How Do You Know If You Need a New Lens?

Monday 8 September 2025, 20:02 by Nando Harmsen | 3,508 views | 5 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Buying another lens is easy. The question is, do you need one? Instead of giving in to the temptation, you can choose to buy only when necessary. But how do you know?

There is a name for the tendency to spend every penny on buying photography equipment: Gear Acquisition Syndrome, or GAS for short. Some people believe that a new lens, or yet another lens, will produce a better photo. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Continuing to buy won't produce better photos, but it will leave you with an empty bank account.
There is certainly a difference between a cheap lens of questionable quality and a more expensive lens of good quality. Such an upgrade can be worthwhile if you notice that your photos are not up to scratch. But upgrading a good lens will not make you a better photographer.

Buying new photography equipment is certainly tempting. Lenses in particular. Even so, it is wise not to do this too quickly. Having more lenses makes the choice more difficult anyway. Do you want to use this lens? Or that lens?

The more lenses you have, the harder the choice becomes.
If you want to be a sensible photographer, choose a lens when you really need one. But how do you find that out? Simple, by taking lots of photos.

Do you notice that you often don't have a wide enough angle of view, meaning you have to resort to panoramas? Then it is time for a lens with a wider angle of view. A wide-angle, or even an ultra-wide-angle lens.

Not enough wide angle? Choose an ultra-wide-angle lens. But only if you miss it too often.
Do you notice that you have to crop too often to get your subject large enough in the frame? Then it is time to buy a lens with a longer focal length.

Do you find that you are photographing in conditions where you have to use excessively high ISO values even with the lens fully open? Then you could look for a lens with greater light-gathering ability.

Not enough focal length? Choose a super-telephoto lens. But don't overdo it.
Do you take photos where you constantly have to correct perspective distortion? In that case, consider buying a tilt-shift lens.

Would you rather get even closer to make the small things around you appear large in the frame? Then it is time for a macro lens.

Want to make small things appear large in the frame? Choose a macro lens.
The point is that a new lens should make the photography options you are looking for possible. More telephoto, more wide angle, more light-gathering ability, more magnification. Only if you miss one of these things too often is there a good reason to buy one.

Don't buy just for the sake of buying. Of course, you are perfectly free to do so, but it serves no purpose. Go out and take photos with the equipment you have. If that works, you have what you need. If it doesn't, then it is time to go shopping.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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5 comments

Paul van Aken wrote on Tuesday 9 September 2025 at 12:19 | reply
Leuk stuk. En terecht, er wordt veel gekocht om iets nieuws te hebben. Dat kan soms ook wel positief uitwerken , omdat je het objectief wil gebruiken.
Een opmerking echter:
"een objectief met meer lichtgevoeligheid."
Een objectief is niet lichtgevoelig, lichtsterk is de term, de sensor (film) is lichtgevoelig.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Nando wrote on Tuesday 9 September 2025 at 12:25 | reply
Lichtgevoelig, lichtsterk... je hebt gelijk.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Donald Willemsen wrote on Tuesday 9 September 2025 at 13:34 | reply
Ik koop niet om er nog eens een lens erbij te hebben, maar om te vervangen. Ik heb een Canon R7 en nu blijkt dat mijn Sigma EF 105mm macro te traag scherpstelt en dat geldt ook voor de Sigma EF 120-400mm. Deze lenzen kunnen de snelheid van de R7 niet aan. Dat is voor mij een reden om over te stappen naar RF lenzen. Een andere reden is dat deze RF lenzen lichter in gewicht zijn. De Sigma 120-400mm weegt bijna 2kg, terwijl de RF 100-400mm nog geen kilo weegt. De RF 100-400 heb ik inmiddels aangeschaft en daar kan ik goed mee uit de hand mee fotograferen.
Ik wil dus niet méér, maar wel vervangen van EF door RF.
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Bart Bart Rijvers wrote on Tuesday 9 September 2025 at 18:57 | reply
Met Sony heb je de keuze te rijk qua lenzen: Viltrox, Tamron, Sigma, Samyang en natuurlijk Sony zelf. Er zijn van al deze merken bijvoorbeeld 85 mm f/1.4 lenzen te krijgen. Ik ben breed georienteerd qua wat ik fotografeer en ik heb me ook wat laten gaan. Ik bezit nu 10 lenzen tussen 12 en 600 mm. Hier zitten een paar speciale (24 mm tilt-shift) en lichtsterke lenzen tussen (Sigma 28-45 f/1.8 en Samyang 85 mm f/1.4). Per shoot bepaal ik welke set van 1,2 of 3 lenzen ik meeneem en eigenlijk worden ze allemaal regelmatig gebruikt
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

A.Gooier wrote on Wednesday 10 September 2025 at 16:15 | reply
Ik koop geen onnodige dingen meer en ben aan het ontspullen. Ik houd nu dingen over die ik echt nodig heb en me daarop concentreren.
De fotograaf Alejandro Cegarra heeft het mooi gezegd:"I use a Sony A7III with a 24-70mm and a 70-200mm (Photojournalist kit), and Leica M10-R with a 35mm or a 28mm (the artist kit). For new photographers, I would say you need to master the technique, the camera needs to be an extension of your eye and your hand, like it's glued to you forever to you, that's why I don't like to change equipment so often because I have to again make that adjustment to my gear and it makes me lose synergy".
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

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How Do You Know If You Need a New Lens?

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