What lens to buy ?

We were packing boxes and carrying them from our home office into our new office. It was a lot of packing and sorting, looking at old stuff and deciding if it was a memory or just old stuff that we can throw away. „What about this?“ Conrad said to me showing me an old 50mm 1,8 lens that was broken and the two separate parts were just put back into each other. „This is trash isn’t?“ My eyes widened. „No, of course not ! This lens is my first prime lens, broken or not this was the first decision in going into a professional direction. It was the first lens that changed my way of taking portraits and it was the first lens that opened a whole new world full of photography possibilities to me. I was able to shoot in the dark and to seperate my model from the background – this is not trash this is the beginning of this business.“ A little bit to dramatic, yes sure I can be dramatic and I have a serious problem of throwing things away that I feel attached to but the essence was true – it was my first prime lens.

I often get emails from photographers asking me what to buy next or what gear I am using and I feel honoured to receive those emails. So this is the first posts that answers a photography question

“ Hi Jennifer, I am a passionate hobby photographer and I would like to get my photography to the next level. I already have a camera and a 24-105 lens. Can you give me any recommendation on what I should buy next to get better ? “

Dear hobby photographer, starting photographer, mamarazzi or passionate father who wants to capture his children better,

Thank you so much for your email. Knowing what to buy next is always a hard questions, the choices are big. Start simple. I would recommend buying a prime lens first. The 50mm 1,8 is a great start to learn how to work with a prime lens (as you cannot zoom anymore so you will have to move) and to see how much more depth of field and light you can capture with an aperture of 1,8. You will be able to photograph inside darker rooms without using the flash and you will be able to get crystal clear pictures and sharp eyes. This lens costs around 100,- Euros so it is very affordable to. Start from here, less is more and once you have your first prime lens you will know if you like it and want to take the next step in you photography adventure.

Here is a picture from one of my first weddings back from 2009. Both images were taken with the Canon 50mm 1,8 – two minutes later I fell over my own feet and the lens broke. I shot 90% of this wedding with my second lens the 85mm 1,8 but that is another story.

I would love to answer more of your questions. Just shoot me an email or comment in the comments below.

The broken lens.