Daily Photo Tips Archive

22.Aug.11Lenses are generally grouped into 'primes' and 'zooms'. Within the prime and zoom classes, there are further groupings based on focal length. In some lens lineups, a third category may be added for 'special application' lenses.

21.Aug.11The large front element on a large super-telephoto lens is extremely expensive to produce. Because the glass is so thick, it must be cooled slowly over a period of months (or even years) after being poured to prevent cracking.

20.Aug.11Damage to a camera body is sometimes not as critical as damage to a lens. Since camera bodies become obsolete much faster than lenses, some photographers see them as less valuable.

19.Aug.11When converting a photograph to black and white, mixing a large amount of one colour can badly posterize a photograph. If the adjacent hues are similar but not blended to the same degree, the transition areas can be noisy and unpleasant.

18.Aug.11Some third party lenses and accessories are charming and interesting because of their low quality. Sometimes, particularly in portrait and street photography, blurry 'toy' looking photographs are more fitting than those taken with the best quality lenses!

17.Aug.11Beanbags don't have to be heavy to be effective. If used properly over a firm surface, even small, lightweight beanbags can effectively stabilize a long telephoto lens for long or short shutter speeds.

16.Aug.11Wide angle lenses will require you to physically move the camera more often in order to change a composition. Since wide angle lenses have a very large field of view, the number of possible compositions from a particular location is quite limited.

15.Aug.11One way to reduce obvious noise is to photograph subjects in a way that avoids detail in shadows. Since shadow areas are notoriously noisy, being able to 'block up' the shadow areas in post-processing is an excellent way to avoid distracting noise.

14.Aug.11Different camera formats will have different common lens designs. Some designs naturally evolve to suit the inherent optical qualities of the system; others appear because of the demands of the photographers who tend to use such a system.

13.Aug.11Macro lenses aren't just interesting for their ability to focus on small objects. Macro lenses, owing to their optical design and their very close focusing range, can also render pronounced and interesting bokeh in the foreground or background of a photograph.

12.Aug.11New camera systems, particularly those with significantly different optical designs, may include lens types not available in past camera systems. This can be extremely exciting for photographers who have tried many common lenses and are looking for a change!

11.Aug.11Wide prime lenses are lenses from about 20mm to about 35mm (35mm equivalent). They are often fast and easy to hand-hold, and can be extremely sharp. Wide primes are considered general use for anything from full-body portraits, to landscapes, to street photography.

10.Aug.11Super-zoom lenses usually range from about 28mm to about 200mm (35mm equivalent), though the range varies greatly. Variable-aperture super-zooms are usually lightweight, but slow and optically awful. Some large, heavy professional-quality super-zooms exist as well.

09.Aug.11Most major camera brands include at least a few lenses unique to that brand. Depending on your style of photography, these unique lenses can be a real reason to choose one camera system over another.

08.Aug.11Some companies make two versions of popular prime lens lengths: a 'pro' version and a regular version. The regular version will be smaller, but slower and sometimes softer. The pro version will be sharp, fast, but also very heavy and expensive.