Zoom or Prime Lenses

If you are taking photographs using a camera with interchangeable lenses than you will be making various decisions about what lens to use. Why not take a look at my previous photography post on Focal Length of Lenses.

This post will quickly discuss why you might choose a zoom lens or a prime lens for you photography.

- What is a Prime Lens?

• Prime Lenses have only one focal length.
• They come in many many different focal lengths (i.e. 20mm, 50mm, 100mm and so on.)
• You cannot zoom in and out.
• Usually cheaper in relation to quality.

- What is a Zoom Lens?

• A Zoom Lens has a range of focal lengths.
• This means that as you turn the zoom ring it moves through 20mm-100mm (for example).
• This is zooming.
• Zoom Lenses are convenient.
• Its like having many lenses all in one.
• They are a wide angle and telephoto at the same time.

The focal length specification of a prime lens will describe itself as 50mm (one number). A zoom lens will describe it’s focal length as 20mm-100mm (two numbers). In other words, the zoom lens is like many prime lenses in one.

So why would you bother with a prime lens? It sounds restricting.

Zoom lenses are said to be improving in quality but are still regarded as not as good a primes.

Prime Lenses are considered to assist in better quality, sharper and cleaner photographs.

One is designed for a sole purpose and one is multi-tasking.

At university we were all required to use prime lenses and not zoom lenses. There are many reasons for this other than quality. It also makes you think much harder about what you are doing.

Thinking Harder:

Prime Lenses make you think harder. Rather than being able to control your environment by bringing it closer to you or farther away whenever you desire, you are forced to concentrate you energy on a common mode. You have to think harder to plan how you will photography the subject given the circumstances. You choose a certain prime with a certain focal length for a certain purpose and then stick to it.

It also takes  a lot of pressure off you – you do not need to photography everything in sight in 20 different focal lengths. As you cannot zoom in, you don’t!

Thinking more about the process will also get you more in touch with photography as a medium as you learn not to take the photograph for granted. Your input is increased and you final shot is achieved through higher levels of creativity and understanding of how the camera works in relation to your viewpoint, the world and the science of the lens.

There a benefits to zoom lenses of course. Freedom to take one lens with you means you needn’t worry about photographing all sorts of moments and subjects.

Thanks for Reading,

Dan

Packing Your Bag & Things Not To Forget

If you are like me, you don’t like carrying to much. Sometimes I wouldn’t bring my text books to school because they were too heavy – everyone did it – no wonder we were all sharing.

Anyway, First there is a tip that will help you pack in the first place.

Its not always possible, but could you choose only one lens to take with you?  Sometimes it pays to keep things simple. If you are going out to shoot landscapes you don’t need a telescopic/telephoto lens. If you are shooting wildlife, then you won’t want a wide angle lens.

If you packed a wide angle lens and then a parrot arrives and sits on a branch near you, you may just have to let that moment pass and enjoy it with your eyes instead. Sometimes it helps you to focus your skills if you don’t bring a whole arsenal of lenses with you. Its up to you.

So what’s in your bag?

1. Blower (if dust or fluff gets on your lens you can blow it off).
2. Spare Film (in case you need more or bugger up some).
3. Film Containers (to protect the finished films).
4. Cable Release (if shooting in low light)
5. Lens Hood
6. Do you need a Tripod?

That may be all you need. In a well padded bag. Buy one with sections. There are even nice rucksacks now, expensive in some places. Shop around or buy one second hand, its only a bag not your duvet covers.

I was going to put cloth on the list. You need a cloth or piece of kitchen roll too. Its not on the list because I do not want to influence the way in which you clean your lens, that is another matter. I don’t clean lenses out on the field.

I use UV filters (see my UV filter post). This protects the lens. But if rain gets on my filter, I wipe off the droplets and blow any fluff off. That’s safe enough – but lens cleaning is a much more sensitive issue. DO NOT clean lenses with kitchen roll – use a brillo pad (that’s obviously a joke, but you can’t be too careful, so I should state that it is a joke to use brillo pads or kitchen roll to clean lenses.)

When you’re out you might ruin a film or two just by making mistakes. It happened to me a lot during my university course. So take plenty of film.

I used to forget to take the lens cap off when using my rangefinder. You wouldn’t make that mistake with an SLR. See my post on rangefinders.

To stop this I sellotaped a card on the back of my camera saying to TAKE THE LENS CAP OFF! You can do the same for other procedures you are not familiar of. An example for digital users, what about a note that says, “Am I Charged?”

Remember to tear off the flap of the cardboard box the film came in. The flap that has the name of the film and therefore the film speed. On some cameras you can slip it in a neat holder on the back of the camera or “film back”. Then you are reminded what speed to set both: your camera and “light meter” to.

Which brings me to another point. Remember to set the film speed on your light meter. It is easy to forget (if you are forgetful). If you have made this mistake and taken a whole roll of film based on incorrect settings on the light meter, take note of the ISO (film speed) you set it to. There is a way to save that film… potentially. For now I will just give you a link – “PUSH OR PULL” its very complicated.

Don’t forget, if you are bringing a tripod, where is the screw piece? It might be on another camera still and you may end up carrying a heavy tripod out for nothing.

I tend to set up my camera a little before I go out to. Whether that be setting the ISO on my digital camera (and choosing RAW or JPEG), or loading the first film at home. Screw the piece for your tripod into your camera before you leave. I think you do more prep work in Winter!

Good Luck out there.

 

Thanks for reading,

Dan Larsson.

Tea Time Tips : A few handy tips on photography to take in

Here are a few photography tips to take in over a cup of tea and a hobnob (chocolate).

• Take you time. You have already decided its worth photographing. Stay and take photographs from many different angles – a tiny adjustment to the left or right could make all the difference.

• Use Brackets. On a Digital camera there will be a BKT (brackets setting) or with a fully manual camera, you can do it yourself. Brackets means that you take 3 photographs at once. One will be underexposed, one will be normal and one will be overexposed. It means you are playing a safer bet by ensuring you have a decent exposure to choose from. Also, in photoshop you can combine elements of each.

• Don’t zoom. Move closer. Certainly never use digital zoom (as oppose to optical zoom). It is argued that zoom lenses are best when you are zoomed in half way. You’ll have to see for yourself. If you are buying a new lens soon, buy a prime lens instead of a zoom lens. I will make a post about this choice soon.

• If you are feeling that you image is boring but the subject is exciting, here’s a tip! Don’t stand up straight like your mum taught you. Try and crouch, lay down, bend your knees a little. You will eliminate the photographer from the image – its harder to relate to the human behind the camera. (unless that was what you were trying to do. That’s for another day.) It also just gives the viewer a more interesting perspective of the world.

• You don’t need to include the sky. In fact stop it for a day. Don’t have the sky in your shots today.

If you would like me to help you with your photographs, you can email it to me and I can make a comment or two.

dan.how2photo@googlemail.com

Thanks for reading,

Dan

UV Filters : Two Second Tip

What is a UV filter?

Apparently it brings out details that the haze of the sun stops. Its a bit like wearing polarised sun glasses.

Do I need one?

Use them to protect your lens. Once you’ve scratched your lens, you’re buggered. So why take the risk?

The argument is that it will reduce the quality of the final image in some cases. Its true, that if you are going to go to the bother of buying a lens in the first place then spending £30 on a very good B+H UV filter is worth it.

Look at it this way: you buy a nice lens and then stick a crap piece of glass in front of it. Why? Cos you don’t know any better you silly plonker!

If you don’t want to buy a filter the alternative is a lens hood. This is meant to protect from wind, dust, rain and light. It therefore protects the lens, and stops your fingers getting near it too.

If you scratch the filter, you buy another, your down £30, not £300. Sounds good to me.

Remember, before buying, check the size you need (in mm) if you don’t know, google your lens and check the specs.

Thanks for reading,

Dan Larsson

Camera Basics: Aperture and Shutter Speed. 10 minute crash course.

The first thing you need to know before you switch to manual is what aperture and shutter speed is all about.

Taking a photo means choosing an aperture and shutter speed setting first.

Both alter the amount of light that enters the camera and hits the negative. Simple as that.

Aperture refers to how open the lens is. I.e. is it wide open or a tiny winy hole.

Shutter Speed is about time. The length of time the shutter is open for. The duration of the process of taking a photo.

Become familiar with these, like a painter becomes familiar with his/her paints, and it will help you to manipulate the scene in front of you, but its also just bloody important.

If you have your aperture wide open, that will let a lot of light in. So, you need to use a faster shutter speed. That makes sense right? Otherwise you’ll letting in vast amounts of light… too much light and the negative will get fried like an egg on a hot pavement. You need to have either the aperture or the shutter speed letting lots of light in, but not both. There is a balance.

You see, cameras and our human eyes work in a similar way. Our eyes adjust in the dark by opening up wider so more light gets in and we can see better. Likewise, our pupils shrink in the sun. You cant change our shutter speed though, unfortunately.

If you are in the dark with a camera you can create a photo in which the night becomes day. You do this by using a slow shutter speed. You can take the photograph for as long as you like, 2 seconds, 30 seconds, 5 minutes! Experiment to see what works best. It depends if you want realism or something odd! A camera can soak in the light from those 5 minutes and make things lighter. The difference between aperture and shutter speed in this example is that shutter speed can be altered to whatever you like using the “bulb” or “b” setting. Aperture settings are limted to a min and a max.

Aperture is more complex than I have let on so far. You know those gorgeous food photos where the background is all blury, sexy! The lower/smaller the number you set your aperture to, the wider the hole, and the wider the hole the less of the scene is in focus. This also means you have to take more care when focusing – making sure the precise bit you want in focus is in focus! Small aperture setting are like f 2.8 or smaller. It can look crap if you don’t focus right.

Narrower/higher aperture settings such as f32 or f22 means that the hole is very small. Its like squinting you eyes to see something far away, have you see your dad do that? It is what you would use for a wide open landscape because you want everything in focus. Later you will come to decide things like this, not simply based on subject, but on aesthetic. Remember, as the hole is small, less light is getting in, so you need a slower shutter speed.

Imagine you are taking a photo in the evening when the light is low. Its a landscape and you want to use f22. The hole is small. Your light meter therefore tells you to use a shutter speed of 10″ seconds. You cant keep still enough for 10 seconds to get a still shot… no you cant! You need a tripod.

You may hear people refer to some lenses as “fast”. That’s because they have low aperture settings, i.e. they can open up wide and let a lot of light in. This gives you more flexibility to take photos in low light as you can keep a fast shutter speed thus not need a tripod… does it all make sense now? You don’t need me anymore eh?

Thanks for reading,

Dan