Any wildlife photographer will tell you that to make great images, what’s almost as important as your camera body is a lens with reach. That’s why the best lenses for wildlife photography are telephoto lenses with a long focal length. Wildlife photographers might keep a wide-angle lens in their kit bag, but by and large they’ll want a long telephoto or telephoto zoom lens in order to get up close.
When choosing the best cameras for wildlife you want a body with speed, and when it comes to the best lenses for wildlife photography this is again a criteria. Along with reach you want a lens with a fast aperture and one that can support your camera’s fast AF performance. But there are some other important considerations.
Yes, your camera cost you a small fortune, but as you develop your skills as a wildlife photographer your greatest expense will be filling your kitbag with lenses. So it’s important make an informed decision.
Zoom lens or prime for wildlife photography?
Do you want the versatility of a zoom lens or the pin sharpness you get from a telephoto prime? A lot of this comes down to personal preference. Zoom lenses give you the flexibility of having a range of focal lengths at your disposal. This means you can mix up your compositions for a variety of image styles.
With a prime lens you are limited to a fixed focal length. However, zoom lenses typically have a varying maximum aperture as you zoom into the telephoto end of the focal range. A prime lens typically has a much wider maximum aperture.
Prime lenses are also typically more expensive than zoom lenses, particularly for telephoto lenses.
What focal length is best for wildlife photography?
How much focal range do you really need to photograph wildlife? This is again down to your subjects and person preference somewhat. A good all-rounder lens kit for wildlife might include 400mm, 70-200mm, 100mm macro and 24-70mm lenses to cover all your options.
But determining what focal length you need really depends on your camera and its sensor type. For instance, a Micro Four Thirds camera has a 2x focal length magnification factor, turning a 300mm lens into a 600mm lens. Likewise, an APS-C format sensor has a 1.5-1.6x focal length magnification, making a 300mm lens look like a 4500mm or 480mm optic.
The best lenses for wildlife photography you can buy today
If you’re new to using long lenses, we’ve got a great guide on what is a telephoto lens and when to use one. In the meantime, these are our picks for the best lenses for wildlife photography, broken down by each camera brand.
