The use of the various settings on a digital camera have made a lot of people think that that is all there is to taking great photos. They forget that a digital camera can only apply the settings on the image it receives and the quality of the image depends on the lens used. There are innumerable types of lenses available but to start with you need just four basic digital photography lenses – you can buy more as your skills increase and you take more sophisticated pictures.

The most common lens is the multi purpose lens with a focal range of between 35 and 70 mm – this is what most cameras are sold with – it is a good starting point but you will soon discover its limitations. This is a “what you see is what you get” kind of lens – it approximates the angle of view of the eye and is okay for point and shoot pictures.

A medium telephone lens is very useful for photographing objects at a distance and is good useful for landscape, nature, sports and other kinds of photography where you want the image to appear as if you are close to what you are photographing. These lenses are also ideal for portraits since when used for close ups the make the object of the picture stand out from the background and thus enhance the “portrait” nature of the image. The medium telephoto lens can be used in many ways and some professional photographers use is as their main lens since an interesting range of effects can be achieved by changing the perspectives. These lenses normally have a focal length of 85 – 135 mm.

If you are into real long range outdoor photography you will need a full telephoto lens. These normally have a focal length of between 135 – 300 mm (and more for special applications) and are the only lens you can use if you need to bring distant objects close and ensure that the resulting image is sharp and clear. These lenses are also very effective in highlighting a portion of a distant object and making it the main focus of attention in a picture.

The last of your four basic digital photography lenses is the wide angle lens with a focal length of less than 50 mm. These lenses are best of wide sweeping landscapes and panoramic images – like mountain range, for example. You can use a wide angle lens for group picture against expansive backgrounds as the lens will make the group appear to stand out from the background.