I get this question a lot. Second only to which camera should I buy? So I thought I’d share my favorite lens for those of you looking to upgrade beyond the kit lens your camera camera came with.

As far as consumer cameras go, they’ve gotten really good. Being familiar with the Canon line, I typically recommend anything from the Rebel line (like the Canon EOS Rebel T3i). They have plenty of megapixels, do really well in low light, plus a myriad of other features.

But, there’s only so much you can do with a camera. The BEST way to get better photos is to upgrade your glass, ie your lens. Better lenses have a fixed aperture setting, meaning that no matter where you zoom on the lens your aperture remains the same.

PLUS (and this is my favorite part) an f/1.8 or f/2.8 lens is more creative. The lower number means less in focus so you can focus on a small part of your photo and blur everything else. There’s also a bunch of technical reasons I can get into about how your lens is really the sharpest a couple of f-stops above its lowest, so shooting an f/1.8 lens at 3.5 is better than shooting a 3.5 lens at 3.5, etc. but we won’t get into that. Let’s go with it really is just fun to play with. Be careful though especially when photographing people – sometimes you can get one eye in focus and the other out if they are not on the same plane. 🙂

On to the lens: This is the Canon 50mm f/1.8. Its lightweight, costs about $100 and is nicknamed the “nifty fifty”. If you are looking for something slightly better, the Canon 50mm f/1.4 is the one I have in my bag. Its better built, focuses faster, and has better glass (sharper images). It usually runs about $300 so it all depends on how deep your pockets are.

Here’s a photo taken with the 50mm f/1.4 last May at Cara’s Buzz Lightyear birthday party:

5d Mark II
ISO 400
f/3.5
1/250