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Showing posts with label Wide-angle lens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wide-angle lens. Show all posts

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tips from the book: 500 Digital SLR Hints, Tips and Techniques (Part 3)

In photographs, the camera shutter speed can h...Image via Wikipedia
I think this will be the final part of my review, and what I can recommend, or to be precise, what I want to remember from that book.

Once again, that is 500 Digital SLR Hints, Tips and Techniques by Chris Weston

Read on...
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from page 54:

Top 10 tips for choosing lenses

  • Quality - Always buy the best lenses you can afford. It's better to have less expensive camera body and a quality lens than vice versa.
  • Zooms - Zoom lenses provide the greatest flexibility in composition, allowing you to alter the focal length exactly as needed. When choosing a zoom lens, try to avoid extreme zooms (e.g., those that have a very wide range, such as 7-500mm or 28-300mm), as the quality of the optics is compromised by their versatility.
  • Primes - While being less versatile than zoom lenses, prime lenses (lenses of a fixed focal length) are generally of better optical quality. With extreme focal lengths, such as very wide-angle lenses and super-telephoto lenses, image quality will be noticeably better when using prime lens.
  • AF lenses - Not all auto-focus (AF) lenses are as good as each other. If focusing speed is important to your photography, it's worth testing AF performance before you buy the lens.
  • Inside job - Internal focusing enables lenses to be more compact and lightweight in construction than lenses where the barrel extends outward when focusing.
  • Aperture - The maximum aperture of the lens will, to some extent, dictate the level of control you have over exposure settings. For example, in low-light conditions with a "slow" lens (a lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or less), you may not be able to attain the shutter speed necessary to freeze motion or capture a sharp image.
  • Zoom issues - With some zoom lenses the maximum aperture can vary depending on the focal length set. This system is used to reduce the size and weight of the lens but, again, can limit your options when it comes to setting exposure. If possible, always opt for a zoom lens with a fixed maximum aperture.
  • Glass - Lenses that use low dispersion glass help to minimize chromatic aberration, a type of image and color dispersion that occurs when light rays of varying length pass through optical glass. In so doing, they improve sharpness and color correction.
  • ALEs - Lenses with Aspherical Lens Elements produce better image quality by eliminating the problem of coma (distortion at the edge of the image) and other types of aberration, particularly prevalent in wide-angle lenses use din conjunction with large aperture.
  • Stability - Increasingly, lenses are being produced with some form of optical stabilization. These lenses make hand-holding the camera at slow shutter speeds more practical, and reduce the likelihood of image blur caused by camera shake. They are widely used in sports and wildlife photography.


Metering Modes, and when to use them

  • Multi-segment metering - Matrix metering by Nikon, Evaluative metering by Canon and Honeycomb by Minolta. All but referring to multi-segment metering. Takes from many areas around the frame, then average the result. Usage: General-purpose photography or difficult lighting conditions
  • Center-weighted metering -usually the subject is occupying the frame large, about 75% or more. Usage: Formal portraits of people and animals; backlit subjects (except silhouettes).
  • Spot metering - the camera takes in about 2-3% of the frame only; what to say, it is for precision metering! Usage: Photography of high-contrast scenes or scenes of multiple tones, like landscape photography; critical exposures; assessing the subject brightness range (SBR).
  • Manual metering - as it says, this is manual metering. There's help in the camera. An analog meter display in the camera's viewfinder, with 2 arrows pointing and moving right and left. Bar stops at middle, or '0', to say that camera meter reading aligns with the exposure setting as you adjust the aperture and shutter speed. Usage: creative photography that is not governed by the auto or preset settings.


The sunny f/16 rule:

  • When taking pictures in bright sunlight, the high level of contrast can sometimes confuse a camera's internal meter. To avoid inaccurate exposures in these conditions, set the lens aperture to f/16 and the shutter speed equivalent to the ISO setting. This is known as the 'sunny f/16 rule," and is remarkably accurate.

The sunny f/22 rule:

  • When photographing predominantly white or very light subjects in bright sunlight, a variation of the sunny f/16 rule is the sunny f/22 rule. The process for assessing exposure is the same, except that f/22 is used as the base aperture. By stopping down by one stop, you avoid overexposing the highlights.

When photographing in moonlight:

  • When using moonlight as the main light source, set a shutter speed of around 4 min when the moon is full and the sky clear. Double the amount of exposure when the moon is partial. To photograph the moon itself, use a long telephoto lens and set an exposure of around 1/1000 sec @ f/8 with an ISO of 400.

Streaked lighting:

  • To create streaks of light from moving cars, set the camera on a tripod, manually focus the lens, and set an exposure of between 10 sec and 20 sec at f/22 (ISO 400). Use the Bulb (Time) setting if necessary, and activate the shutter using a cable release.
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I think that that is all that I want to cover. It doesn’t mean that there are no more that can be derived from the book. On the contrary, there are a ton of useful tips and tricks from that book. What I am saying is that go and grab a copy of it, whether that means buying your own, or borrowing from the library.

Enjoy!

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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Master Composition Guide for Digital Photographers

OtherworldlyImage by Jim's Theme 1969 via Flickr
I have finished reading one more book on photography, and I want to give a short review. Furthermore, I want to give the points as highlighted in the book itself. This is one good book, and while the content is already very similar to many other books written about photography, I do find some points that would set apart this one book: Master Composition Guide for Digital Photographers by Ernst Wildi.

Master Composition Guide for Digital PhotographersMASTER THE TECHNIQUES YOU NEED TO COMPOSE EYE-CATCHING DIGITAL IMAGES

Good composition - or the effective arrangement of all of the visual elements that fall withing the frame of the final image - is critical to the success of any photograph. When the image elements are carefully placed, the viewer is engaged in the image; without an effective composition, the eye wanders through the frame and the intended subject may be diminished by distracting colors, shapes, or other pictorial elements. In this book, master photographer Ernst Wildi shows you how to fine-tune your photographs and ensure the most dynamic, powerful image possible. Easy-to-read text is paired with ample before-and-after photos, making it wasy to see how each technique will affect your final images.

FEATURES:
  • Composition techniques for photographing landscapes, architecture, still life, people, and more
  • Understanding the impact of technical consideration, like exposure, contrast, and depth of field, on composition
  • Tips for selecting the right lens and focal length
  • Using lines as compositional elements, with tips for placing lines effective and avoiding distracing lines
  • Determining how to place your subject effectively in the frame of the image - including tips for composing images with multiple subjects
  • Understanding the importance of color when designing effective photographic compositions
  • Tips for evaluating each scene for attracting and distracting elements
  • Composing effective panoramic images
  • Using filters to improve your compositions
  • Evaluating the background of your image, and tips for working with problematic background elements
  • How posing affects the composition of a portrait
  • Tips for post-capture image manipulation that let you fine-tune your compositions




What I learned from this book

Aside from the usual, these are new ideas that I got from this book:
  1. When shooting waterfalls, make sure that there is one, not two, waterfalls, in the frame. Two usually distracts the attention of the viewer, and the composition fails to arrest the viewer's attention.
  2. When shooting waterfalls, include the top and bottom. Viewers want to know when the water is coming from, and where the water is going.
  3. Change focal length to make the composition better. When a statue or a sculpture includes a background, such as a tree or anything of that sort, and it detracts from the overall 'correctness' of the composition, change lens. Compose the picture in such a way that the background will augment, at the least, not clutter, the resulting photograph.
  4. There should be balance in the colors. When composing a shot, especially on landscape photographs, make sure that the light and dark areas are properly positioned. All dark at the top or all dark at the bottom makes a photograph one-sided, and will tip off and topple.
  5. Use the correct focal length to signify 'size'. Change from wide angle lens to telephoto lens to signify the size of a truck against a looming mountain. Do that for all other shots that need to have the size or size relationship of the subjects in the photo emphasized.

And more!

What's your say?

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Thursday, April 8, 2010

You basically need only 2 lenses - for a start

Nikon D5000 Digital SLR with AF-S DX VR Zoom-N...Image via Wikipedia
I got a tip from a subscription mail on digital photography, which says that you need 3 lenses, basically. But I think I will disagree.

I am a beginner in photography, but my exposure to photography dates back to my father, which dates back to his father, my grandfather. To what extent were they in photography? My grandfather has his own darkroom.

Does that say anything that matters to this discussion? But on my own, I am a beginner in DSLR photography. You may want to read on my history in photography.

I say that you only need two lenses: standard (18-70mm) + telephoto, and that would usually be a medium telephoto lens (up to 200mm).

However, as much as I wanted to defend my stand, I would just give some guide on what these lenses are. Get this one thing straight. photography, especially the emerging practice in DSLR photography, has no hard and fast rule. Everything depended on the photographer's understanding and skill, and his 'taste' or 'discretion'.

What is common or invariable, are those hardwares, those camera units, lenses and additional gadgets. It becomes like software programming then, where the same software is used, but a different approach is applied from programmer to programmer.

So with all those person-dependent differences, allow me to present to you an Ezine article original, telling all about the different lenses.

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A Guide to Types of Camera Lenses

Different types of camera lenses are suited for different activities. Do you need a telephoto lens to capture photos
from a long distance? How about a macro lens for close-up photography? Familiarize yourself with popular camera lenses so you can determine which are best for your photography applications.

Wide-angle

Wide-angle camera lenses are ideal for shooting interiors, landscapes and large gatherings. The important thing to look at when shopping for wide-angle camera lenses is the uniform quality of the shot. If you're looking at a wide-angle lens with a crystal-clear center and blurring around the edges, keep on looking. You may also encounter Spherical Aberration, or wide-angle distortion of your images. If you can't afford a quality wide-angle lens that avoids these effects, hold off making a purchase and save your money until you're able to get the quality lens you need.

Telephoto

Telephoto camera lenses may be the most difficult type of camera lens to purchase. Telephoto lenses are typically the most expensive, as the quality of the glass makes a big difference in long-range applications. Typical uses for telephoto lenses include sporting events, landscape features and animals in nature. The longer the telephoto lens, the larger the aperture should be, so look for proportional length and aperture width when shopping for telephoto camera lenses. Because longer telephoto lenses require more glass, lengthier lenses are significantly more expensive than shorter lenses.

Zoom

Unlike a fixed-focal-length lens, a zoom lens gives you the option of shooting subjects both near and far. Zoom camera lenses suffer a slight loss in quality over fixed-length lenses but make up for the difference in quality by their usefulness in different applications. If you're trying to quickly shoot subjects at different ranges, such as a moving object, you may not have time to change fixed-length lenses as the subject comes closer to you or moves away. Zoom lenses give you the ability to keep a moving subject in frame and are good choices if you need a versatile lens for a moving subjects or a variety of applications.

Standard

While standard camera lenses may seem to be unnecessary in light of specific lenses for different applications, in reality, the opposite is true. Standard lenses require you to think more about the shot you're planning and move to get a good angle and distance, but they take quality pictures and the process involved helps you learn to compose better shots. An advanced photographer can use a good standard lens for a variety of applications, where a novice photographer may feel the need for specialized lenses for each application.

Macro

A macro camera lens is designed for extremely close-up photography at short range. Macro lenses aren't good at capturing close-up shots from far away, like a telephoto lens, but are instead designed for the photographer to be close to the subject. Macro lenses are ideal for nature photography, photographing collectibles and science photography.

For more information on SLR cameras, visit the hobbies section of Life123.com.

Article Directory: EzineArticles
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Have you found which one to use now?







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