Support for the Kit Lens

[Robert Watcher]

If we were just to listen to what is stated on the web - - - the kit lens is simply something that comes with the camera kit and is to be used sparingly (if ever) until a person can afford a prime lens or a fast and expensive f2.8 zoom.

And because of that reasoning, no pro or serious photographer would ever use a kit lens. Right?

Different times it has been assumed that I must be using a "pro" caliber lens with images that I post on the forum. I know because I sometimes get pm's and emails asking what lens I used for a particular shot. My response is invariably that I have taken the shot with the kit lens that came with my camera (if that was the case).

Here is a pic that I selected to prove how useful and valuable a kit lens can be. It is not necessarily the best shot I could take - but a general style of snapshot that many persons might be really proud of if they took it. This shot was taken using the first generation (noisy and loose feeling) 14-42 kit lens that came with my Olympus E-PL1 - when I bought it a couple of years ago.

This is a file that has obviously been processed to look good on the web. And that's how most people who worry about the lens they use, will be displaying their photographs. However I have regularly printed shots taken with the kit lens to 13x19 inch, 20x30 inch and even bigger sizes, and they look even better (a real print always looks better than a web image in my view).

Olympus E-PL1 w 14-42mm kit lens (14mm) : f7.1 @ 1/200'th @ 200 ISO

Really for anyone holding back because they feel ill-equipped - - why not get out and shoot with your kit lens if that is all you have in a particular focal length range - or if you aren't in a situation where you want to lug around a big lens - or shooting where it is more practical to have a zoom lens instead of one prime or having to change several primes to get what you want. I know there are such people out there .

Experience and skill with lesser gear can often trump inexperience and the best of gear (there are exceptions of course). Experience and skill comes from shooting - and shooting lots. Not just the shooting though as digital capture also requires experience and skill with processing of the files so they look their best.


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[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Rob.

If we were just to listen to what is stated on the web - - - the kit lens is simply something that comes with the camera kit and is to be used sparingly (if ever) until a person can afford a prime lens or a fast and expensive f2.8 zoom.

And because of that reasoning, no pro or serious photographer would ever use a kit lens. Right?

Different times it has been assumed that I must be using a "pro" caliber lens with images that I post on the forum. I know because I sometimes get pm's and emails asking what lens I used for a particular shot. My response is invariably that I have taken the shot with the kit lens that came with my camera (if that was the case).

Here is a pic that I selected to prove how useful and valuable a kit lens can be. It is not necessarily the best shot I could take - but a general style of snapshot that many persons might be really proud of if they took it. This shot was taken using the first generation (noisy and loose feeling) 14-42 kit lens that came with my Olympus E-PL1 - when I bought it a couple of years ago.

This is a file that has obviously been processed to look good on the web. And that's how most people who worry about the lens they use, will be displaying their photographs. However I have regularly printed shots taken with the kit lens to 13x19 inch, 20x30 inch and even bigger sizes, and they look even better (a real print always looks better than a web image in my view).

Olympus E-PL1 w 14-42mm kit lens (14mm) : f7.1 @ 1/200'th @ 200 ISO

Really for anyone holding back because they feel ill-equipped - - why not get out and shoot with your kit lens if that is all you have in a particular focal length range - or if you aren't in a situation where you want to lug around a big lens - or shooting where it is more practical to have a zoom lens instead of one prime or having to change several primes to get what you want. I know there are such people out there .

Experience and skill with lesser gear can often trump inexperience and the best of gear (there are exceptions of course). Experience and skill comes from shooting - and shooting lots. Not just the shooting though as digital capture also requires experience and skill with processing of the files so they look their best.

All well said.

And a beautiful shot.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Asher Kelman]

Rob,

I too have been guilt of eschewing even the Canon 24-105L IS because it "cannot be as good as primes". In fact, I've been blown away by my success rate and the reality that getting the picture in the frame is far more important than getting the best pixels. Mostly it's the identit, essencey and gesture of what we photograph that's critical, not micro-detail. so yes, we could do with being less snobby.

Having said that, for detail rich scenes where one wants to enlarge to the limits, prime lenses often win out. Still, in practice, few ever face such obsessional needs!

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Asher,

I too have been guilt of eschewing even the Canon 24-105L IS because it "cannot be as good as primes".

The Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS USM is my favorite lens. Will Thompson provoked me into buying it (well, it was actually a gift from Carla), and I have been forever grateful.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Antonio Correia]

This topic makes me wonder about the kit lens of the Panasonic GX7, the Vario 14-42 with changing aperture as it zooms. Brrrrr !!!!

 

[Robert Watcher]

This topic makes me wonder about the kit lens of the Panasonic GX7, the Vario 14-42 with changing aperture as it zooms. Brrrrr !!!!

Aperture doesn't change after f5.6 with that lens. right? From there on it's constant at all focal length settings.

Then again, I always use auto exposure, so even if using a wider aperture with a wider focal length - none of the variable aperture thing matters - the camera figures it out for me. Some people prefer to shoot manually, so variable aperture may be a challenge for them in certain scenarios.

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[Michael Nagel]

The kit lens is usually not that bad here the smc PENTAX-DA 1:3.5-5.6 18-135mm ED AL [IF] DC WR - what a long name, on the K-3:

Blaugrüne Mosaikjungfer - männlich​

Best regards,
Michael

 

[Asher Kelman]

The kit lens is usually not that bad here the smc PENTAX-DA 1:3.5-5.6 18-135mm ED AL [IF] DC WR - what a long name, on the K-3:

Blaugrüne Mosaikjungfer - männlich​

Best regards,
Michael

Michael,

Influenced a lot by Klaus and also your pictures, I've become more interested in macro shots. This is a splendid and most efficient hunter and your picture nicely fills the frame. Do you use a macro ring or is this just able to focus this close?

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

As to "kit lenses" it used to be that one got the 50mm with most Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Olympus or Minolta cameras and people would think they now needed to go out and hunt for a must-have zoom. Actually the 50mm was almost always the better lens optically - 3 overlapping shots for landscapes and two for indoors and then perfect for people shots for events or weddings and even for portraits.

For years I only used one lens, the 50mm 1.4 Super Multicoated Takamur on my Pentax Spotmatic.

Why the 50mm went out of fashion, I don't know, but zooms seem to have taken over as the "kit lens".

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

If we were just to listen to what is stated on the web - - - the kit lens is simply something that comes with the camera kit and is to be used sparingly (if ever) until a person can afford a prime lens or a fast and expensive f2.8 zoom.

And because of that reasoning, no pro or serious photographer would ever use a kit lens. Right?

Different times it has been assumed that I must be using a "pro" caliber lens with images that I post on the forum. I know because I sometimes get pm's and emails asking what lens I used for a particular shot. My response is invariably that I have taken the shot with the kit lens that came with my camera (if that was the case).

Here is a pic that I selected to prove how useful and valuable a kit lens can be. It is not necessarily the best shot I could take - but a general style of snapshot that many persons might be really proud of if they took it. This shot was taken using the first generation (noisy and loose feeling) 14-42 kit lens that came with my Olympus E-PL1 - when I bought it a couple of years ago.

This is a file that has obviously been processed to look good on the web. And that's how most people who worry about the lens they use, will be displaying their photographs. However I have regularly printed shots taken with the kit lens to 13x19 inch, 20x30 inch and even bigger sizes, and they look even better (a real print always looks better than a web image in my view).

Olympus E-PL1 w 14-42mm kit lens (14mm) : f7.1 @ 1/200'th @ 200 ISO

Really for anyone holding back because they feel ill-equipped - - why not get out and shoot with your kit lens if that is all you have in a particular focal length range - or if you aren't in a situation where you want to lug around a big lens - or shooting where it is more practical to have a zoom lens instead of one prime or having to change several primes to get what you want. I know there are such people out there .

Experience and skill with lesser gear can often trump inexperience and the best of gear (there are exceptions of course). Experience and skill comes from shooting - and shooting lots. Not just the shooting though as digital capture also requires experience and skill with processing of the files so they look their best.


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This 14-24 mm Olympus turned out to be an exceptionally useful and sharp lens. I was about to buy in to the Olympus system when the Sony A7R became available. Otherwise, I'd have the 14-24mm lens on my camera most of the time. now I use a 18 or 20 or 28 mm vintage lenses on my A7R but the Olympus with that lens would be very efficient. The nearest in quality must be the Nikon 14-24 G lens.

Asher



Asher

 

[Michael Nagel]

Hi Asher,

... Do you use a macro ring or is this just able to focus this close?

I managed to get that close (115mm on APS-C) and it is just cropped to become square.
This specimen was quite unimpressed by the people around - until some ... chased him away with his smartphone wanting to take a picture but unaware of the flight distance...

Fortunately I managed to get this shot before.

Best regards,
Michael