Those who are new to photography often find the task of selecting and purchasing a new Canon camera to be very confusing. Once this task is completed, however, they must then begin a new task: choosing one or more Canon lenses. This task can actually be more confusing that picking a camera due to the shear number of lenses that are available. Not only that but many of them are very expensive as well, although there are a few lenses in the lineup that are reasonably affordable.
Canon’s “L” series of lenses should definitely be avoided if you don’t want to pay a lot of money. These lenses take incredible pictures but are very expensive and are mostly used by professional photographers. Just look for the red stripe to easily identify these lenses.
One thing you will want to keep in mind while lens shopping is that different lenses serve different purposes. For example, telephoto lenses are used to capture images that are far away. Macro lenses are used to capture images that are close up. Also, wide angle lenses are used to capture sweeping, panoramic nature scenes. Which lenses you purchase depends on what type of photography you plan on doing.
Most new Canon cameras, such as the Canon G12, come with a standard lens that lets the user take pictures in different settings. This general purpose lens does not excel in any one thing but is great for general use. You can save a lot of money by trying to make the most out of this standard lens before graduating to more advanced models.
Prior to spending a lot of cash on a telephoto, wide angle, macro, or other Canon lenses, carefully think about what you intend to do with your camera. If you only plan on using your camera around the house and on vacations, the standard lens that cam with the camera may be all you need.