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MUST HAVE BUDGET CAMERA LENSES UNDER $200.
You wont believe what you can get for the price!
Lenses are primordial, yet numerous photography enthusiasts will in general connect mediocre zoom glasses on their camera when there are a lot of moderate quality lenses available. Here is an exhaustive list of probably the best optics that can be found under $200.
As a beginner, having a small yet deliberately chosen collection of DSLR lenses can truly enable you to improve your specialty by enabling you to try different things with various methods and styles. Furthermore, obviously, having the correct lens for the scene or subject you’re endeavoring to click will surely enable you to take better photographs.
For the individuals who are new to photography, picking and purchasing camera lenses can be befuddling and overwhelming. There are simply such a large number of brands, lens types, and focal lengths to browse, and after that obviously there’s also to be taken into consideration the fact that lenses aren’t cheap. Building a collection takes time and should be considered as an investment into your career as a photography professional.
In any case, the beneficial thing about having numerous options is that it won’t be hard to discover the best lens for you that can give you a lot of value for your money.
PRIME LENSES.
Each photo enthusiast should possess a prime lens. Dissimilar to zoom or unit lenses with variable focal lengths, a prime lens is restricted to a fixed focal length and is consummately enhanced to perform one explicit function. Since they convey most extreme execution for one explicit focal length, prime lenses can deliver superior quality pictures with ideal sharpness, clearness, and clarity, and with less visible aberrations.
Standard prime lenses are well known and a perfect lens for amateurs as a result of their fixed 50mm focal length, which offers an increasingly regular viewpoint that is nearest to that of the bare human eye. They’re likewise generally reasonably priced, making them ideal for photographers on a spending limit.
Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8.
Made for Canon DSLRs with EF mounts, this lens is comparable to the Canon 50mm f/1.8—but for less than half the price. It has a maximum aperture of f/1.8 (making it great for shooting in low-light conditions and producing a shallow depth of field) and a minimum aperture of f/22. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Pentax SMCP-DA 50mm f/1.8.
Designed to fit cameras with Pentax K mounts, the fast, lightweight, and well-built Pentax SMCP-DA 50mm f/1.8 offers great low-light capabilities, pleasing bokeh, and impressive image quality. An ideal lens for portrait photography, it has a maximum aperture of f/1.8 and a minimum aperture of f/22. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8.
If you have a more flexible budget and prefer a Canon-branded lens for your DSLR, the Canon 50mm f/1.8 is a lightweight, compact, and relatively affordable, high-performance lens that works best for portraits, action shots, and night photography. It has an 80mm effective focal length on APS-C cameras and 50mm on full-frame cameras, and it delivers amazing color balance, minimized ghosting and flare, and beautiful, creamy bokeh. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Nikon 50mm f/1.8D.
The Nikon 50mm f/1.8D is a fast prime lens that offers natural image rendering, incredible sharpness, and exceptional performance in all lighting conditions—at a highly affordable price. Compatible formats include FX, DX, FX in DX Crop Mode, and 35mm film. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
WIDE-ANGLE LENSES.
Wide-angle lenses offer a wider field of view, allowing you to squeeze in more of the scene that you’re shooting into the frame—such as in landscape or real estate photography. But even if you aren’t into shooting landscapes, adding a wide-angle lens to your collection is still a good idea. It offers a different kind of perspective than other types of DSLR lenses, thereby giving you more creative flexibility.
Regular wide-angle lenses have a focal length of 35mm or wider on DSLRs with full-frame sensors, while ultra-wide angle lenses have a focal length of 24mm or wider.
Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM.
Ultra-slim and lightweight, this wide-angle lens is a great everyday lens due to its versatility, portability, and speed. It is designed for use with Canon APS-C cameras and boasts of sophisticated optics for excellent image quality, specialized lens coating and arrangement to minimize ghosting and flare, and a stepping motor (STM) for smooth and silent autofocus. It also allows manual focus adjustment. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX.
Made for DX-format cameras, this lens is perfect for users who want something that delivers amazing performance while still being reasonably affordable. Its 35mm focal length resembles the results of a 50mm FX format lens, which offers a more natural, undistorted angle of view that is close to what is perceived by the human eye. This fast and quiet lens delivers phenomenal image quality and integrity, as well as superior color consistency. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
ZOOM LENSES.
Another staple in a photographer’s lens collection is the highly versatile zoom lens. While prime lenses have a single focal length, zoom lenses offer a wide range of focal lengths to allow for more flexibility and changes in composition. To put it simply, they are lenses that allow the user to zoom in or out on a scene.
Obviously, a zoom lens is incredibly useful for when you need to shoot from a distance. But in any case, having a zoom lens (whether it’s a wide-angle zoom, telephoto zoom, or any other type of DSLR lens with a variable focal length) in your arsenal is always a good idea, as it will provide you with more options when it comes to perspective, composition, and more.
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG.
Available for Pentax, Sony, Canon, and Nikon cameras, the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG is a telephoto zoom lens that delivers maximum performance at a very reasonable price point. It features Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass elements to minimize chromatic aberrations, fast and silent autofocus with full time manual focus override, and a macro switch to enable macro photography at focal lengths between 200mm and 300mm, with a maximum close-up magnification from 1:2.9 to 1:2. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD.
A lightweight and compact telephoto zoom lens, the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD is highly ideal for outdoor shooting—sports, nature, wildlife, and more—and is designed to function with both DSLRs and film cameras. Like the Sigma, it has a macro switch that allows for macro shooting at a focal length range of 180mm to 300mm with a maximum magnification ratio of 1:2. In addition to portability, this lens is also highly durable, has fast and accurate autofocus, and gives very sharp results. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Canon EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6.
The Canon EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 is a compact and lightweight telephoto zoom lens with a very long focal reach. It delivers amazing zoom range, sharp image quality, and pleasing bokeh. It also offers a surprisingly wide angle of view (32°) for a telephoto lens, making it suitable for landscape shots.
Affordable and easy to use, this budget Canon lens is a great choice for new photographers who are just beginning to explore other lens options apart from the kit lens. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G.
Great for portraiture, travel photography, sports or action coverage, and more, the Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G is one of the most affordable options in the telephoto zoom arena. It’s a good starter telephoto for beginners, as it is highly versatile, lightweight and compact, and relatively easy to use. It features a manual zoom ring for precise focus control, quick and reliable autofocus (supported only in DSLRs with built-in focus motors), a wide range of focal lengths, and Super Integrated Lens Coating for improved light transmission and minimized ghosting and flare. Find the latest customer reviews on Amazon and the latest price here.
Find the best cameras for under $300. We have written a article of our recommendations for you here.
Related questions.
Is 50mm wide angle?
Anything wider than 50mm (full frame) or 35mm (APS-C) is considered a wide angle lens. The smaller the number for focal length, the wider it will be, such as; 15mm which is super wide (full frame) or 10mm (specialty lens made for APS-C cameras only).
How do I create stunning portraits with my kit lenses?
When shooting portraits, it’s best to set a wide aperture (around f/2.8-f/5.6) to capture a shallow depth of field, so the background behind your subject is nicely blurred, making them stand out better.