• Determine Your Camera Lens Needs

• Pick the Right Camera Lens Features

• Ensure Camera Lens Compatibility

• Find Camera Lenses on eBay Australia

• Buy Camera Lenses With Confidence

• Need More Help?

• Legal Disclaimer

Determine Your Camera Lens Needs

Determine Your Camera Lens Needs

If you want more professional-looking, vivid photos, then using an interchangeable camera lens will help you achieve this, by allowing you to exert more creativity and control over the picture-taking process.

Digital camera lenses and film camera lenses can be categorised into three types: standard camera lenses, wide-angle camera lenses, and telephoto camera lenses. Decide which camera lens you want, based on the type of pictures you want to take.

Standard camera lenses

Try to think of a standard camera lens as replicating a perspective similar to the human eye. Standard camera lens, are sufficient for general, everyday picture-taking situations like snapshots, travel photos, individual photos, and group photos.

Wide-angle camera lenses

Wide-angle camera lenses give you a wide angle of view, so that you get a larger, sweeping perspective and better depth of field and reproduction. If you love taking scenic shots of landscapes and nature, outdoor scenes, buildings, or large groups then get yourself a wide-angle camera lens. As a wide-angle lens enhances the depth of the image, it is also good for photos with a strong foreground too. Wide-angle lens can also be used to capture indoor scenes and close-ups.

Telephoto camera lenses

The telephoto camera lens, in contrast to the wide-angle camera lens is a narrow angle lens. If you aren’t able to get close to your subject then a telephoto camera lens importantly appears to narrow the image. Buy a telephoto camera lens when trying to capture long-distance situations, for example, sporting events, animals in nature, and distant landscape features.

Macro camera lenses

Photographers interested in extreme close-up photography, should consider investing in a macro camera lens that permits extremely sharp focusing at short distances. Macro camera lenses are typically used for science and nature photography, but can also be used for taking pictures of collectables, such as stamps and coins.

Fish-eye camera lenses

A fish-eye camera lens is an extremely wide-angle lens that creates a distorted image that appears convex.

Pick the Right Camera Lens Features

Pick the Right Camera Lens Features

There are a few important features and technical considerations you should keep in mind when shopping for a camera lens.

Focal length

The focal length represents the distance between the optical centre of a lens and its focal plane. Measured in millimetres, the lower the focal length, the wider your angle of view; the higher the focal length, the narrower the angle of view.

Focal length for the three lens types varies as follows:

• Standard camera lenses: Standard camera lenses have a 50mm to 55mm focal length.    

• Wide-angle camera lenses: Wide angle lenses typically have an 18mm to 35mm focal length. Fish-eye camera lens vary from 6mm to 16mm.    

• Telephoto camera lenses: Telephoto lenses have an 80mm to 500mm focal length.

Zoom lens

Lenses can have either fixed focal length lenses (35mm, 50mm) or zoom lenses, where focal length changes. Zoom lens let you get closer to your subject by magnifying the image; all you need to do is move a ring to alter the focal length and zoom in or out.

Auto focus and manual focus

Auto focus (AF) lenses automatically do the focusing for you, providing making the process of taking photos simpler and easier for you. Manual focus (MF) lets you manually focus the camera lens so that you can adjust the focus in low light conditions and when you need to focus in very precise increments.

You will discover some camera lenses which offer both types of focus functionality. The auto focus function can be switched on or off, allowing you to manually focus.

Aperture

Aperture is latin for “opening,” and refers to how much light a camera lens lets through to the focal plane. Aperture is really important in low-light, outdoor picture-taking situations. The smaller the aperture number (f/2.8, for example), the more light a lens will let in, which provides better control of the brightness of the exposure. The more light a lens allows through as well, the faster the shutter speed.

A lens’s aperture will normally increase along with the focal length of a zoom lens. Both aperture and focal length will usually appear on the barrel of the lens.

Ensure Camera Lens Compatibility

Ensure Camera Lens Compatibility

When shopping for a new camera lens, you will want to ensure that the one you decide on is also compatible with your camera type, brand, and film format.

Digital meets film

Several people own a film camera and a digital camera. For photographers who use interchangeable lenses, the questions inevitably arise: am I able to use a digital camera lens on my film camera, and can I use a film camera lens on my digital camera?

Digital SLR cameras are appealing as they have been designed with interchangeable camera lens in mind. Therefore, it is becoming easier to use film camera lenses on digital cameras. The Nikon SLR, Minolta SLR, Fuji SLR, and Olympus SLR all accept pre-existing lenses, including 35mm film lenses. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel also accepts all Canon EF lenses.

Fit your camera brand

Camera manufacturers such as Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Sony, Pentax, Fuji, and Leica, all produce their own lenses. It’s quite likely that you’ll want to match your lens with your camera brand.

It is possible to purchase lenses from a specialised lens manufacturer like Vivitar, Sigma, and Tamron which are compatible with different camera brands.

Whatever brand you get, make sure your lenses are protected with lens caps and lens hoods.

Film lens formats

There are three formats for film cameras and film camera lenses which include: 35mm SLR lenses, medium-format lenses, and large-format lenses. Lenses for one format do not generally work on the other formats, so it’s important that you find a lens that works with your specific type of film camera.

With larger negatives and more weight than 35mm SLRs, think about getting either a medium or large format camera if you want large prints of your photos. For example, if you plan to use a film camera for studio or architectural reasons, you would opt with a large format camera.

Find Camera Lenses on eBay Australia

Find Camera Lenses on eBay Australia

Once you know what type of lens you want, visit eBay Australia’s Cameras & Accessories portal, click on Digital Camera Lenses under Digital Cameras & Lenses, or click on Lenses under Film Cameras & Lenses, and start searching for item listings.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by item type. For example, under Digital Camera Lenses you'll find links for brands such as Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Sony and more.  

• Keyword search: Search eBay Australia title listings for specific words. For example, if you want to find a Nikon auto focus (AF) lens, type "Nikon AF lens" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay Australia's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Australia Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay Australia will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy Camera Lenses With Confidence

Buy Camera Lenses With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay Australia and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay Australia (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay Australia are not covered by eBay Australia protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay Australia item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay Australia sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay Australia and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorised payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,500.

• eBay Australia Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay Australia's quick and efficient resolution tools.

Need More Help?

Need More Help?

Visit our help pages or start a thread on one of our Community Discussion Boards - If you have a quick question that needs answering, try posting it on our community Answer Centre - there's bound to be a seasoned eBay Australia veteran with just the information you're looking for!

Legal Disclaimer

Legal Disclaimer

Buying Guides are intended merely as a guide or review for members when considering what products or services they may be interested in bidding on or purchasing. eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the accuracy of the information or content contained in these Buying Guides. Furthermore, eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the nature or performance of the products or services appearing in the Buying Guides. Content, trademarks and brands referred to and contained in the third-party links provided are the property of their respective owners, and eBay has no control over and accepts no responsibility for their content. eBay is not affiliated with nor does it endorse the use of any particular product or service.