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The best thing about owning an SLR camera is the ability to change lenses
for different situations. There are two groups of lenses, the non-zoom
(prime) or the zoom lens. These days you can pretty much buy a zoom lens
that will have the same focal length (mm number) as a non-zoom. Most prime
lenses however have a higher maximum aperture (lower f number) and greater
quality then its zoom equivalent and a much cheaper price. The higher
aperture allows greater background blur and faster shutter speeds for
shots without the use of a tripod.
Different categories of lens
Fisheye (180 degree)
Fisheye lenses are usually around the 15mm focal length. They capture a
very distorted view that captures the most image onto the film. These
lenses are quite expensive and are for special uses only. You can however
obtain a fisheye adapter for your lens at fairly cheap price especially
second hand from somewhere like e-bay.
Wide angle
Wide angle lenses are quite popular with photographers. They can give some
of the most depth shots of all of the lenses. Lenses that are between
around 24-35mm can be considered wide angle lenses. Wide angle lenses even
come on most of the common kit lenses (the 28-80,etc.)
The standard lens
The standard lens has a fixed focal length of 50mm. These were the most
common lenses before the release of the consumer zoom (28-80mm) lens. They
have the quality of the most expensive lenses on the market and most are
the cheapest lenses too with the most popular brands 50mm being under
$100US. They usually have a maximum aperture of around f/2 but on the
downside do not have the convenience of a zoom. This is a great
alternative or addition to the kit zooms (28-80mm).
Standard zoom lenses
These lenses usually have focal lengths between 28mm to higher than 200mm.
These are usually the lenses offered to you with beginner SLR kits. They
usually are quite slow lenses that are ideal for beginners. They do
however lack quality and as you will progress you will grow out of these
lenses. That is not to say that these are bad, if you were to use these
lenses effective you will notice little difference at smaller print sizes.
Telephoto lenses
These lenses come in either primes (non-zoom) or zoom. They are usually
high focal lengths like 300mm or higher. These are used for things like
wildlife where a great amount of zoom is required. These are also very
expensive and almost always require the use of a tripod for use.
Next article >>
What should you look for when buying film?
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