It has been more than 8 years since my tryst with DSLR. The maiden DSLR I have is Canon EOS550D. Note the present tense :-). The canon body is still the older one and there is no room for upgrade as of now. You know they are extremely budget unfriendly gadgets. Hence even if you have earnest desire to upgrade, sorry you should have born in royal family. Otherwise choose the best one when you have the sufficient budget. Let's throw away the crap and cut to chase.
These years of DSLR have taught me lot of lessons, not only on how to see the nature with love but also how to love the equipment. The biggest mistake people do while buying camera accessories is not doing enough research on what they are buying. The same mistake I also committed. Some of bits while buying lens after experiencing the photography are below. Read them before you shell out huge money on these royal glasses :-).
Know your interest and map the accessories corresponding to it
My interest was primarily into landscape and astro-photography. The lens that suites the requirement is wide angle with wide aperture say f/2.8
If any lens matches your requirement, research on it
If something matches your requirement do not hustle and buy it! For instance, the way I bought Tokina 11-16mm. The biggest drawback is lack of Image Stabilization and high amount of chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberrations can be eliminated with post processing but why extra effort when glass costs too much. The Image stabilization is must for any lens if you do not have steady arm.
Rent the lens before you buy
Experiment with your would-be lens in detail before buying. See how fast lens focusses, check its image stabilization, check for silly chromatic aberration. Buy only if you are satisfied with results. I suggest to rent the lens when necessary if you cannot afford it. The lenses need hefty finance. Hence do not resort to impulsive buying. Resist the impetus of buying lenses even if your financially equipped to do so.
Know how to protect the lenses
It is not only your passion or interest. You need to maintain the lenses from dust and fungus. The optical elements are expensive and ill-maintenance will increase the repair charges. Hence know how to protect the lenses during their idle time.
Image Stabilization (IS) and Silent-Motor is must
Apart from fast focussing, the lens must have in built image stabilization. Not every time you have steady arm especially while trekking. The IS is the most important feature of any lens in my opinion. The lens also needs silent motor for reducing the external noise while shooting. This is very much vital during bird photography to deceive tree top creatures :-D
The above points are out of my own experience since I have paid lot of price buying unnecessary lenses. Recently I cleared all those optical clutters with big loss margin. Over the years, I understood that my photography interests are only in two areas
(i) Landscape
(ii) Birding which I am loving nowadays
I never had interests in portrait, macro but possessed lenses related to the area. The portrait f/1.8 canon prime lens and macro Tamron f/2.8 lens did not have IS. Moreover I hardly used them since these photography realms never fascinated me. The lenses were tucked away inside the cupboard which developed fungus over time. Finally I sold both of them at way cheaper price than expected.
The other lens I had was Tokina 11-16. Yes this was ultra wide angle landscape lens which suited my interest. The biggest drawback was lack of IS and pathetic chromatic aberration. Editing them were absolute nuisance. Even in non-contrast regions, their chromatic aberrations were well seen. This made me to loose interest in the lens and finally sold this off again for cheaper price. Honestly, this is the least used lens amongst the one which I sold
Currently I have two beautiful lenses which I am extremely satisfied with.
Sigma 17-70mm with IS and silent motor
Tamron 70-300mm with IS and silent motor
At one point of time, I thought of selling Tamron 70-300 but lately I developed interest towards birding after gazing at these colourful creatures. I plan to rent few lenses in future for special travel occasions.
To conclude, these are some pictures snapped with the lenses before transferring ownership
Clicks with Tamron 90mm macro
Clicks with canon f/1.8 prime
I know this is not intent of prime lens. But landscape is what entices me. I was trying to shoot landscape with this lens too and that's where mistake was realized.
Clicks with Tokina 11-16mm
Great for landscape provided you have sturdy arm and broad daylight. Otherwise quite blurry images and too much chromatic aberration :-(
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