Let's talk about lenses, shall we? I'm a big proponent of working with whatever lens you've got. But I thought it would be illuminating to show three different lenses shooting the same coffee shop scene.
Each specific lens will act differently depending on which camera body you mount it on. So if you are considering a new lens, it's important to know how this piece of equipment will fit the camera you have. My favorite way to test lenses is to go to the camera store with my camera body, laptop and sd/cf card and take some pictures in the store with my set up and look at the images on my screen; this way I know what I'm looking for and how it's going to work for me.
So here we have three images, shot from the exact same place, showing three very different scenes. Sure my subject (the blond woman) moved a little too, but you can see how much range each lens gets; we move from very wide (11-18mm) where you can see the ceiling and table in foreground to medium range (18-55mm) and finally to the close up of the couch with the woman leaning on it (60mm). Neat huh?
I think a whole lot of images can be achieved with just a kit lens to any entry level DSLR, or even a point and shoot. However, the wide angle shows a lot more content in the scene — which can be great — and the 60mm macro is working as a portrait type of lens in this case, showing almost none of the environment the woman is in.
So depending on what you shoot most often, this can help sway you one way or another. And comfort level is big too — are you going to be bogged down by a heavy lens and not want to photograph? Do you like the cropping of a fixed 50 mm or macro lens, which forces you to move your body all around your scene? Or do you like an all–purpose lens you don't have to worry about? These are all questions to consider and food for thought when thinking about lenses.
xoxo,
Leela the Photo Magician
(Images: Leela Cyd Ross)
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Leela, what focal lengths are you using on the non-prime lenses? It would be much more helpful if we knew that the middle photo was shot at 18mm or 35mm or 55mm (whatever the case may be) than just saying a photo is shot with an 18-55mm lens, which can presumably be used at any focal length from 18mm to 55mm.
(I hope that question made sense. It did in my head but may not have been translated well once I typed it out.)
i was thinking the same thing but since they are focused on showing the difference between each of them I am going to guess they shot them all on the widest setting. 11mm, 18mm and 60mm.
i have a 17-50, 18-55, 50, 60, and 50-250. The 17-50 is the newest and hasn't came off yet since it is a constant ƒ2.8, has stabilization, and is HSM. Your midrange doesn't have to be a kit lens though, you can get high quality lenses in this range too. Love my new midrange.
I think that the only thing anyone is going to get out of this is that different sized lenses shoot different sized objects. the first two statements are spot on. She doesn't talk about distortion, lens types, focal distance, aperture, stabilization, etc. etc. "A portrait type of lens" What is that? This series has been ok, but I'm missing the point of this one.
Sorry, I meant to say the first two comments.
Is that Ristretto Roasters?
I vote funstraw writes a replacement for this entry! I haven't taken a photography class since undergrad, but as far as I recall all the issues she brought up are far more important to the photo than the little blurb here!
@Talby, I second the motion! I clicked on this because I am looking to buy a new lens or two and this blurb did nothing to inform or educate me. It's too bad, because it could be a really good series of posts.
There's also the price issue to consider. You can get a cheap 50, but where do you get a cheap 10? That's the sole reason I don't have a 10. I have a Panasonic LX5 for those types of shots (but the quality as compared to my DSLR is really much lower). The LX5 also does HD video, though (quite nicely), and is much easier to transport in certain circumstances. Still, I'd rather have a 10 for my DSLR...
Second @crystalj that @talby should re-write this post. Another thing the author doesn't say: are these taken with a full-frame DSLR (eg Canon 5DMkII or Nikon D700) or crop factor (most everything else)? Related, are the lenses designed for full-frame cameras or crop-factor cameras?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor
This isn't some picky academic quibble. It's a very big factor in why there is as much or little slice of the world depicted in the photos above.
It's fine to do a short post that doesn't cover everything, but you have to let people know what you're leaving out! (Either tell people you'll be covering X in a future post, or provide links to others' material.) Otherwise, the entire thing is more misleading and confusing than helpful.
Vernonlee, these pictures were taken with a crop sensor camera. It isn't stated in the article, but there is no rectilinear (keeps the lines straight) 11mm lens for a full-frame DSLR. 18-55mm on a crop sensor camera is a standard midrange zoom, whereas 18mm on a full-frame camera would be pretty darn wide (equivalent to what you're seeing with the 11mm lens in the post above).
IMO a lens is like a woman. Each lens has it's own features, it's strengths, weaknesses, but in the end, they all have dials, knobs, switches and if you can't figure it out you ruin the big picture.
That said, you have to understand the WHAT of the lens's features before you can understand the WHY. If you don't know the difference between an F-stop, shutter speed, focal length and it's effects on the scene in front of you IE a zoom lens is usually f/3.5 at shortest focal length but drops to f/5.6 at full zoom and if you are shooting in manual, do you know what changes to make to compensate for what the lens just did and how each change has it's own set of effects in the outcome of the picture.
Don't forget about Crop sensor vs. Full frame. If you buy a Crop body and then switch to a Full body, prepare to start over with a few lenses. Most are designated with a "Designed For"
You like taking pictures of the outdoors 8mm-24mm - fields, mountains sparse forest/woods get a low mm lens so you can take it all in. Wide lenses are great for tight spaces too. Cost: $$$ - $$$$$
Midrange 20mm-75mm. Going somewhere that will have you close (but not too close) at times and 10 yards away the next? Get something in this range. There are a tone of options and for many people, this is a "Go To" range. You'll notice many kit lenses are 18mm-60mm for this reason.
Cost: $$$ - $$$$$
"Hello from ___somewhere-ville____!" 75-300mm These are the ones you own because you know there are times you won't be anywhere near what it is you are trying to capture, like a Lion at the zoo or in the crowd for a child's concert/dance/play/etc. "IS" or Image Stabilization is a very handy feature to have on long lenses because you WILL jitter while holding this camera/lens combo and if you aren't able to get a brightly lit environment, say hello to motion blur (smudged subjects)!
Cost: $$ - $$$$$
Notables:
"Nifty-Fifty" 50mm prime in f/1.4 or f/1.8 Forgiving f-stop, lightweight, compact, SHARP, CHEAP $ while sturdily built. this is a great lens to play with. It teaches you to zoom with your feet. People forget that is an option with zoom lenses still.
85 (+/-)mm f/2.8 - That is a good portrait lens. Sharp, excellent bokeh.
You may have noticed these last two are fixed focal length and prime to boot. GENERALLY, lenses that lack either zoom or are prime TEND to be sharper than those that have one or both features. There are exceptions as correlation does not mean causation.
For the Canon people you'll find an "L" series lens will TEND be one of the best options for a lens but you'll also find a hefty price tag attached.
For Nikon you'll find Nikkor series lenses to be some of the best options for you. Just like the "L" glass, check the tag first before you drool on it.
Sigma, Tamron also make MANY quality lenses. I own one from both of them, my Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 RARELY leaves the body of my camera.
And the last point that could cause quite a ruckus:
A lens will have more impact on your shots than a body every will.