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!

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.