|
|
 |
 |
|
Lenses |
| The lens is the front line of capturing images and arguably the most important part of the camera. The lens captures the light. If the lens does not work, then there is not am image to be recorded. High quality lenses are made of glass and lower quality lenses are made of different resin materials. glass is usaually optically clearer, more expensive, but resolves much better. Lenses are comprised of the glass or resin elements of different shapes and sizes grouped together in a specific order. These elements move together or apart to create focus and zoom. The size and shape of the elements and the organization create focal length. Camera bodies may be sold or upgraded, buy a good lens will provide years of good service. |
| Many digital cameras now are using multiplication factors to discuss zoom instead of the focal length. Example, most compact cameras are labeled having a 3x zoom instead of 35 - 114mm. There is one problem with this. Where does 3x zoom start? 3x zoom only means that the focal length is multiplied by 3. There is no reference of how wide angle or telephoto the lens it. Conveniently, most cameras start around the 35mm range. One a 3x zoom, that takes the telephoto to around 114mm. |
|
| Focal Lengths |
Wide Angle and Fisheye: These lenses have focal lengths less that 28mm. generally where will be distortion at minimum on the edges of the frame if no throughout the whole frame. Fisheye lenses have more distortion than wide angle lenses. Sometimes to the point of completely distorting the whole frame into a spherical looking image. These lenses are good to open up a small area and also cangive a unique effect by using the distortion. Lighting for a fisheye can be tricky. It may be best to have good ambient light. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Normal Lenses: Normal lenses are i the range of 36mm to 70mm. Ideal lenses in this catagory have no distortion. Theses lenses are considered to be very good people and portrait lenses. They are typically very sharp and show the depth of the scene very well. Lenses in this catagory, can have very good macro functions, and some have very low aperture ratings, which makes them very fast. 50mm lenses are considered the most neutral lens. Minus peripheral vision, people generally see at 46mm. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Telephoto Lenses: Telephoto lenses are typically more than 70mm and are made up to 1200mm. Common telephoto lenses range from 70mm to 300mm. While excelling in shooting wildlife and sports photography where it can be hard to get close to your subjects, telephoto lenses have a tendency to be physically larger and bigger in diameter. They also flatten out distance. The means that the background seems much closer to the subject than it really is. Example, photographing a football player on the field, the far stands will look much closer to the payer than they really are. |
|
|
|
|
|
Zoom Lenses: The only requirement to be a zoom lens, is having a variably focal length. For example, a 28mm-80mm is a zoom lens. So is a 70mm-200mm. There are wide angle, normal, telephoto and combination zoom lenses. A combination zoo lens would be 18mm-200mm. 18mm is wide angle, but 200mm is telephoto. One thing to keep in mind with zoom lenses is, when you zoom in, less light enters the lens. This is caused by when the lens elements extend to create a longer focal length, light has a narrower beam and the does not fill the aperture completely. The aperture then has to close some to compensate. A remedy for this, is a non-variable aperture zoom lens. That is a mouth full. What this means is, the lens is wide enough to handle the same amount of light at all the focal lengths of the lens. These lenses are typically physically the largest. They are also usually the higher quality lenses. These zoom lenses will be the most versitle and will provide the highest quality image.
(A combination zoom lens of 18-200mm is featured in the pictures on the right)
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
