Best Practices in Upgrading to a High-End 4K Camera Lens

8 Things to Consider Before Buying Next Lens for 4K Camera

Max Wales

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Lenses play one of the most essential roles in the world of 4K cameras. If you pick a good one then it can bring magical results and once you fail to choose the right lens, you will suffer with losses for each shot. You will find several professionals that prefer to use only kit lenses with their DSLR cameras but those who need to buy it from market, face a great difficulty in selection. Actually, market is loaded with several designs and every lens is designed to serve different needs. If you are also facing some trouble in selection then you are at right place because the article below will help you to get detailed information about how to choose perfect lens for your 4K camera.

8 Things to Consider Before Buying 4K Camera Lens

1. Plan Your Budget

How much you want to spend- this makes the biggest difference. Because camera lenses are available in variable price ranges with different features so you need to plan a budget that fits your needs. Market is loaded with cheap, mid range and high end camera lenses so you can easily find one within your budget range. But note that if you spend more, you will naturally ensure better results without making any compromise for quality.

2. Capacity Matters: Full Frame or APS-C

When we talk about capacity of camera lens then two terms comes into consideration: Whether to go for an APS-C lens or spend on Full Frame design. This selection becomes more confusing for beginners. Both of these fits perfectly to all 4K camera models but the biggest benefit of buying APS-C lens is that it use to be light in weight with its compact size whereas the full frame lenses are large enough; they are going to add little weight to your bag. Not to forget that the full frame lenses are costly option.

3. Type of Lens that suits your needs

One important parameter for selection of camera lenses is their focal range; this configuration can make great difference in picture quality. Below are few details about 6 most commonly used lens types:

Ultra Wide:

Lenses that have focal length equal to or less than 24mm are known as Ultra wide lenses. They are capable enough to capture larger view from scene but here also you can have two options for selection: fisheye to get curved details and rectilinear to maintain straight lines. Ultra wide lenses fall in the category of professional lenses and they are commonly used to capture interior details, architectures and landscapes. Professionals have tricks to get positive results even from the noise produced by fisheye lenses.

Wide Angle:

The focal length range between 24mm to 35mm makes wide angle lenses. The prime as well as zoom lenses, both are designed with wide angle focus and you can also have an option to get variable aperture ranges or choose the fixed one. Wide angle lenses usually create more loses but professionals can maintain artistic quality from this noise too. These lenses can be used to capture buildings, landscapes and allow better focus on large gatherings. Many professionals love to capture portraits with wide angle lenses.

Standard/ Normal:

The standard zoom lenses generally come with a wide focal length range that varies between 35 mm to 70 mm whereas photographers call prime lenses with 50mm focal length as normal ones. It is observed to receive faster maximum aperture setting from normal prime lenses and it assists in low light shooting while maintaining shallow field depth. You will find them useful for capturing documentaries, portraits, landscapes and beautiful views from streets. You will definitely find difference in image characteristics with standard and normal selection.

Telephoto:

When focal length value goes up to 70mm then it comes in the category of Telephoto lenses. However, many professionals believe that a lens with 135mm focal length is a true Telephoto lens. If you want to get specific details from distant subjects then telephoto lenses can help you to maintain narrower field of view. It means you will avail scenes with blurred background where specific subjects will have more focus. The best idea is to use them for wildlife photography and you can also use them to capture portraits.

Superzoom:

The superzoom lenses offer focal length variations between wide to telephoto so you can find them more useful for variable focal length needs- they can serve you without the trouble of changing lens again and again to maintain different focal length. So, they are better known as do it all lenses that offer slower yet variable maximum aperture range. You will find them more useful for your tours when you really don’t want to make your luggage heavier with multiple lenses.

Macro:

These lenses come in the category of special lenses and they ensure reproduction ratios higher than 1:1. This is the best choice for extreme close up type photography as you will get focal length range somewhere between 40 to 200mm. These lenses offer extreme sharpness in details while maintaining very small depth of field for close-up shots. They are perfect choice for portraits or close up photography needs as they offer impressive focal length range with stunning sharpness.

4. Zoom or Prime: Each has Unique Features

When we talk about zoom lenses, they make things convenient by allowing zoom between wide angles to telephoto level; so you need not to use multiple lenses. This can be suitable choice for landscape photography. On the other side, Prime lenses offer wide aperture ranges while ensuring higher image quality. Those who need a lens for their landscape photography needs will definitely find the zoom lenses more useful with an option to shoot with f/8, f/16 and f/11 with trouble free settings but wide aperture applications demand Prime collection.

5. Weight and Size: They make a big difference

Indeed, this is an important consideration, especially if you are a regular traveller and do not want to carry heavy luggage. It is always good to pick something with light weight whereas on the other side, size makes you think about filters. If you are in need of buying filters for your landscape photography needs then probably you can save more by spending upon small size lenses, and they will maintain the image quality too.

6. Weather Proof and Design Quality

Market is loaded with wide range of lenses that falls between inexpensive to high end classes. If you decide to go for an inexpensive option then you may have to make little compromise for autofocus and at the same time the expensive ones can maintain great image quality even in rough weather conditions. If you usually capture photos in dusty or bad weather conditions then you may need to spend more to get a weather proof lens with great build quality. The speed as well as quality of autofocus uses to vary with price range of 4k camera lenses.

7. Image Stabilization: Important consideration for Professionals

Cameras that offer image stabilization use to have a motor inside lens that helps to compensate for shakes in footage. Many brands call this feature by the name: Vibration reduction. The biggest benefit of having a camera with image stabilizer is that it can maintain great picture details even with low light conditions while working at small aperture ranges or lower ISO settings. Note that, cost of image stabilizer type lenses uses to be more as compared to those without image stabilizer. So you can plan for your budget accordingly, however, this feature is more useful for professional photographers or for those who want to capture scenes on the go.

8. Whether to go for big brands or third Party?

Some of you may plan to save money by simply buying a third party lens but the best suggestion is to spend on branded lenses or simply the lenses offered by your camera manufacturer. The third party lens can be a choice when you do not get desired lens settings from your manufacturer. Note that, the picture quality, auto focus performance and crispness ensured by branded lenses are definitely superior. So, if you are in a condition to spend enough then it is good to order your lens from trusted brands that suit your camera.

Conclusion

With all above options, photographers have huge freedom to maintain great quality for footage. Each lens design offers its own advantage with variable features so the basic idea for selection is to check your need and budget range. If you are a professional then there is no point of making compromise for quality.

Max Wales

Max Wales is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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