Buying Olympus Camera Lenses: 5 Things to Look For

There are several important components in photography, especially if you want to move past the point and shoot camera.

The first is having an SLR body. My first SLR body was a Nikon, and I recently changed it to Olympus when I moved to digital photography.

The second - and this is arguably more important than the body - is the camera lens. I have several Olympus camera lenses, since each has a purpose. These camera lenses are extremely important when taking good quality photographs, since the quality of the lens can make or break a picture.

The third is lighting, which can be dealt with using flashes. When I bought my Olympus Flash FL-50R, I could see a big difference in the pictures I took.

The first Olympus camera lens I bought was a fluke. It worked well, but I was lucky. The next time I bought one I did much more research, and this research allowed me to be comfortable in investing more when I upgraded my Olympus camera lenses.

1 - Aperture: Aperture controls the amount of light that hits the image sensor. Having a smaller number, such as f/1.4 is great, but is harder to implement, and thus results in a larger cost. This however is important if you need a lens in lower light conditions, since you can speed up the shutter, and not suffer from vibrations.

2 - Focal Length: Do you want to zoom in or zoom out of your scene? If you want to do landscape photography, then you don't want to buy a telephoto lens, else you will just end up focusing on a tree. If you want to do portrait photography, then an 80 mm lens is great. The type of scenes you want to capture will determine the type of pictures you take.

3 - Stability: Some camera bodies, such as my Olympus E-510, have image stabilization built in. Others do not, in which case you may want to pay more in order to get this feature. This allows your handheld shots in low light conditions come out clean of motion blurs.

4 - Zoom or fixed lens: Do you want a fixed lens, such as a 50 mm? Or do you want to the capability of zooming in and out, such as buying an Olympus 40 mm - 105 mm lens? The latter gives you flexibility, but it is difficult to obtain large apertures with these lenses.

5 - Ensure compatability: Sure, if you buy Olympus camera lenses for your Olympus body, then it has a large chance of being compatible. But you may want to buy something from Sigma or vivitar, in which case you want to ensure that it works with your camera!

Try out the lens before you buy it, especially if it is an expensive one. Some shops have a no hassle return policy, which is great as it gives you the chance to give it a test run. Sometimes, the lenses you buy, even after doing a lot of research, doesn't give you the quality you imagined. The colors may be less vibrant then you wanted, or not as focused. You'd want to return it!

Also, always protect your lens. Each lens should have a hood. Without one, you are just asking for trouble.