Lenses Under $Y

Lens mounts can have hundreds of compatible lenses. The sheer number of options can be overwhelming.

Sorting by price and lens type makes a cross system comparison easy to do. Specialty/niche use cases can have large differences in price to performance between systems.

I am starting with lenses that have the broadest appeal. Specific uses for macro, fun/novelty, and action lenses will be next.

Micro Four Thirds Lenses

My favorite because of the quantity of inexpensive quality glass available. Great for the majority of budgets under $750 when considering a complete kit.

Lenses are significantly smaller than full frame or APS-C lenses. There are many pancake and third party lenses available.

Canon EOS EF Mount Lenses (Full Frame)

Not the best system for low end options. Beyond that, there is a huge selection of lenses available. Any specialty need you could have has multiple options.

The price to performance of L lenses like the 85mm f1.2, 135mm f2, 28-70mm f2.8, and 70-200mm f2.8 are possibly the best available.

Lenses are easy to adapt to mirrorless camera systems.

Canon EOS EF-S Mount Lenses (APS-C)

The full frame lenses are better. I would rather use them on a full frame body.

Used Lenses Under $100:

• Canon EF-S 24mm f2.8 STM (pancake lens)
• Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6
• Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS

Nikon FX F-Mount Lenses (Full Frame)

Arguably the best camera mount.

Some Nikon F-mount lens compatibility can get weird. If you are using vintage 35mm film camera lenses, make sure you can identify “non-Ai” lenses. Nikon has an article about lens compatibility.

Used Lenses Under $100:

• Nikon 50mm f1.8D (Requires a motor drive for AF)
• Nikon 50mm f1.8G (No aperture ring)
• Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f4-5.6G (Requires a motor drive for AF)
• Nikon Nikkor AF 24-120mm f3.5-5.6D

Nikon DX F-Mount Lenses (APS-C)

Nikon made 21 DX lenses. There are 16 different focal lengths/ranges.

Full frame lenses can be used, but then why not use a full frame camera?

AF-P versions are not fully compatible with a bunch of bodies. Don’t worry, Nikon has a PDF compatibility chart.

Used Lenses Under $100:

• Nikon Nikkor AF-S 35mm f1.8G DX
• Nikon Nikkor AF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G DX
• Nikon Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f4-5.6G DX
• Nikon Nikkor AF-S 18-135mm f3.5-5.6

Fujifilm X-Mount Lenses

Great lenses at not great prices. There is a premium to pay because popularity is outpacing production.

Used Lenses Under $100:

• Fujifilm Fujinon XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6
• 7artisans 35mm f1.2
• 7artisans 7.5mm f2.8
• TTartisan 35mm f1.4

Nikon 1 Mount Lenses

The system only lasted 7 years with 11 camera bodies and 13 lenses. There are more MFT lenses under $100 than that.

I view this as an enthusiast system. Work is going to have to be put in to find the more desirable lenses due to their limited supply.