Linda Zelnio Camera's

If you’re a novice photographer or someone who is considering the photographic arts, it is important to recognize the many different camera lenses and what types of images they can help create. Even understanding the basics of what each type of lens can do will help you choose the ideal lens for your subjects. From fast moving action, to portraits, to landscapes – choosing the right camera lens for job will help you produce amazing photographs.

Standard camera lenses are usually 50mm. The standard 50mm lens is a can produce a good reproduction of what the human eye can see. They are the most popular choice for SLR cameras and have a fixed focal length. This type of camera lens is used for your everyday photography. It is quick lens and allows for less lighting because of a low aperture. You can buy standard lenses with apertures as low as F/1.4. The lower the aperture, the more light the lens lets in, making the standard lens ideal for candid pictures and photographs taken in low-lighting, common conditions.

A wide angle lens will enable you to capture a photograph that encompasses a larger area than what would be possible with a standard lens. An image captured with a wide angle lens appears to be from a different perspective than from what the human eye can see. These camera lenses are shorter and usually have focal lengths of less than 50mm; typically 35mm or 24mm. Wide angle lenses are ideal for photographing landscapes or areas containing many focal points. They have apertures of F/2 or F/2.8, which allows for a higher depth of field. The extreme wide angle lens, or fish-eye lens, can take a photo that contains almost 180 degrees of the environment. Taking photos of close-up subjects with a fish-eye lens creates a rounded and distorted effect, while using a fish-eye of a far off landscape can produce a stunning panoramic.

The zoom lens is not limited to only one focal length. The lens is able to move and take a photograph from multiple focal ranges. Typically, a zoom lens can achieve focal lengths anywhere from 35mm up to 200mm. More expensive zoom lenses can have apertures under F/4.0, which need to be used in brighter lit conditions such as sunny daylight. Many photographers use zoom lenses to capture sports action from the sidelines or for capturing images of wildlife from a safe distance while giving the perspective of being up close.

A telephoto lens is similar to a zoom lens in that it can capture an up-close image of a subject from far away. However, a telephoto lens is fixed and does not allow for a variety of focal lengths. They come with a smaller aperture and are capable of shooting anywhere from 100mm to 500mm. Because of the long lens, telephotos are heavier and are more susceptible to blurring the photograph with even slight bumps or movements. In order to get up close shots from far distances, though, a telephoto lens may be required.

There are many other specialty lenses, but the four outlined here – the standard, the wide angle, the zoom and the telephoto – are the basic lenses that every photographer should eventually add to their camera bag. Learning what each lens can do and gaining experience by taking photographs with them will allow you to become a knowledgeable artist and a better photographer.

By: Budda Oliver

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zoom lenses

In order to improve the quality of the photographs that you take with DSLR cameras, it’s useful to understand the differences between the types of lenses that you can use to produce various effects. After all, the ability to change lenses is one of the core features which differentiates digital SLR cameras from compact digital cameras.

Normal Zoom Lenses
Don’t be misled by the term “normal” because these lenses can actually cover quite wide angles of view when they are zoomed out to the maximum wide angle range of their capacity. Their use can also be extended to cover medium telephoto aspects and they are great for shooting casual shots of familiar things such as landscapes and groups.Being relatively lightweight and compact they are fairly compact, making them great to carry around to capture everyday events and take great vacation photos.

Telephoto Zoom Lenses
A good example of uses for telephoto lenses is if you are at sporting events such as football games and want to capture the action of the pitch when you can’t get close. Telephoto lenses have a narrower angle of view than normal zoom lenses, which is also good for cutting out the background from a picture.They are mainly considered to be good for portrait photography because they provide the ability to separate a subject from its background by defocussing the background.

Wide-angle Zoom Lenses
These are great for landscape shots or in tight spaces which don’t allow alot of space to move back from the object of focus, wide-angle lenses enable you to capture objects that wouldn’t fit into a picture or photo with a normal zoom lens. With wide-angle zoom lenses it is important that you keep the background simple in order to produce some great photographs.

Macro Lenses
Macro lenses enable you to get up close and personal with the object of your focus because they are designed to focus at much closer distances than other lenses. They are great for capturing fine details and are often used in nature photography to capture small insects or details of flowers.

Fisheye Lenses
Good for providing a unique dome-like effect at the edge of photographs, fisheye lenses produce very wide angles of view with unique renderings that heavily distort straight lines.

Tilt-shift Lenses
If you want to maintain your perspective in a photograph, tilt-shift lenses are very specialised lenses that enable the perspective between the lens and the sensor to be adjusted through tilting and shifting. The tilt movement is able to focus on both near and far points with depth or concentrate the focus or just a single point in a picture. The shift movement works by correcting the oblique distortion which is usually seen in photographs in which you are looking up at an object such as a building. Parallel lines are kept parallel instead of the usual oblique effect in which the object of focus would appear to be more narrow towards the top of the shot.

So there you have a breakdown of the different types of lenses you can use in order to get to grips with developing your skills at digital photography using digital SLR cameras.

By: Melita Miller

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Interested in expanding your camera kit with an extra lens or two? Not sure about lens design and terminology associated with SLR lenses? Here is some information that may help in making that important decision. Good lenses are expensive and you need to get the optimum value for your purchase.

Types of Lenses

There are many types of lenses on the market today, too many to cover in detail here, but here are the most common types you will come across in your pursuit.

Prime or Zoom?

The first consideration is to decide whether you want a zoom lens or a prime lens. A zoom lens has variable focal length so it can function as several lenses in one package. A prime lens is fixed in focal length, so it is restricted to photography that is related to its size.

Photographers will still argue that a prime lens is always going to achieve a better result than a zoom. This is an optically sound argument; however, there have been some serious advances in optical technology over the past decades and the difference is now minimal.

Normal Lens

This lens is a prime and has a fixed focal length of 50 or 55mm. It is called a normal or standard lens as it provides a result the same as our normal viewing perspective. It is considered to be an all purpose lens and usually the first choice if purchasing a prime.

Zoom Lens

A zoom lens covers a variable focal length, the most popular being the 35 to 70mm zoom. This lens will give the same coverage as several prime lenses over this range.

Telephoto Lens

A telephoto is any prime lens with a focal length longer than 50mm. Lenses greater than 300mm are called super telephotos; these are generally in the 300, 500 and 1,000mm range. The greater the telephoto focal range, the greater the price tag.

Mirror Lens

A mirror lens is a telephoto lens but uses a combination of lenses and mirrors to achieve its telephoto capability. The main difference between conventional telephotos is its size, generally a lot shorter. This is great for handling and a cheaper alternative. The downside is it has a fixed aperture and provides less resolution.

Shift Lens

This lens is also known as a perspective correction lens, and has a rising and falling front panel that corrects perspective distortion and converging lines. These are mostly used in architectural photography.

Soft Focus Lens

These lenses are designed for different formats, are not that common and so are very expensive. The lens provides varying degrees of softness and is mainly used in fashion and portrait photography.

Macro Lens

Macro lenses are generally prime lenses and come in various focal lengths (not to be confused with the macro setting that most lenses come with). Macro lenses are for the serious macro photography as they are very expensive. Macro lenses are for extreme close-ups at a ratio of 1:1, 2:1 or larger.

Teleconverters

These lenses provide a cheap and simple way to extend the range of focal lengths without having to buy more lenses. These are fitted between the lens mount and the lens and increase the magnifying power of the original lens. A typical ratio is 2x and 3x converting a 50mm lens to 100mm and 150mm lens respectively.

These are a few ways to increase the capabilities of your camera that enables you to explore a greater variety of photographic subjects. Some are expensive, but others such as described here are not. There are some cheap alternatives available to help you take a further step in your photography.

By: Roo Du Jardin

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Choosing a digital camera can be quite overwhelming with all of the models that are available on the market today. Finding the most suitable of canon zoom lenses can be daunting, but very possible.

When thinking of deciding which canon zoom lenses interest you, the whole point of a camera with interchangeable lenses is you can attach whatever lens you need. Unlike a simple point and shoot with its non-removable lens you are not limited to whatever the manufacturer builds into the camera. Second, everyone has different needs and budgets. So it is usually desirable not to include a lens so you can choose the lens or lenses which are right for you, not a generic lens. Third, what if you were to buy another camera? Then you would have two of the same lenses.

There are three general categories of canon zoom lenses when it comes to how much of a scene they can take in, and the field of view of each type is defined by an optical property known as the focal length of the lens.

A so-called normal lens roughly approximates the perspective, though not the area of, a scene seen by one human eye. By convention a normal lens on a 35mm film camera (and thus a full-frame EOS digital SLR) has a focal length of 50mm or so. Think of normal lenses as being good for taking pictures in close, but not intimate, proximity to a subject, like a waist-up picture of a person in an ordinary room.

A wide-angle lens can take in a large area of a scene. This has two common applications – first, it means you can take in sweeping panoramic landscape scenes, and second, you can take in large areas of an ordinary room. If you want to take a photo of a group of friends at a dinner party you’ll need a wide angle lens unless you can back up far enough to get everyone in. On a 35mm film camera a wide angle lens would have a focal length of, say, 35mm or less.

Looking through a telephoto lens is like using a telescope – it narrows down what can be seen in a scene or makes the subject seem much closer than it really is. A telephoto lens might have a focal length of 70mm or more on a 35mm camera.

You may or may not have an idea of which canon zoom lenses you may want to use. The categories I mentioned above, are of course broad, and there are huge variations in each one. This is where you need to decide which lens will be suitable for your picture taking needs.

By: Cate F

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There are generally four kinds of photography lenses that every wedding photographer should have in his or her gig bag:

Wide-Angle Zoom Wide-to-Telephoto Zoom Image-Stabilized Telephoto Zoom Prime/Portrait Lenses

Wide-Angle Zoom

Wide-angle zoom lenses are one of the most important photography lenses that every wedding photographer should have, typically 17mm to 35mm in length with a fixed aperture of f/2.8. They provide a large depth of field, making it simple to have foreground and background in focus. They are an indispensable wedding photography equipment which allows versatility in confined areas such as a small banquet room or crowded dance floor. While shorter photography lenses allow you to capture more details, wide-angle zoom lenses allow you to capture more reactions and atmosphere to tell a richer story.

To elaborate further, wide-angle zoom photography lenses allow you to shoot a wider perspective of moments happening around the major subject, hence providing a bigger picture of the entire event. For example, wide-angle photos have the capability to tell “stories within a story”, allowing you to reveal more of the story behind the shot. This is essential for a good photojournalistic wedding photography. As events surrounding weddings are so time sensitive, good photography lenses will allow you to capture as many actions or emotions in the quickest time as possible.

When used in a venue such as the church or ballroom, wide-angle zoom photography lenses also magnify the grandeur and spaciousness of the area, which encapsulates the creative feel for a photojournalistic wedding photography.

However, you need to be selective of the scenes or actions using wide-angle photography lenses, as a caveat to shooting wide is that it creates some body distortion, particularly when a subject is photographed close-up. Generally, people tend to look heavier and shorter on the edges, while arms can look huge. The last thing you want is to have the bride cursing you for making her look like she has put on 10 pounds! To get around this problem, you should as far as possible avoid putting the bride and groom at the edges of the wide-angle distortion. In addition, wide-angle photography lenses might also introduce distracting or unwanted elements into the frame, which would otherwise ruin a picture perfect moment.

Wide-to-Telephoto Zoom

Wide-to-telephoto lenses are the single most important photography lenses that a wedding photographer cannot do without. They should ideally be lenses that cover somewhere around the 20-70mm focal length range with an aperture of f/2.8. This ideal range lets you get wide enough to take a group photograph and close enough to capture facial emotions in your candid shots or a three-quarter portrait of a couple without the undesirable effects of wide-angle perspective distortion. They also double as good lenses for portraits. Given just this lens, you would be able to capture most of the shots needed for a wedding decently well.

Image-Stabilized Telephoto Zoom

Image-stabilized telephoto zoom lenses are also essential items in your wedding photography equipment checklist. The 70-200mm focal length is an important range for wedding ceremony photos. It allows you to give your subjects more space in situations where you don’t want to get in the way. As you will often be photographing down the aisle from the back of the church, image-stabilized telephoto zoom lenses will come in very handy. 200mm is long enough to be able to take 3/4 length images of the bride and groom exchanging their vows while staying at a reasonable distance away from the action and 70mm is wide enough to take in the bridesmaids or groomsmen as a group without switching photography lenses.

A good point to note is that when using such photography lenses, nice blurred background can be achieved with maximum wide apertures of f/2.8 and long focal lengths of 200mm or 300mm, whether you are using a full-frame or a small sensor body. This allows you to isolate the subject from its background, and to focus attention on the image as the main subject you want to portray. Such photography lenses are especially useful for shots where you are unable to get in close and for intimate and private moments, where you want to be an unobserved stranger at a distance. Some examples include a stolen glance, a mischievous grin, a kiss – the details that are effectively conveyed by the emotions. Image-stabilized telephoto zoom photography lenses hence play an important role in capturing such moments.

These image-stabilized telephoto zoom photography lenses aren’t only good for blurry backgrounds or shooting events from a distance. They could also be used to photograph stunning facial close-ups from creative angles above or below the subject that don’t exhibit the normal distortions of large chins or shrinking heads that come from wider photography lenses.

Yet another advantage of such photography lenses is that you can use the small-sensor camera’s 1.5x crop factor to your favour. The 200/2.8 long end of the standard zoom effectively becomes 300/2.8, a lens that would cost $4000 for a full-frame camera. The effective 300mm length allows for more creative photo angles than shorter photography lenses, such as tightly cropped images of the groom’s hands lifting the bride’s veil or the bride and groom’s hands while they put rings on each others fingers.

The obvious disadvantage of image-stabilized telephoto zooms is that in many cases, long photography lenses tend to disconnect the subject from the main scene and there might be little to no context as to why the subject may have had expressed how they were feeling, the whereabouts of the subject and who else was there.

When using a small-sensor camera as your primary or backup body, the other disadvantage of image-stabilized telephoto zoom lenses is that neither Nikon, Canon or Sony make an f/2.8 lens that gives you an effective 70-200mm focal length. Hence, you would have to pay the high price and carry the weight of photography lenses designed for a full-frame camera.

Canon’s Image-Stabilization, Nikon’s Vibration-Reduction and Sony’s SteadyShot INSIDE systems are indispensable in allowing you to hand-hold these large and heavy long photography lenses, especially in low light situations. Every wedding photographer should ensure that the image-stablization and vibration-reduction features are available on their long lenses. You might also want to consider using a tripod to ensure continuous, accurate subject placement and sharp photos. Such telephoto zoom photography lenses are huge investments and if you have a budget constraint or an amateur just starting out, you might want to consider rental instead.

Prime Lenses

Prime lenses are essentially photography lenses with fixed focal lengths, as opposed to zoom lenses, which have variable focal lengths of say 24-70mm or 17-55mm. Prime lenses generally have a better optical quality than zoom photography lenses, and usually come with wider maximum apertures such as f/2.8 or f/1.8.

Good prime lenses are must-have photography lenses for any wedding photographer, as they are excellent for taking good portraits. Although you will be adequately equipped for a wedding shoot with the three zoom lenses in your lens kit as discussed above, it is worth including two to three fast prime lenses in your bag as well. These photography lenses are compact, light, and fairly inexpensive and would probably be needed in about 10 to 20% of a wedding shoot.

Faster prime photography lenses are ideal in situations where f/2.8 aperture is not enough to get the motion-stopping shutter speed or shallow depth of field desired, whether for artistic or technical reasons. For example, an image that requires a 1/20th of a second shutter speed at f/2.8 will only require 1/60th of a second at f/1.8, forming a distinction between a sharp image and a blurry one. Many professional wedding photographers actually include prime lenses in their gig bags as an economical backup to their zoom lenses. Not many people could afford to purchase an additional 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto lens as a backup and you also want to prevent a frantic situation whereby your photography lens fails on you during a crucial moment.

There are many prime lenses available on the market but most photographers would include a 28/1.8, 50/1.8, and 85/1.8 in their prime photography lenses kit to be used on a full-frame body. The 28mm is wide enough to cover most ceremony locations and confined spaces, the 50mm is good for small groups or a priest blessing a couple, and the 85mm is long enough for ceremony vows and exchange of rings. A wedding can be successfully photographed with just these three photography lenses.

By: Tan Vivien

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A first from Nikon Digital SLR and also first for the world, the Nikon D90 is capable of recording exceptional twenty-four frames per second High-definition movie clips with sound at up to 720p Full HD in motion JPEG format, enhanced by Nikon d90 lenses. D90 camera by Nikon is a 12.3-megapixel paired with Nikon’s EPEED image processing technologies and Nikon optics.

The Nikon D90 is coupled with an 18-105mm lens kit, so you don’t need to invest on some lenses because the 18-105mm lens is a good standard zoom lens. But if you are still looking for a good lens that can handle all types of fields to cover then you might want to check the AF-S Nikon 50mm for standard portraits, AF-S NIKOOR 85mm a telephoto lens and the newest and most used by both hobbyist and professional the AF-S NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR II. These three lenses are often the chosen of most photographers because these three lenses can hand you out a perfect pair with your Nikon D90 body.

There is no doubt that the Nikon D90 is very impressive DSLR, but like its predecessor, it’s more about enhanced features and superior handling rather than greatly improved image quality.

In the digital photography world, there are four specific types of lenses that can be mounted on a Nikon D90 DSLR. First is the Zoom lenses, the focal length of a zoom lens is not fixed, instead it can be varied between minimum and maximum value. The modern lens technology has created a great quality to support a clear image capture and it is become the standard lenses for DSLR cameras. Second is the Prime lens, a standard non-zoom lens. A prime lens is typically giving a slightly better image quality and lighter than a zoom lens of the same quality. Third is the Macro lens, it is designed for total extreme close-up capture and lastly the special purpose lenses. These types of lenses are made for special purposes. Selecting some perfect for Nikon lenses to pair with your D90 body will surely make a better quality photos.

By: Sue Chambers

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Many people looking to buy a second lens for their digital SLR camera are baffled by the number of lenses available. There are so many to choose from, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the choices. Check out these 5 top SLR camera lenses and discover why people love them so much.

1. Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens

The key to this lens is the image stabilization. The stabilization allows more photo ops without having to use a tripod. This makes for more crystal clear photos at Johnny’s soccer game, or capturing a flock of birds at take-off. Image stabilization is an absolute must on a hand-held zoom telephoto lens.

2. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens

For people looking for a fixed focal length, this lens is lightweight and affordable. The images are sharp with great color balance. It’s great for portraits and it focuses as close as 18 inches, so you gardeners will find this lens very useful. Most people who use this lens can’t stop talking about the picture quality.

3. Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens

This Nikkor telephoto zoom len also has image stabilization which they call Vibration Reduction. It’s the Nikon version of the Canon listed above. The lens is ideal for sports, action, wildlife, and travel when you want a telephoto lens. The fans of this lens love it for capturing sports and action.

4. Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens

Like the 50mm Canon lens above, this lens has a fixed focal length. But the quality of the pictures outweighs the fact that you need to move your feet around alot to get the shot. It’s really versatile and should be in everyone’s camera bag. Fans of this lens say it works great in low light situations both indoors and out.

5. Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Zoom Nikkor Lens

This Nikkor telephoto zoom lens is great for professional or advanced amateur photographers. It helps you capture close-up sports shots and national park wildlife without standing right next to your subject. The Vibration Reductions extends the use of the camera to capture more shots while hand held. Like the telephoto lenses above, the lens is slower than a professional zoom, so it’s not a good choice for action photography in lower light conditions (like indoor sports without flash or outside sports at dusk).

Now obviously, these SLR camera lenses are only suitable for Canon and Nikon camera fans. But take this information and find a lens that works with your camera. You’ll explore an exciting new area of photography and take your hobby or profession to a whole new level.

By: Debbie Lattuga

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Zooming lenses form an integral part of a digital camcorder. A system of lenses in which two or more elements are budged with regard to each other to attain an incessantly changeable focal length and hence exaggeration, while the image is reserved in the similar image plane. A zoom lens is a mechanical meeting of lens components with the capability to differ its focal length, as resisted to a fixed focal length (FFL) lens. They are usually utilized with video, still, motion picture cameras, some binoculars, projectors, telescopes, microscopes, telescopic sights and other optical instruments. A true zoom lens, also called a par focal lens, is one that keeps focus when its focal length alters. A lens that misplaces focus during zooming is more correctly called a varifocal lens.

Zoom lenses permit you to budge exaggeration efficiently and constantly, generally from usual or ample angle to telephoto, whereas keeping focus. Exaggeration is adjusted by either splaying the zoom lapel of the lens or by driving a button which makes a mechanical zoom. Most new video camcorders arrive outfitted with a zoom lens. Camcorders with compatible lens mounts willingly allow both zoom lenses and fixed focus lenses.

The feature of zoom lenses has advanced over the years to opponent the feature of fixed focus lenses and proposes videographers huge suppleness. This is of scrupulous benefit for videographers who must spurt on the fly. If you are spurting weddings, documentaries, public events or anything else where you may have only one possibility to obtain a shot, knowing how to create the greatest utilize of your camcorder zoom lens will be essential.

You can diminish the upshot of a zoom by masking it, typically by lending movement. Unite a zoom with a saucepan or dolly or hoist movement. If you do this very cautiously, no one will recognize you zoomed, even though the out looker may intellect some warp of viewpoint. The tinier the zoom the better is the outcome.

When you are in a position where you can’t adjust the video camcorder forward or back to frame a shot, you can alter the zoom to obtain the framing you desire. Just zoom in or out awaiting you have the picture framed, then establish spurting. Its simple to overlook that you can do this when you have been striding approximately obtaining most of the attempts framed the method you desire, merely by setting the camera anywhere you desire.

The greatest utilize of your camcorder zoom lens is to aid you obtain the attempts you desire, not to deform viewpoint and sidetrack the out looker from the topic by demonstrating a zoom during an attempt. Usually speaking, don’t demonstrate a zoom in your last product, unless completely essential.

Optical zoom computes the genuine raise in the focal length of the lens. Focal length is the aloofness between the middle of the image sensor and the lens. By prompting the lens farther from the image feeler within the camera body, the zoom raises because a minor portion of the scene smacks the image feeler, effecting in exaggeration. When utilizing optical zoom, some digital cameras will have a silky zoom, entailing you to discontinue at a few points along the whole length of the zoom for a limited zoom.

The digital zoom dimension on a digital camera, to set it frankly, is valueless under most spurting situations. Digital zoom is a tool where the camera spurts the photo and then picks and exaggerates it to make a fake close-up photo. This practice needs exaggerating or removing entity pixels, which can give rise to image feature deprivation. Customarily you can complete tasks equivalent to a digital zoom with photo redacting software on your computer after you spurt the photo.

Zoom lenses are flooded with plethora of advantages which includes creativity, versatility, speed, sharpness, compactness, fast focusing etc. The advantages increase proportionately and strides towards infinity.

By: Fredrick Joy

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There are two types of zooms used with digital cameras: optical and digital.

Optical Zoom

An optical zoom changes magnification by moving glass in the lens, changing the image falling on the sensor. Using an optical zoom maintains picture quality.

Zoom Ranges and 35mm Equivalents

Optical zoom lenses usually have a specification called “equivalent in 35mm.” This tells you the zoom range of the digital camera compared to a 35mm film camera. Typical 35mm equivalent zoom ranges you will see listed are 35mm-70mm or 35mm-105mm.

For example:

Wide-angle means a lens takes in more than normal viewing perspective. Telephoto lenses magnify the subject, bring it closer. Using these numbers as a guide, you can get an idea of the range of zoom lenses and what they will do for you.

28mm…..wide angle

35mm……slight wide angle

50mm…..normal perspective

70mm…..slight telephoto

105mm…..moderate telephoto

135mm…..strong telephoto

200mm+…..extreme telephoto So, a 35mm-105mm equivalent zoom lens changes from a slight wide angle to a moderate telephoto. A 28mm-200mm equivalent lens changes from a wide angle to an extreme telephoto.

A 35mm-105mm equivalent zoom is adequate for most users. If you plan on doing landscapes or picture taking in small, confined areas, consider a camera that can zoom to a 28mm equivalent.

Optical Zoom as 2x, 3x, 5x…

Taking the 35mm-105mm example above, we divide 105 by 35 to get a 3x zoom. A 28mm-105mm would be approximately a 4x zoom, and a 35mm-350mm would be a 10x zoom.

Digital Zoom

A digital zoom does not change, magnification. It simply crops the image on the sensor to magnify the image. Because less sensor is used, you use fewer pixels. This decreases picture quality. When comparing cameras, always use the optical number as this is much more important. You can get the same effect as a digital zoom by using software to crop the photos.

Note About Digital Zoom

As digital cameras become more sophisticated and powerful they are becoming capable of delivering “optical tricks” that render pictures that are remarkably stable and good looking. Only recently, cameras “digital zooms” are getting much better. Like all things though some companies are better than others. Do your research.

By: Michael Huddleston

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I always see the question posed “What lens should I use for wedding photography?” For all intents and purposes, I’m only going to speak to Canon lenses but I’m sure that this information can be transposed for Nikon purposes. I’m also assuming that because you’re shooting weddings, you are serious about photography and have (or will) invested money into quality fast glass.

There are really two ways you can approach it when looking at renting or purchasing lenses. Wedding photography is usually shot in low-lit conditions and it is important to have fast glass, that is lens with high apertures. You also want lenses that have excellent optical quality but that is obvious.

For this reason, primes are excellent when shooting weddings if you are able to move free and quickly and “zoom with your feet”. In what can be regarded as the “trinity” of primes, the Canon 35mm f1.4 L lens, Canon 85mm f1.2 mkII L lens and Canon 135mm f2.0 L lens is an excellent trio of lenses one can use whether they are shooting wide or zoom.

If you need to be more versatile or are unable to be able to zoom, the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L lens and Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS L lens are an excellent combo that is extremely versatile and also relatively fast at f2.8. Obviously it is not as fast as the primes are but you have all ranges from 24 to 200 covered.

I hope that this article has been useful in considering some of the choices given all of Canons lenses out there. I regularly shoot with these 5 lenses (usually either the zoom options or the prime options depending on what conditions I am shooting in).

By: J Lau

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