So, you’ve bought a camera. Go on, click photos of the places you’ve always loved to visit! The Landscapes, Beaches, Tajmahal, your son’s cricket match! But wait. What was the last one? The cricket match. That’s gonna be tricky. Especially if you can’t zoom in on your son hitting that sweep shot and neither can you get a close shot without getting punched in the face by your son’s coach!

Don’t worry though; a simple change of lenses will help you get that shot. You just have to figure out your requirements as a photographer before even thinking of buying one. For shots like the one described above, a telephoto lens would work just fine for you. Even a zoom lens would work well if you’re in the front few rows.

So, a major part of your decision should be affected by the type of photography you want to do. There are a number of pros and cons to any given lens in the given setting. A telephoto is great for outdoor shooting but no one can get a good shot in a party with it! Similarly, while checking out the aperture, think about the lighting you are going to be shooting in. If it’s really low, you need a high aperture, somewhere on the lines of f/1.8 but if the lighting is normal, you should do fine with an f/4. If you want a blurred background in your picture, the highest aperture is the way to go.

You should also keep in mind the range of focal length that you want to be working with. Aperture and focal length are the main factors involved in the pricing of a lens. The cheapest lens you’ll get will have unchangeable focal length and a maximum aperture of f/5.6., but you wouldn’t want that would you?

Also, there is a load of other stuff that’ll send the price of your lens sky rocketing, like image stabilization, crop reduction, noise reduction etc but you can decide if you want those features or not. Image stabilization won’t really help you if your hand is shaky or the subject moves, but on the other hand will reduce blurs if you’re working with low shutter speed and no tripod.

All said and done, you still have to decide what your priorities are when shooting. As for the buying of a new lens, think carefully because a wrong choice can burn a humongous hole in your pocket!