Feel like you’re not attracting enough attention when you’re out shooting photos? Want people to stop and stare? You’re in the right place.

The kit lenses that come with digital SLRs today may be capable of taking cool pictures, but they aren’t all that cool in and of themselves. I mean, let’s face it - no one is going to be impressed with that 18-55mm zoom hanging off the front of your shiny new Digital Rebel XTi.

We spent some time scouring the net to come up with our list of the top four strangest camera lenses you can buy today. While these lenses certainly set you back a pretty penny (and then some), those who can afford it can have a truly unique piece of kit that can take some pretty unique photos. From the ultra-wide to the ultra-zoom, these lenses represent the most extreme pieces of kit that engineers can dream up.

Check these camera lenses out after the jump.

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Photo originally uploaded by gerome

Ever see that informercial with the annoying catchphrase “Set It and Forget It”? Sometimes the same principle applies in photography.

With some photos, you just don’t want to over-complicate things. This photo is a perfect example of a situation in which it’s easy to get a great shot without a lot of tinkering around. See how after the jump.

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Blame it on the camera manufacturers.

In 2006, the Canon Rebel XT was one of the most popular cameras in America. A ton of photographers were starting SLR photography for the first time, and what was their first lens? The EF-S 18-55mm kit lens that came packaged by the thousands with the Rebel XT.

Now, don’t get me wrong: this wasn’t a bad thing in and of itself. But the 18-55mm is a pretty wide lens. Even on the Rebel XT’s cropped sensor, 18mm is still the full-frame equivalent of a 29mm lens - a moderately wide focal length. And it’s not just the Rebel XT - Nikon, Sony and Olympus offer wide focal lengths in both their consumer-level digital cameras and in their digital SLRs.

If used correctly, a wide-angle lens is a great instrument for capturing the action. Just look at photojournalists, whose lenses of choice have been getting wider and wider over the past few decades. What do they know that many of these budding SLR photographers don’t? Find out after the jump.

Photo: The lead image from today’s Record Searchlight (Redding, CA) was shot using a wide-angle lens. Notice the tight cropping and the lack of dead space.

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Newer digital SLRs like this A100 from Sony have included an image stabilization feature inside the camera itself. Why aren’t offerings from Nikon and Canon following suit?

With camera manufacturers releasing their next generations of digital SLRs, one feature that’s gaining a lot of attention is in-camera image stabilization. While it’s one of the big selling points in Sony Digital SLRs like the A100, both Canon and Nikon continue to eschew in-camera image stabilization in their own new offerings. Are both Canon and Nikon simply behind the times? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is no.

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Most low-end lenses are variable aperture, operating with a different minimum aperture depending on the focal length.

One of the more common issues I see popping up online is understanding the difference between fixed aperture and variable aperture lenses. This is one of the most important aspects to consider when looking at lenses for your digital SLR, and there is a noticable difference between the two types. Here’s how to tell which category your lens falls under.

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