Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-09-27)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 21 September 2019 47

I

’msureweallknowthefeeling– a

highlydesirablenewlensis announced

thatwould,surely,giveanextracreative

impetusto yourphotography.Theonly

problemis thesky-highprice.I’velostcount

of thenumberof timesI’vegotto theendof a

manufacturer’spressreleaseenthusingabout

itslatestoptic,onlyto exclaim‘Howmuch?’

whentheRRPis finallyrevealed.

Ofcourse,it’snotrealistictoexpect

brand-newdesignstocostthesameas5-

or10-year-oldlenses,evenwhenthebase

specificationsareessentiallythesame.The

latestlensesaresharperandcanfocusfaster

and more accurately, while featuring video-

SECOND-HAND LENSES Testbench

AndyWestlaketrawlsthroughthe

second-handmarkettofindthebestbargain

used lenses you can buyforunder£200

friendlyfeaturessuchassteplessapertures

andcompletelysilentoperation.Butthisin turn

meansthatbargainsaretobehadsecond-

hand,asearlyadopterspickupthelatestand

greatestkitandselltheirexistinglenses.

In thisarticle,I’vetrawledthoughtheused

markettopickoutsomeof thebestbargains

currentlyavailableforunder£200.You’ll

noticethatI’vesteeredclearof someof the

mostobviousrecommendations,forinstance

cheapfull-frame50mmf/1.8s.Let’sjusttake

it asreadthatthesegenerallyrepresentthe

best-valuelensesyoucanbuy.Likewise,you

can’treallygowrongwith85mmf/1.8sor

macro lenses in the 90-105mm range.

I’veincludedplentyof lensesforAPS-C

DSLRs,asthisstillrepresentsthelargest

groupof camerasin regularusebyenthusiast

photographers.ButI’vealsopickedoutsome

favouritesforthelonger-establishedmirrorless

systems.It’struethattherearen’tmany

genuinelycheaplensesforthelikesof Sony

andFujifilm,evensecond-hand,butsome

bargainscanbefoundif youlookhardenough.

Howmuchshouldyoupay?

Pricesontheusedmarketvarywidelyforany

givenlens;obviouslyyou’llpaya premiumfor

onein ‘asnew’condition.Equally,youshould

paylesswhenbuyingprivatelythroughan

onlinemarketplacesuchaseBay,butthis

meansgivingupthereassuranceyou’dget

froma specialistretailerthattheitemhasbeen

fullycheckedandcorrectlygradedandcomes

witha properreturnspolicy.If thisis important

toyou,I’dsuggeststickingwithreputablefirms

suchasWexPhotoVideo,CameraWorld,

ParkCameras,Graysof Westminster,Camera

Jungle,LondonCameraExchangeandMPB.

Third-partylensesmaywellalsobepriced

differentlydependingonthelensmount.

In thisarticle,I’veincludedindicativeprices

takenfromwww.mpb.comcovering‘good’

to‘asnew’condition.

In general,themainrulewithbuyingused

is alwaystobeabsolutelysureof whatyou’re

getting,beforehandingoveryourcash.If

you’rethinkingof buyingonline,besureto

readthedescriptionandexaminephotographs

of thelensverycarefullyfirst.Butwithdue

careandattention,it’sa greatwaytoexpand

yourlensarsenalandcreativeoptions

without breaking the bank.

More

money

lens for your

Goodlenses

don’thaveto

costa fortune:

allofthesecan

befoundused

for less than £200

THANKS TO MPB FOR THE LOAN OF LENSES USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS ARTICLE.