ABSTRACT
Lens-makers generally build two classes of lenses. Prosumer lenses are made for the mass market and do a fine job most of the time. However, because these lenses must be affordable to everyone, they are made with less expensive glass and not built to the same construction standards as professional grade lenses. Professional grade lenses use the best optical quality glass and are ruggedly constructed to withstand the elements and abuse from serious photographers. The best quality lenses are more critical for wildlife photography than for landscape and macro photography for a couple of key reasons. The majority of wildlife images are captured with lenses longer than 300mm in focal length. Image stabilization is useful and necessary at times. Too many photographers have adopted image stabilization to avoid using a tripod. Image stabilization is a fairly new feature built-in to many lenses or built-in to the camera body itself.
