What are 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses used for?
Everyone first come to photography is often worried about lenses. There are lots of models, specification, and features. People usually can’t tell the different uses of 18-55mm and 55-mm. What are they exactly used for? This post will guide you through these two best beginner gears.
Basic Information: Similarities and Differences of Nikon 18-55 vs 55-200
18-55mm lens and 55-200mm lens are the popular representatives for kit lenses. They’re kind of super zoom and utility lenses. Their target users are those who are new to photography. At a decent cost, you’ll get a camera that can shot every scene in the everyday life.
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Review: Nikon 18-55 vs 55-200
Their advantage is that with 1 cheap lens, you’ll have 4 different aperture settings. 4 sizes of aperture mean you can shot barbecue party outdoors, or Christmas meal indoors. Most kit lens models have their focus range is quite short. So you have not to move a lot or stand too far away from the objects, which is hard in indoor settings.
These kit lenses are also light, in terms of weight and price. Less money needed to buy, and less pressure to carry along. You can hang them beside and go to everywhere to practice shooting. New photographers need to practice a lot, thus a lightweight tool is necessary.
With these benefits, both lenses are worth investing for every amateur photographer. But beside these useful similarities, they also differ in some aspects. You have to watch for your demand to decide which lens you should buy.
Assuming that they have the same aperture, the most noticeable difference is the focal length. It will be the deciding factor for classifying these two lenses. The longer focal length is, the shorter the objects is, and the bigger it is. You’ll come close to the object, and you see it in a bigger size than the human could see. The field of view (FoV) is also narrower when you increase the focal length. This means fewer objects will appear in the photo.
The focal length brings various effect and ability to the lenses. So each lens, as a result, is suitable for different kinds of shot.
Nikon 18-55mm Review
What is Nikon 18-55mm good for?
A lens that has an up to 35mm focal length is called the wide lens. Wide lens is used for landscape shot or objects that you’ll want to have a wider view of them. But 18-55m has a longer focal length than that of a normal wide lens.
So, in overall, it is a zoomable wide lens for you. It is perfect for capturing landscape scenes, with an extra option for more focused objects.
It has a wide FoV thanks for the short focal length. At 18mm zoom, you can catch an entire mountain or a seaside beach. An entire city lights up at night, colorful glows appear everywhere, on the street and from the sky-high buildings. You can capture this amazing scene only if you have a wider FoV. And that’s what an 18-55mm lens excel at.
City view from a high place is something uncommon with normal people, but party scene is. Everyone is scattered. The boys are grilling in that corner, the girls are playing in the pools, and the children are dancing.
What an exciting moment! But it’s messy too. You can hardly set a fixed focus to everyone, and you also don’t want to, right? Grab your 18-55m lens and everybody is partying in your photo.
As it is an upgraded version of the wide lens, 18-55mm has more utilities. With wide lens only, you’ll find it hard to reach smaller objects far away. You can only capture the whole mountain, but you can’t make a simple portrait shot. You can do nothing when you see a beautifully blooming flower, as the only appear in your photos is the entire garden.
It’s the time you use the zoom function of the lens. It will help you solve most of the problem. It’s the reason why many pros recommend to buy an 18-55mm lens when starting photography.
They tell the same for 55-200mm lenses. But it is a bit contrasting. Its greatest focal length is perfect for capturing tiny objects, such as animals or flowers,… Most people don’t need to take that close, big picture of a bird. But when you suddenly want to save this awesome moment of life, you may hate your 18-55mm lens.
Nikon 55-200mm Review
What is Nikon 55-200mm good for?
Every wildlife photography carries a 55-200mm with them. It’s born to do that job. When you want to have an overview of the field full of wild animals, you can use the lowest 55mm zoom. And when you notice a couple of running deer, just turn your lens to the maximum focal length.
This is why 55-200mm is still so popular although they don’t suit many everyday life scenes.
Everything that an 18-55mm can’t do, 55-200mm will take the places. With the former, you can’t shoot the flying butterflies. You also can’t capture the singing birds in the trees, as well as when they are on the ground. Plug the latter on, you’ll feel satisfied.
The effect of 55-200mm is not related to animal only. A portrait of someone in the sunshine, ie: your lover, is an artful work. You should try it at least once as a photographer. The standard focal length for taking a portrait is 55mm, but you must pay attention the aperture too.
And usually, you can’t easily make that shot with 18-55mm.
Don’t worry, 55-200mm is here to help. You won’t miss any moments of your beloved, or even the two of you.
Sport, life or any scenes that the objects should be centrally focused is 55-200mm favorites. When your reach the highest zoom sizes, the object will become bigger. And it’ll be heavily focused in the center of the photo. This offer chances to make the target more outstanding.
With that distance of zoom, you can shoot many things from afar. It is useful and convenient.
18-55mm and 55-200mm, each brings different effects for the photo. Combining this two lenses will grant you many capturing positions and angles. The 18-55mm lens for a photo of the sparkling stars in the sky, and the other for the close and clear face of your lover. So beautiful!
Conclusion
Although these lenses still have lots of drawbacks as they are kit lenses. Limited abilities, distorted photos, maintenance,…can affect their popularity. The feeling of carrying two lenses alongside is also quite inconvenient. But their cheap price and utility can come over those disadvantages.
There may be a little confusion about 18-55mm vs 55-200mm lenses. They’re similar in many ways: kit lenses, flexibility,… Use them in their best places, you’ll be a successful photographer. 18-55mm for wide landscape photos, and 55m-200 for small objects, that’s the most important formula you should remember.