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I got an email yesterday that I decided to answer with this blog entry, \u00a0so, thank you Steve! \u00a0The question was; “How do I decide on whether to buy a new lens or not? \u00a0That’s a good question and one that deserves a thorough answer!<\/p>\n
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FIRST: \u00a0Lenses are not cheap!!!!<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0They can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, or more! \u00a0Depending on your financial situation, it’s a big decision.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n SECOND: You can only carry so many<\/strong><\/span>, so it matters that what you buy, is something you will actually carry and use! \u00a0 \u00a0* Caveat: I’ve broken that rule many times myself!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THIRD Do you really need it?<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0This is a tough one becasue we often make “want” the equivalent of “need”!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, let’s consider that you have already determined that you can Afford<\/strong><\/span> it, will Carry<\/strong> <\/span>it, and really Need<\/strong> <\/span>it! \u00a0On what basis do you know you are getting a good lens? \u00a0Here are a few tips:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. \u00a0Listen to others that own the lens, or people that have tested it say.<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0I have a few sources that i trust to do real testing of lenses and I often consult them early in the hunt. \u00a0(DP Review, opticallimits.com, dxomark.com) \u00a0Lenses develop reputations and often your freinds who own a particualr lens will be a good judge of how good it is optically.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n B. How well is it constructed?<\/strong> <\/span>\u00a0After all, the lens is the most used part of your camera system and if you are a heavy user, mechancial quality will really matter down the road after years of use. \u00a0Grasp the mount end of the lens and the lens barrell and gently twsit it to see if their is much give or flex in the lens. \u00a0If there is now, new, it will likely be loosey goosey in a few months or years of hard use, avoid these lenses. \u00a0The lens body and barrell should be metal or a very high quality polycarbonite material. \u00a0The mount should always be of the best metal materials and afixed to the lens with several screws, I prefer 4 or 5 to give lateral strength.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How many aperture blades does it have and how rounded is the aperture pattern when stopped down? \u00a0This is very important to the avoiding of chances of defraction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Does the lens have quality multi-coating on it’s elements? \u00a0Does it have a lens hood?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n C. How to buy a lens.<\/strong> <\/span>\u00a0This is my advice, take it for what it’s worth. \u00a0Find a dealer that allows returns so you cna buy the lens and carefully test it before you decide to keep it or not. \u00a0Treat the lens as if your best friend loaned it to you and you intend to return it like new! \u00a0This will allow you to know if the lens is going to fulfill your needs!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n D. Once you buy your lens take good care of it.<\/strong> <\/span>\u00a0Protect it in your camera bag or backpack. \u00a0Keep it clean, but don’t over clean it, optical glass will often be fine with just a blower to get the dust off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Well that’s it, buy good lenses, use the ones that work for you and try to keep it down to a few, unlike me!!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blessings,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the pilgrim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I got an email yesterday that I decided to answer with this blog entry, \u00a0so, thank you Steve! \u00a0The question was; “How do I decide on whether to buy a new lens or not? \u00a0That’s a good question and one that deserves a thorough answer! FIRST: \u00a0Lenses are not cheap!!!! \u00a0They can range […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20522,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20520\/revisions\/20522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}