I think most photographers have a favorite lens – and that they keep that lens on their camera almost all the time. I would say that I am a fan of my Canon 50mm f/1.2 (although that lens is my only Canon lens right now). It is on my camera 100% of the time. For my Nikons I find that I use my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 80% of the time and only change it when there is a need for a different lens.

So I decided to ask photographers on Twitter and Facebook what their favorite lenses were and here are some of the responses:

• favorite lens is the Canon 24-70 f2.8L USM. It is pretty much glued to my camera body.
• I love my 70-200 2.8 IS.. I love the depth of field I can get with it &I love the crisp photos it creates. I use it 50%
• My 85 1.8 is my favorite, but it’s my least used since it’s not practical for my usual applications. 28-75 2.8 is most used
• Canon 28 2.8 (I’m on a crop sensor) is on my camera 60% of the time.
• I use my 50mm 1.8 the most. Want to replace it soon though, it’s getting old..
• Great question. My favorite lens is my 35/2 Leica, but I don’t use it the most. The lens that gets used the most is the 24-70 on the D3.
• 24-70 2.8 %95 of the time

Recently I received an email asking which lens to buy – and they were comparing a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Canon 24-105mm f/4 IS. They like the functionality of the IS (image stabilization) but they also like the f/2.8 of the other lens. (hey Nikon and Canon – when are you going to build a lens that is 24-70mm with f/2.8 AND VR or IS?)

My recommendation was to buy BOTH! Actually I am joking. I recommended he try them out first and then decide from his experience which lens he could buy. I recommended he check out http://borrowlenses.com. For about $100 he could rent both lenses for a week and see which lens he liked more.

There are so many types of lenses out there – and lenses that meet the different needs and budgets for each photographer. And I would highly recommend renting or borrowing a lens to try it out before you buy. There is nothing worse than buying a lens and then never using it. I have one or two that just stay in my camera bag.

Me? I will go for aperture over VR or IS. It isn’t just photographing in low light – it is creating the magic blur behind the subject and you really can only do that with a wide open aperture.

Maybe I should write my next post on which lenses you should consider…

I love camera equipment. And yes, it probably borders the line of do I need it or do I want it. There have been plenty of times where I have not thought long term when I purchased a new piece of equipment. And I end up buying something that gets replaced by something shinier and newer at a later date.

I bought the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 lens and then a few months later I bought the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens and the 24mm sat on the shelf or at the bottom of the camera bag for several years. I think that might happen to a lot of people who invest in hobbies. We buy with what we can afford only to replace it a short time later with something better. It would have been better financially to have waited and bought the nicer item.

Nikkor f/2.8 24mm lens

Looking at my 50mm lenses. I have purchased one at f/1.8, f/1.4, and f/1.2. Each one got more expensive and each one was better than the previous model. And had I just saved up money for the high end model I wouldn’t have spent $600 on the lower end models. Yes, I can sell the low end models but we end up taking a little bit of a loss when we do.

And then there is the baby step model. Maybe we shouldn’t buy the most expensive lens until we are ready. We can always rent the lens and see what we need. There is nothing wrong with the kit lens and we can try lenses before we buy. And let your need determine your purchase – not just your want.

Hopefully this website will give more insight into what works and where you can invest your money – as a hobby or as a profession.

And if you want to find this lens new you can check it out at Amazon.com.