which after a year or two was replaced by the Nikon D3200. Do you follow me right? Every year or two, Nikon replaced that model with another, improved, more powerful, better technology and more functions. All right. If right now, at the time I write these lines, the Nikon D3400 is costing Amazon around 380 eurosHow much do you think my second-hand Nikon D60 could sell for? (It is an example, nobody separates me from that first love). Maybe it will be more profitable to treasure it more and end up selling it in about 20 or 30 years to some antique museum or something like that, because right now I don't think anyone wants to pay more than 150 euros for it. I said I paid 750 Euros for it. I do not know if you understand me I say the same thing again: tranquility, do not panic, this is perfectly normal and happens to all cameras and all models without exception. The cameras are devalued. There's no more. In contrast, a good lens never loses its economic value, or at least not as radically as is the case with cameras. A good lens like the 50mm f / 1.4 will always be worth the same. In fact, if you want to buy it second hand it is rare that you find it for a much cheaper price than new store, unless the seller is very desperate or the lens is badly damaged and has blows and things like that. (Well, I have put another wrong example again because those of us who own the 50mm f / 1.4 usually don't sell it, ever). You understand me, the idea is that a good lens is usually worth almost the same new as second-hand. What's more, there are objectives that over time have become more valuable, and not because it is precisely an object of antiquity but because they may not be manufactured anymore and their value increases due to their scarcity. Here you have an example, the scarce and difficult to get 50mm f / 1.2. Yes sir, I repeat, f / 1.2. A lens that is crystal clear, with interior mechanics and optics that are difficult to achieve in many lenses, not to mention the immense amount of light that can be captured. Its price right now, second-hand, is very high (I do not have the exact data but I saw it announced on more than one occasion) precisely because it is difficult to achieve, despite being a solely "manual" focus objective. ¿Ééééééé, I have to focus with my hand ???? Joooooo! Yes, by hand, the old-fashioned way, and still it costs $ 700 new. How do you stay And they are raffling it;). It is just an example, but the idea is that, once you hit a good target, you can buy it with the peace of mind of knowing that its value, if at any given time you wanted to sell it, is not going to be devalued too much (as long as you take care of it and pamper it yes).WHERE THERE IS A SPECIALIZED OBJECTIVE, THAT EVERYTHING ELSE IS REMOVED
Part of why I don't like compact and non-interchangeable lens cameras is that you have to work all your photos with the same lens. It doesn't matter if you want to take a portrait by day, a night landscape, photograph an insect, a river, the petals of a rose, or a motorcycle race, you will have to settle for the same lens. SLR photography, and the possibility of changing lenses, allow you to adapt the optics of your SLR camera to the moment, light, distance, perspective and photograph you want to take. The variety of lenses allows them to be "specialized" each in a specific type of photography. This is great news for the photographer who wants to photograph a portrait in a low light situation and still achieve a very bright result ...NEW GOAL, NEW ILLUSION
If you dedicate yourself to photography as a hobby, surely you will have had moments of a certain "creative inactivity", moments when you couldn't think of anything else to photograph, you felt uninspired, you didn't know where to direct the camera or what to photograph. You had nothing to transmit. Well wait, what you didn't have was a good target. I have personally experienced it and almost everyone I know with a reflex camera has passed them: the moment you access a new lens, a different one, with a very small focal length for example, or with a very generous aperture, a fisheye, a wide angle, a macro, I do not care, as soon as they put one within reach, a small spark ignites inside you. It changes your life (photographically speaking) completely. You discover a new type of photography, totally new. New doors open to you, new possibilities. You start to see a lot of "great photographs" that never occurred to you before marching past your eyes. Each new objective gives you an important shot of creativity that you would never have with a generic objective. Do you see the benefits of being able to exchange the lenses of your SLR camera? In the next article I will reveal my favorite selection of "specialized" lenses. You don't have to have all of them but I want you to at least have one or save to get one. Working all the time with the same kit lens of your camera, the 18-55mm or 18-105mm that comes standard with it has nothing to do with the photography that you can get using any of the lenses that I am going to present you in the next article. For now, I want you to do the following:- Tell me, in the comments below, what goals you have and if you have any favorites.
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- Remember to come back next week to check my list of specialized targets. You won't want to miss it
