Like today for example.
Today I did a shoot with Angela and Jeff. It was the first time I used my 70-210mm lens. I’ve had this lens for a few years, and I’ve done a few test shots with it, but never actually used it. I forgot I had it for a while and just recently rediscovered it. Anyway it has a maximum aperture of f/4-5.6. For those of you that don’t know aperture describes the size of the hole inside the lens. The larger the hole, the smaller the number. My usual lens is an f/2.8. An /f2.8 lens allows four times as much light as an f/5.6 lens. This is important because shooting in the Capitol like today I was today, there isn’t that much light, which means long shutter speeds, which means it’s harder to get a sharp picture, especially with a telephoto lens like the 70-210. I got some good pictures, but I know that I could have gotten better ones with a better lens.
Unfortunately, lenses that let in more light, are more expensive. A lens like I was shooting with today can be bought for $100 to $300 dollars. A lens like I need, 70-200mm f2.8 is $1,800.