New Assortment of Lenses! Which should I use?

[goober985]

Hello! I am new to photography and finally got my own digital camera (a Canon EOS-M) from a friend, who gifted it along with four Canon lenses. I have been experimenting with all of them, as well as figuring out the basics of the camera. Some of them seem quite similar to me, though, so I’d like to hear some experienced photographers’ opinions on the pros and cons of these lenses 🙂

From left to right, (pictured above) these lenses are:

an EF-M 55-200mm zoom lens

an EF-M 18-55mm zoom lens

an EF-M 11-22mm zoom lens

an EF-M 22mm (the only one that’s not a zoom lol)

I learned that the 55-200mm is a telephoto lens, which I’ve been having a blast with, and I read on some forum that the 18-55 might be of lower quality than the 11-22mm zoom & the 22mm, but other than that I’m having trouble differentiating them. I also don’t really understand what the text that says “Macro” means, since I don’t believe any of these are 1:1 macro lenses. (55-200mm = Macro 3.3ft, 18-55 = Macro 0.8ft, 11-22 = Macro 0.5ft, 22 = Macro 0.49ft)

Any thoughts, suggestions, or opinions on the uses of these lenses would be super appreciated!!

[ebiggs1]

The word "Macro" is a term that is optimistically used by the advertising and labeling department. Not the lens designers.