Videos

Nigel Danson argues a telephoto, such as his 70-200mm, is the easiest route to stronger landscape composition. Shots from Rydal Water, the Faroes and San Francisco show how zooming to 150mm simplifies busy scenes, isolates mountain layers, adds scale via distant figures and leaves misty islands to the imagination.

Gavin Hoey accepts Mark Wallace's challenge to shoot a day with one prime, swapping his 12-40mm for an Olympus 12mm f/2 (24mm equivalent) around Brighton. He revives hyperfocal focusing at f/11, uses the silent shutter for street shots, enjoys its lightness, and tests f/2 at the pier at dusk.

Lindsay Adler grabs the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 on an EOS R5 for three quarters of her fashion work: studio shoots at f/8 or f/11 with moving subjects leave fast primes little advantage, while the zoom covers full-length, three-quarter and tight crops. She demonstrates a one-light comp card setup.

Pye Jirsa of SLR Lounge recommends primes after the 24-70 and 70-200, choosing either a 24mm or 35mm depending on other lenses owned, then a 50mm and 85mm. Portraits at 1/200, f/1.4 and ISO 50 show wide primes' depth and separation, while the 50mm needs fifteen feet of room.

Mark Wallace, with Natasha in a cramped studio, uses a Canon 5D and 24-105mm to debunk the myth wide angles distort faces: cropped 24mm and telephoto shots from one spot match, while filling the frame at 24mm enlarges her outstretched hand, so he advises stepping back and zooming in.

Mark Wallace opens a two-part guide to portrait lenses, contrasting wide street lenses with long studio lenses. He quantifies field of view (82 degrees at 21mm, 10 at 200mm), uses mannequins to show distance, not focal length, enlarges near objects, and compares a coffee creamer across lenses and apertures.

Vanessa Joy compares Canon's 50mm f/1.2 and f/1.8 on a 1DX Mark III, shooting a model at ISO 200, f/1.8 and 1/60. Raw files in Lightroom show marginally better clarity from the f/1.2, so the cheaper lens suits a first prime, the f/1.2 earning its price in low-light focusing.

Mark Newton of The School of Photography pits the £100 plastic Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM against the £385 metal-bodied f/1.4, shooting unedited at ISO 100 with hoods on. Tests of colour, contrast, sharpness, bokeh and chromatic aberration reveal slight green fringing on the f/1.4 that the cheaper lens avoids.

Paul Heimlund gets more from a Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM: reversing it for macro via reverse ring, lens whacking for dreaminess, shooting products and portraits wide open for a cinematic blur kit lenses cannot match, adding an ND filter for sunny video, and noting its 80mm equivalent on APS-C.

Paul from Photo Genius decodes lens names like Nikon's 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G DX VR, diagrams focal length and field of view, and recommends by genre: Sigma 8-16mm and 12-24mm wide angles for landscapes, and Canon 55-250mm and Nikon 70-300mm telephotos for sport and wildlife, plus a monopod against shake.