Beginning Photography

A Look at Focal Length

Focal length is the length of the lens. Common focal length ranges go from 16mm-200mm. There are lenses that go up to 800mm and beyond but for primary usage something in the 16-200mm range is usually sufficient. The top of the line Canon Zoom lenses cover this range. In the Canon line up 3 lenses are needed to cover the range: 16-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm. There are multiple versions of each but all of them are excellent high performing lenses.

The lenses are engineered so that the maximum amount of glass in the lens is being used when it is being used on a full frame camera. When these lenses are used on a cropped sensor camera not as much of the lens is used due to the smaller sensor size. This creates the same effect as cropping the image which is why camera manufacturers talk about the cropped field of view. On Canon cameras it is typically a factor of 1.6x which means that if you have a 16mm lens on a cropped sensor camera you would need a 25.6mm lens on a full frame camera to duplicate the field of view. Clear as mud?

There are lenses that are made specifically for cropped sensor cameras and while those lenses aren’t compatible with full frame cameras they are typically made to have focal lengths that are equivalent to similar full frame lenses. For example Canon has a 10-22mm lens that can only be used on cropped sensor cameras. The crop factor for Canon’s sensors is 1.6x. So 10-22 on a cropped sensor will produce the exact same image as a 16-35mm on a Full Frame camera. This can be useful when it comes to needing more reach. For example, a 200mm lens on a cropped camera will give you the equivalent of 320mm. Below are examples of various focal lengths throughout the 16-200mm range using a full frame camera. For these photos the camera was fixed to a tripod, all camera settings were kept the same, the only thing that changed was the focal length and the lens.

As you can see there is an enormous difference between 16mm and 200mm. A slight amount of distortion is also evident in the 16mm shot. These shots are intended to give you an idea of what field of view to expect with each focal length. It is typically said that 50mm on a full frame camera gives close to what you see with your eyes. To achieve this same field of view on a cropped sensor a 35mm lens would be sufficient. Both of these lenses are extremely popular choices!

Thanks for reading, have a great day!

Understanding Sensor Sizes

In the last article I discussed megapixels. Your camera operates by using a digital sensor to capture light. Each pixel senses light and sends the information that it senses to the camera for it to be processed into an image. Essentially each pixel captures 3 black and white channels, one red, one green, one blue and the brightness of each. This information is relayed to the processor of the camera as a digital string of numbers. The processor then deciphers the data and produces a color image. This is the basic premise of an extremely complicated process but I think that it’s enough information to understand the topic of the day: sensors.

 

As you can see in the photo there are many different sensor sizes used in the digital camera world. The smallest box is close to the size of an iPhone sensor while the “Full Frame” box is most closely related to traditional 35mm film. This is where understanding megapixels and how pixels work comes into play. Regardless of how large or small your sensor is X megapixels is X megapixels.

Since the iPhone is 12 megapixels and also the smallest sensor on our list we will use 12 megapixels as the reference point. 12 megapixels on the smallest sensor will give you very small pixels. In order to fit 12 million pixels on a chip that tiny, the pixels have to be small. As you go up in size and get a larger sensor the pixels can be larger on the sensor. What’s the benefit of larger pixels? Light sensitivity. A larger pixel will be able to detect light more accurately than a smaller pixel thus giving better image quality all around and especially in low light. Since capturing light is what photography is all about I’d say that larger pixels should be a priority.

This is also why I mentioned megapixels not being everything in the article about megapixels. 12 megapixels on a small sensor are not equivalent to 12 megapixels on a large sensor. It may seem like the same thing, and you’re effectively getting the same number of pixels but the quality and the performance of those pixels will be very different. This is also one reason why large prints made from photos that were taken with cell phones often look atrocious. Optics also plays a major role in this but that is a topic for another day.

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The Megapixel Myth

It seems that every time someone asks me about which camera to buy the word “megapixel” comes flying out of their mouth. It’s as if this mysterious megapixel is some sort of end all be all in camera conversations. If the camera has more megapixels it’s obviously better, right? Camera companies and their marketing departments have tried exceptionally hard to get people to believe this, and it has apparently worked. The fact is most people aren’t really even sure what a megapixel is, or how it relates to image quality.

First we need to understand a few things. In the print industry a professional quality print is typically 300dpi which is the resolution and means that there are 300 dots printed per inch. This is the standard for something viewed up close, meaning anything viewed from 2 feet or less. As you get farther away from the image less dpi are required for the image to appear clear to our eyes. However if you print something at a lower resolution it will look fuzzy up close, so keep that in mind when you’re ordering prints. This was a very brief crash course on DPI and printing resolution and should give you enough understanding for us to continue talking about the main subject here, megapixels.

A megapixel is defined as a graphic unit of resolution equivalent to one million pixels or exactly 1,048,576 pixels. This means that the width of the image multiplied by the height of the image equals one million pixels. The iPhone 7 has 12 megapixels while most current point and shoot cameras are in the 18 – 20 megapixel range while current DSLR cameras start at around 18 megapixels and go up from there. This means that the lowest camera resolution currently readily available for purchase (late 2017) is 12 megapixels. But do we really even need 12 megapixels?

To properly answer this question let’s take a look at how many pixels are needed to make a 300 dpi print in common sizes. But first what is a “common size?” In my years of taking photos I have covered many events where I offered prints for sale, including; weddings, engagements, newborn photos, a school semi formal and senior portraits. In all of the sessions I completed not one person, ever, ordered a print larger than 11×14. This also rings true of what I see in peoples homes. Most people have framed photos throughout their home with the most common size being 4×6 or smaller with the occasional 8×10 or 11×14. That’s not to say that people don’t order larger photos but in my experience 11×14 is the absolute maximum that people are going to order.

An 11×14 photo at 300 dpi is 3,300 x 4,200 pixels, or 13.8 megapixels. Drop that 11×14 down to 275 pixels per inch and you have your 12 megapixels. The drop in DPI will likely be noticeable to a keen observer but the average passerby will never notice the difference. Also worth noting here is that you aren’t likely to be staring at an 11×14 from 2 inches away, more likely is you’ll be viewing it from a couple of feet, or more, away which will make the drop in DPI even less apparent.

Does this mean that you should go out and print a bunch of 11×14 images from your iPhone? Or that a standard point and shoot is going to give you the same results as a DSLR? The answer to both questions is “not necessarily.” There are other factors at play that are far more important than resolution, such as sensor size and lens quality that are beyond the scope of this discussion.

In conclusion, megapixels aren’t important for the casual user. If you never intend to print something larger than 11×14 10-12 megapixels should suit your needs just fine. For years I shot with a Canon 40D which has 10 megapixels. All of my paid gigs were shot with that camera and I never had an unhappy customer. I have even printed 20×30 posters for my own personal use with images from that camera and they look great. If I were to make a billboard or some enormous prints for a gallery show I may be more worried about it but for standard sizes 10 megapixels is more than enough to get you by. My advice is to worry less about megapixels and more about the sensor and lens quality.

Beginning Photography: Choosing a Camera

Choosing a camera is often an overwhelming endeavor. There are many levels of camera’s starting with basic point and shoots and moving all the way up through the levels to professional DSLR’s. Since you’re here, reading this article I have to assume you have decided that the capabilities of your smart phone camera are no longer suiting your needs so you’re ready to move up to a dedicated device made with the sole purpose of picture taking.

The first thing you need to consider is how serious you are about this endeavor. You can spend anywhere from $200 on up to tens of thousands of dollars for a camera. You’ll also need to consider what you plan to take photos of. If all you want is something to take photos of your kids and the occasional family get together a point and shoot will likely be all the camera that you need. Point and shoots are great and take care of most of the hard stuff for you. They have automatic modes with built in flash and a built in lens that will allow you to get decent images without much thought. As the name implies, just point, and shoot.

If you want a little more functionality then you may want to look into a DSLR. This is where things start getting complicated. DSLR cameras have come down in price considerably in the past few years and they are now affordable for almost everyone. They also provide a fantastic image quality. Canon’s Rebel series of cameras is a fantastic place to jump into the world of DSLR’s, they are affordable, produce great images and can be used to learn the art of photography.

Before I go any further I would like to say I am partial to Canon, my kit is canon, I have only owned Canon DSLR’s and it’s what I like to use. I am not endorsed by them in anyway it’s just what I started with and what I have stuck with. There are plenty of alternatives out there that will produce excellent quality but I do not keep up with other brands or really have any knowledge of their products. For the most part if a Canon Rebel sells for $500 then the other brands will have something that is an equivalent price with a similar quality.

Ok back to helping you find a camera. An entry level DSLR is a great place to start if you’re serious about photography but still not 100% sure if it’s something you’re going to love or want to make a career out of. Entry level DSLR’s will typically come with a kit lens, have a built in flash and the automatic green box mode that will still allow you to shoot automatic which will be very similar to a point and shoot. An entry level DSLR has the advantage of allowing you to use manual focus, switch lenses and they have a manual mode that will allow you to really explore photography on a deeper level.

As you move up from the entry level DSLR there will be mid range DSLR’s. These will be more robust than the entry level, have a few more features but will still fall short of the pro level. Some of these will have built in flash, some of them will not, those without will require a hot shoe flash to add light to a scene. Once you are at the pro end of things you will lose all of your automatic modes and you will have no choice but to use a hot shoe flash if you want to use flash.

With cameras, when buying new, you absolutely get what you pay for. A lot of times in life when making a purchase you can get a cheaper equivalent that is just as good as the name brand, if not better. That is not the case with cameras. My recommendation is to figure out which category you will be in, point and shoot, entry level DSLR, mid range DSLR or pro DSLR, then buy the most expensive model you can afford. Keep in mind though, with a DSLR purchase lenses are the deciding factor in how your images turn out so be sure to leave some money for those. That is a topic for a different post but also something to keep in mind when you’re going out to purchase your camera.

I often recommend people just starting out to look into used or refurbished gear. It’s often far cheaper than the new stuff and if you’re just starting out it may be good to not have the huge financial investment of buying new gear. Keep in mind, the used stuff was top of the line when it was released, just because there is better now it doesn’t mean that the older stuff isn’t still good. Keep your needs in mind and see if an older model will fit them.