Professional lenses are available with a wide variety options, though certain specifications are essential for lenses to qualify as professional. Most professional lenses offer the photographer the option of shooting at least one stop wider than amateur lenses, at f-2.8 or faster. Most professional lenses are also built to take sharper photographs at wider aperture settings than amateur lenses. Additionally, professional lenses are often manufactured using stronger, high quality materials for lens body construction. Professional lenses are also available in higher quality models of amateur lenses, including wide angle and telephoto options.
Amateur lenses also come with a variety of options at lower costs than professional lenses. Because of the reduced purchase price, these lenses are often manufactured with fewer features or lower-quality features. Amateur lenses are typically manufactured of a durable plastic, rather than metal. These lenses also generally have a maximum aperture of f-4. Most amateur lenses, specifically those for digital cameras, will come standard with cameras and have an automatic or point-and-shoot setting, which professional lenses do not. You can purchase separate amateur lenses in telephoto and wide-angle options.
Because professional lenses are manufactured with higher quality materials, they can withstand greater abuse than amateur lenses. This is highly beneficial for professional photographers who are shooting in rougher conditions or who frequently have to travel with their equipment. Professional lenses also tend to produce a more stable result than amateur lenses, particularly when shooting at wider apertures. Many professional lenses also allow the photographer to shoot faster multiple exposures, which is beneficial for photojournalists or those shooting important events. However, due to the fact that they are made of higher- quality materials and designed to take more stable photographs, professional lenses can be quite bulky and costly.
Since amateur lenses frequently come standard with newer cameras, there is generally no additional cost necessary for investing in a workable amateur lens. Replacement or specialized amateur lenses are also available at a much lower cost than their professional counterparts. Since they are so largely affordable, they are made of cheaper materials which may become compromised when used long-term or in extreme shooting situations. Additionally, shooting at lower apertures with amateur lenses often requires the use of a tripod, as photographs can come out blurry when the camera is hand-held. Despite these drawbacks, the point-and-shoot feature standard on most amateur lenses allows the hobbyist photographer to shoot photographs quickly and easy.