Quality lenses are crucial for capturing great images with your DSLR camera. The DSLR kit may have given you a standard lens that provides well-performing zoom, but picking up an additional option helps elevate your shots and improve overall performance.

We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite picks for starting your lens collection. The list comprises lenses available in multiple mount options or similar iterations across brands.

The Best DSLR lenses for all Cameras Available in Kenya 2022

1. Nikon/Canon/Sony 50mm f/1.8 DSLR lenses

The 50mm F1. 8 is wonderfully compact. It transforms a larger camera like the EOS R5 into a highly portable platform.

The wide f/1.8 aperture of the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM allows you to bring your subject into sharp focus and blur the background, making the subject stand out. This lens is excellent for portraits, as people become the clear focus of your shot.

These prime lenses have excellent image quality, the 50mm focal length is ideal for most purposes, and f/1.8 is plenty fast. Additionally,  50mm f/1.8 lenses are insanely affordable, making them among the best DSLR lenses you can get.

2. Nikon/Canon/Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 DSLR lenses

Each major brand has a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, but these lenses are meant for professionals. The 24-70 lens is an excellent choice for landscape photography, shooting portraits, macro photography, and making videos. It can be used to shoot travel photos, architecture, and weddings and works for street and lifestyle photography.

This lens delivers fast, wide-angle to medium telephoto zoom capability and is optimized for edge-to-edge sharpness. Its fast, fixed f/2.8 aperture enables exceptional low-light performance and consistent exposure across the entire zoom range.

3. Nikon/Canon/Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 DSLR lenses

The 70-200mm workhorse lens should be on every photographer’s must-have list. Beloved by pro photographers and enthusiasts alike, this telephoto zoom focal range is ideal for all shooting environments. Whether you’re going for sports, wildlife, news, events, portraits, or whatever else, a 70-200mm lens is one of the best ways to ensure you can get the shot.

This lens has short, medium, and long telephoto focal lengths in one lens with a fast constant aperture giving photographers many creative options. Additionally, it allows for perspective compression and subject isolation (both by selective DOF and extended FL usage) and helps with “disconnection” between the photographer and the subjects producing gorgeous shots.

4. Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S

Those who want some serious zooming reach should take a look at the Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S. The 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM from Sigma is a telephoto zoom well-suited for sports and wildlife photography. Characterized by its bright f/2.8 constant maximum aperture, this lens excels in available light conditions and enables notable control over depth of field throughout the zoom range. 

The optical design incorporates a series of low dispersion elements, which help to significantly reduce chromatic aberrations and color fringing to realize high clarity and color accuracy. A Super Multi-Layer Coating has also been applied to control flare and ghosting for improved contrast.

5. Canon EF 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

This lens is ideal for wildlife and sports photography because its 400mm focal length enables one to get closer to the subject.

This lens’s excellent 3-mode 4-stop image stabilizer makes it easy to track subjects like animals on the move or a predatory striker in a soccer game. Coupled with the fast USM-powered autofocus, you can shoot these images instantaneously, and the motor allows manual override at any given time.

On the other hand, it’s also a good portrait lens, especially for taking candids where there will be a bit of distance between the lens and the subject. The nine diaphragm blades isolate your subject with a beautifully smooth, rounded bokeh. Additionally, it combats color distortion well, no matter the optical length, while the Air Sphere Coating reduces backlit flaring and ghosting problems.

 

Available at Snapshot Kenya