3 Lenses The Passionate Photographer Will Love for Photowalking
The photowalk is one of our favorite ways to lose weight, blow off steam, and be creative.
Fact: photowalking is a great way to get some exercise and enjoy your hobby at the same time. We’ve burned over 600 calories walking a few miles for at least two hours. And thankfully, it’s time to photowalk again! Of course, you can grab any lens you wish, but some lenses are naturally better than others. So we dove into our Reviews Index to find three particular lenses we’ve loved for photowalking. We’re sharing them in this roundup. All these lenses are under $1,000, so take a deeper look below!
The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house by the staff. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve thoroughly reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge.
Pro Tips for Enjoying the Photowalking Experience
Going on a photowalk soon? Here are some great tips from folks who’ve been doing it for years.
- It’s best to not change a lens while photowalking. A lot can happen to the sensor. If you really have to, then bring an air blower, an Arctic butterfly, and a microfiber cloth.
- When photowalking, don’t look for anything in particular. Just let go of your own emotions and react to anything you see.
- Considering doing street photography? Activate face detection. (You don’t necessarily need eye-detection to be on though.)
- Try shooting in burst mode. Some photographers do it to ensure they get the shot, while others try to get it in one shot.
- This is your time to really experiment. Shoot RAW + JPEG and try to fine tune the settings so you don’t need to edit later on.
- Lots of new cameras have a clarity setting in them. Give that a try!
- Generally speaking, we like to make sure our lens has weather and dust resistance. If it doesn’t, then just be careful.
Fujifilm 16-80mm f4 R WR OIS: Confident Photowalking in Any Weather
In our review, we state:
Pros
- Versatile focal range
- Great image quality overall
- Reliable autofocus
- Excellent chromatic aberration mitigation
- Features optical image stabilization
- A dedicated aperture control ring
- Weather-resistant construction
- Good value at US $799
Cons
- We would’ve liked a maximum constant aperture of f2.8 rather than f4.
- Manual focusing ring doesn’t offer much resistance when turning
- No dedicated manual focus button
- Noticeable falloff in sharpness as you move towards the periphery of the frame
Tamron 28-75mm Di III RXD: Day to Night Photowalking Made Simple
In our review, we state:
Pros
- Weather sealing
- Sharp optics
- Fast focusing in pretty much any situation
- Nice bokeh
- Small and lightweight
- Considerably under $1,000
- More than good enough for what most photographers need
Cons
- Some folks may gawk at the fact that it isn’t a Sony G Master lens and will fetishize the G Master series in the same way Canon shooters put L glass on a pedestal.
Canon RF 24-105mm f4-7.1 IS STM: Small, Light, and Surprising
In our review, we state:
Pros
- Very sharp
- Nice color rendition
- Lightweight and small
- Good build quality
- Very fast and quiet when focusing
- Finds focus quickly in both good and low light conditions
- The programmable control ring is a nice touch
- Excellent image stabilization
- A fun macro feature which works surprisingly well
- Very affordable at just $399
Cons
- A lens hood is not included.
- There’s a lot of distortion at 24mm (but easily fixed during post)
- No weather sealing