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Track 3 · Which camera2 min read

LESSON 14

Lenses for a first kit

Most cameras come with one zoom. Two or three lenses to start, and what each is for.

A FIRST KIT · SEEN FROM THE SIDE

Three lenses side by side: a short kit zoom, a small fast prime and a long zoom.

The kit lens

The lens sold with the body is usually an inexpensive zoom from medium wide angle to short telephoto. It covers a lot, but it is slow, with a high f-number, so it struggles in dim light and blurs a background only a little.

A fast prime

A prime has one focal length. Because it is simpler, it is often sharper, brighter, lighter and smaller than a zoom. A 50 mm f/1.8 is an inexpensive fast lens on full frame; on APS-C a 35 mm frames about the same.

What fast means

A fast lens has a small minimum f-number. It lets you use a faster shutter in the same light, and it gives more control over background blur, which is why portrait, sport and news photographers want one.

A long zoom, later

Add a longer zoom when your subjects are far away: sport, wildlife, the stage. Every zoom trades some sharpness, weight, size and aperture for its range, so buy the range you need rather than the biggest number.

Try it today

  1. 01Set your zoom to about 50 mm full-frame equivalent and tape the ring.
  2. 02Shoot a whole day without zooming.
  3. 03Walk closer or further instead.
  4. 04Note each frame where you wanted wider or longer.
  5. 05Let that list choose your next lens.

Figures from Wikipedia, 'Kit lens', 'Prime lens', 'Lens speed' and 'Zoom lens', read 2026.10.16. 'About the same' for 35 mm on APS-C is 35 mm × 1.5 crop factor, 52.5 mm. The steps under Try it today are working practice, not a standard.