Opinion: Used camera lenses are a great buy for photographers on a budget

Used camera lenses
(Image credit: Future)

It’s often said that the best lenses are more important than the best cameras. And although it’s hardly a revelation, it’s something I experienced first hand when I bought my first 'serious' camera and was forced to buy used camera lenses. 

I’d decided I had outgrown my entry level DSLR, but in reality, I’d outgrown my only lens. I saved and saved and eventually blew all my funds on a second-hand Nikon D800, which I still use today. It wooed me with its big sensor and beefy body, and when I held it up to a mirror and looked through the viewfinder (I actually did that) there was no doubt about it, I looked every bit the pro photographer.

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Mike Harris
How To Editor

Mike is Digital Camera World's How To Editor. He has over a decade of experience, writing for some of the biggest specialist publications including Digital Camera, Digital Photographer and PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine. Prior to DCW, Mike was Deputy Editor of N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine and Production Editor at Wex Photo Video, where he sharpened his skills in both the stills and videography spheres. While he's an avid motorsport photographer, his skills extend to every genre of photography – making him one of Digital Camera World's top tutors for techniques on cameras, lenses, tripods, filters and other imaging equipment – as well as sharing his expertise on shooting everything from portraits and landscapes to abstracts and architecture to wildlife and, yes, fast things going around race tracks...