Inspiring ways to improve your photos
Inspiring ways to improve your photos
Photo Review tips section
Although most lenses can be used for portraiture, fast telephoto lenses with moderately short focal lengths have long been the first choice of professional portrait photographers. Focal lengths typically considered ideal range from about 70mm to 135mm in 35mm format, with a bias in favour of the 85-105mm section.
Most cameras provide two basic focusing options: automatic, which is controlled by the camera and lens; and manual, where adjustments are made by the photographer. Which you use is a matter of personal preference, although many photographers rely on the autofocusing (AF) system and use manual focusing to fine-tune focus in tricky situations. A capable AF system should lock onto subjects quickly and accurately when the shutter button is pressed halfway down.
Although just about any lens can be used for photographing landscapes, most photographers prefer using wide-angle lenses because they better encompass scenic panoramas. But that doesn’t mean they’re the only option.
The second lens in a twin-lens kit is usually a telephoto zoom lens that picks up where the range of the standard zoom lens ends. These lenses take in focal lengths that are ideal for portraiture, sports and wildlife photography.
Most people buying an interchangeable-lens camera for the first time will opt for the ‘kit’ lens bundled with the camera. When you’re buying an entry- or mid-level camera, it’s a convenient way to get a lens (or two) that suits the camera.
The term ‘crop factor’ arose from a need to help 35mm film SLR photographers understand how their existing lenses would perform on cameras with smaller image sensors than traditional 35mm film.
In this article, Photo Review technical editor Margaret Brown offers practical tips and advice on how to use both monitor and viewfinder to frame and evaluate the photos you intend to capture. Margaret uses a compact system camera for illustration in this article, and most of the tips and advice apply also to DSLR cameras.
Different cameras provide different levels of control, ranging from very basic to highly sophisticated. More sophisticated cameras have external mode dials, although the functions that can be accessed via these dials can vary between simple and highly automated and professional standard.
Aside from lenses, there are plenty of other accessories to build up your CSC kit. The options available for different cameras vary widely with different manufacturers.
When you purchase a CSC you’re buying into a camera system based upon lenses. The kinds of photos you can take will be dictated by the lenses you have. Choosing a system on the basis of its lens offerings, both now and in the future, is the best strategy for serious photographers.
Ads can be a pain, but they are our only way to maintain the server. Please deactive Ads blocker to read the content. Your co-operation is highly appreciated and we hope our service can be worth it.