For those of you inspecting a lens purchase in the near future, the following lens characteristics are foremost to understand and reconsider when researching the best buy for you. The terminology and concepts are used to sell better-quality lenses, so study the list below, and be on the lookout for what counts!
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Internal Focusing (If)
Characteristics: The movement of the lens for focusing purposes is internal to the lens body, so no lens ring will cause the lens to twist out and interfere with the orientation of any filters. (Some filters, such as linear polarizers or graduated neutral-density filters wish stationary positioning in order to deliver predictable results.) This internal movement also allows the lens weight to stay balanced, which helps the balancing of heavier lenses on a tripod. Image potential of newer If lenses is slightly great than non-If lenses due to technological advances made that precise some aberrations.
Image Stabilization (Is) or Vibration discount (Vr)
Characteristics: Most types of lenses above come in two flavours: either with image stabilization, or without. Built-in stabilization allows you to get sharp hand-held images when lighting conditions are poor, or you're shooting from a inviting vehicle. On the lenses that offer this capability, there is normally a switch that lets you turn the highlight off, thus salvage batteries when using a tripod. Beware the cost of these lenses, though: you can expect to pay 2-4 times as much for a lens with image stabilization than the same lens without.
=> Uses: hand-held photography (i.e. No tripod)
Constant vs variable Aperture
Characteristics: variable cleft accounts for the majority of zoom lenses, and causes the maximum cleft to decrease as you zoom from wider focal lengths to telephoto focal lengths. The benefit of variable cleft zoom lenses is that they're economy to maufacture and are typically lighter and more ageement than caress cleft lenses.
Constant cleft lenses supply a static maximum cleft regardless of the focal distance you're zoomed to. This great enables you to perform narrow depth of field so as to isolate your field from your background. These lenses typically let more light in, which lets you shoot sharp photos in dimmer lighting conditions.
Macro Focusing
Characteristics: Macro lenses allow the camera to be very close to its field and still focus sharply. Macro lenses are ideal for close-up shots of flowers, leaves or insects, and sometimes double as portrait lenses. They typically have a pregnancy ratio of 1:4 or better, which means the image sensor will capture the field at 1/4 its former size or larger.
=> Uses: macro photography
Low-Dispersion Glass
Characteristics: Some lenses are made with high-quality glass specially artificial to more accurately send the full illustrated colour spectrum, called low-dispersion glass. You may also hear of Ed (extra-low dispersion), Sld (super-low dispersion) or Ud (ultra-low dispersion), which indubitably just means truer colours.
Apochromatic Lenses (Apo)
Characteristics: Apochromatic lenses have high colour fidelity and sharpness and should be used by anyone obsessed with getting to the most precise colours possible.
Aspherical Elements (Asp)
Characteristics: Aspherical lenses are made with a separate curvature than former round lenses to precise for distortions at the edge of the image. They are particularly useful in wide-angle lenses where vignetting or distortion can be seen in the corners of the image.
Tripod Mounts for Long Lenses
Characteristics: Lenses that are bigger and heavier than your camera body should have a tripod mount built-in. By attaching the lens to the tripod instead of the camera, you will take off tension on the camera-to-lens mount joint, and you will improve tripod balancing in the field. In fact, without a tripod mount, some larger lenses will cause the tripod to topple, thus making tripod use impossible without a lens mount. It is potential to purchase a isolate adapter bracket from some manufacturers if the lens itself does not have one.
Plastic Material vs Alloys
Characteristics: Plastic lenses built recently typically use high-tech materials that are very durable and much lighter than metal alloy lenses. So although it used to be said that plastic lenses are cheap and unreliable, that is no longer true today.
Size
Characteristics: Zoom and telephoto lenses are getting smaller and lighter each year. In general, the larger the focal distance of the lens, the larger the lens will be physically.
Weight
Characteristics: The heaviness of a lens may be prohibitive to you, depending on your bodily fitness level and how long you'll be away from home. Plastic lenses are quite durable and are right on lighter than equivalent metal lenses, although ultra-lightweight metal alloys are reasonable as well.
Price
Characteristics: In general, no matter which lens you're seeing at, prices vary dramatically based on lens quality. Professional lenses will cost you thousands of dollars, while a ageement modest starter zoom lens will be only a hundred dollars. You'll pay extra for some of the characteristics discussed in this article, such as fast constant apertures, high potential glass, image stabilization, and quick auto-focus. Remember, though, that lens price is a large investment: lenses will long outlast your camera body, and is largely responsible for the potential of your images (much more so than the camera body itself)!
Teleconverters
Characteristics: Teleconverters are a economy alternative to zoom lenses. They're also a lot lighter and smaller to carry around, but then you get what you pay for. Teleconverters force you to have more ready light for any singular cleft setting, and image potential will decrease (edge softening and lens fault magnification).
Photography 101: Lens Characteristics
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