How To Choose The Perfect Lens Pack For Your Camera

If you are using a point and shoot digital camera or film camera, then your choice for the lens speed would be limited to its camera. The large majority switch from a point-and-shoot to a SLR camera. While ahuge percentage of people do move towards a Digital SLR, the Film SLR-s are also still popular, and they function essentially same. Lenses are available in a lot of different combinations, varieties, and to discuss them all is beyond our scope for the article. But, all of them have something in common. That is: that they all are broken in two groups: fast and slow. If you’re struggling with how to choose your first time lens, or you are just trying to take a right decision, and are faced with a lot of choices, maybe this article could help. First, the speed for a lens is determined by the opening size, also known as aperture. The larger is the opening, the faster is considered the lens to be. Usually, lenses that are marked with F2.8, F3.5, F4, and also smaller are said to be fast, but lenses that are marked with some bigger number are considered slower. Even if this may sound strange, the smaller is the number, the faster is the lens. If you’re a beginner in shooting with SLRs, you are more likely to look at zoom lenses. The majority of zooms nowadays have an aperture that is variable. This means that the lens is faster at the shortest end, than it is at the long end. To make an example, take a lens 28-80mm. The lens zooms in the range from 28mm to 80mm, also being a very good lens for starters. This type will usually have an aperture of F3.5 at 28mm (the short end), but at 80mm (the long end) it will be F5.6, or F4.5, which is much slower than the short end. Usually, the faster is the lens, the more will cost, and also the heavier it will be. The majority of casual shooters usually look for some very versatile lenses, so faster lenses certainly offer them more flexibility in certain situations. After discussing the concept of speed, we should figure out if you really have to buy a fast lens. Firstly, you need to look at your shooting habits. Everyone is unique, and very much different. Some people shoot landscapes, some just people, while others night scenes, and some shoot under water, etc. The ordinary shooter will shoot during the daytime, and also will likely be shooting portraits, city scenes, landscapes, plus other undemanding environments. If you shoot lots of photos in dim light, like in night clubs, or restaurants, museums, or outdoors after dark, a faster lens would help. But, you should keep in mind that most of the zoom lenses, while they are faster at the short end, they will be slower at the long end. Its very important, because if you are going to shoot at the longer end, when you shop for a lens, remember this, and this will save you some money. Lets explain: Consider two lenses, one a 28-80mm f2.8(short end) to f5.6(long end), and other, 28-80mm f3.5 to f 5.6. They have an identical range, but the first one is faster at the short end. The larger aperture doesnt come free. The cost could double. You always have to evaluate how much to shoot in different environments. If you are not testing the limits of the lens, the chances are that you will be OK with a slower, and more budget friendly choice. But make sure you know what your budget is, and how actively youll be involved. If you plan to sell your equipment after a few years, bear in mind that the technology only gets better, so making a large investment will only make more sense if you will get a lot of use from it.
About the Author

Alex is a writer about photography techniques for http://reshade.com . Reshade works in the field of online picture processing programs and offers a free online photo resizer web-tool. It’s also possible to purchase a photo resizer application for Windows. Give it a try !

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