Like it’s cousin the 50mm lens, a 35mm lens is known for having excellent versatility. Use it on a full frame camera to get a standard view of a landscape. Pop one onto your crop sensor camera for a longer effective focal length for portraits.

50mm

Like the 35mm lens discussed above, the 50mm option gives you enough of a view of the surroundings to give the shot some context, but with a longer focal length, you can create a more intimate full body or half body portrait than you can with a 35mm lens.

#2: Versatility – The 35mm lens can be used for almost anything: Landscapes, portraits, travel shots, macro photography, street photography, real estate photography, product photography – just about everything.

What’s more, if you’ll be working in tight spaces, or conversely, want the ability to capture more of the scene in a single shot and have more of the background in focus, the 35mm is the way to go. On the other hand, if you want greater reach regarding focal length, a 50mm lens will serve you better.

The 85mm prime lens is well known for capturing beautiful portraits. It’s relatively light weight, fast speed and wide aperture also makes it a superb event lens. However, the 85mm is often overlooked as an effective tool in the nature photography arsenal.

The Canon 100-400mm lens is best used for wildlife and sports, although it’s also very good for photographing portraits, landscapes, and airshows. It’s designed for full frame Canon cameras, but functions perfectly with “crop” cameras too.

The best lens choices for wildlife photography

• Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 II (£1,820 // $2,000)
• Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 (£1,150 // $1,400)
• Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 (£800 // $1,000)
• Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 G2 (£1,300 // $1,400)
• Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 (£1,750 // $2,100)
• Nikon 300mm f/2.8 (£4,800 // $5,500)