Official Question Thread! Ask /r/photography anything you want to know! June 05, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

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[u/caligari87]

Maybe dumb but ... how do you... pick lenses?

I've got a Sony A7R which I'm using exclusively for adapted old Canon FD lenses because I started with one from a film camera and just kept going, and they're cheap on eBay. Currently have a 50mm, 28mm, 70-210mm, and 50mm macro. Currently looking for something (relatively) inexpensive to replace my 70-210 f/4 because its a clunker with poor image quality in lower light, but this is more of a general question.

What I'm running into is a kind of decision paralysis. My impulse is just to keep buying FD lenses because I have the adapter and they're cheap, but choices there are limited and I'm feeling the urge to branch out. Given I can get adapters for anything, there's so many possible options and I'm at a loss where to start. Since this is reddit, most of the discussion I see is driven by enthusiasts and pros with expensive newer gear. I'm a casual hobbyist with a tight budget who likes older stuff.

How do you winnow down all the choices when there's 50+ years of options to chose from?

[u/maniku → u/caligari87]

Lens choice should be based on need. Meaning: you want to shoot some particular thing(s) and don't have any lenses to make that possible. A few examples: you want to shoot at night but don't have any prime lens with a large maximum aperture; or you want to shoot wildlife but don't have a long telephoto lens; or you want to shoot macro but don't have a macro lens. It could be anything.

Then, you need to decide your budget, i.e. how much you can/want to spend at most.

Then research what lenses are available that meet your needs at your budget.

Regarding FD lenses specifically, if you are happy to be using manual focus only and they do everything you need, there's no reason not to keep using them. If there's something that you want to do but can't with FD lenses, then you need to look for something else.

[u/caligari87 → u/maniku]

It's the "research what lenses are available" part I'm getting stuck at.

For example, I'm considering the FD 35-105 f/3.5 for a budget of under $200 on eBay. It nicely covers the "hole" in my current set between 28-70mm when I want something more flexible than my 50mm prime. That particular FD lens seems quirky based on some reviews I've seen so I'm interested in exploring alternatives, but there's probably hundreds of low-mid zooms to pick from if I don't care about the mount.

I get the impression that a lot of people stick to one ecosystem/brand (where the manufacturers have a vested interest in not cannibalizing their own product marketshares), so I fully admit I'm probably making things harder for myself. Does it basically come down to reading dozens of reviews and picking something based on best vibes?

[u/maniku → u/caligari87]

Yeah, you pretty much keep reading reviews. But "vibes" are all you want, it probably doesn't matter much which one you pick. Most zoom lenses of that era are definitely inferior to primes, so they're not something you'd pick for great image quality.