A digital scrapbook of photography tips - learn and be inspired to take better photographs with your digital camera.
The camera's lens is by far the most important photographic gadget you will own - try taking a photograph without one! [actually many pinhole photographers do, but they're strange people].
For each brand of camera there are dozens of lenses to choose from. So which do you need? And do you need more than one?
Lenses with a small focal length, 35mm and below, are called wide angle lenses because they produce images with a wider angle of view than human vision. The smaller the focal length, the wider the angle of view.
Lenses with large focal lengths, over 50mm, are called telephoto lenses. These lenses produce images with a narrower angle of view than human vision, thus magnifying the subject to fill the camera's viewfinder and sensor. The larger the focal length, the more magnified the image.
Wide angle lenses are a fine choice for cityscape and landscape photography, offering sweeping vistas and plenty of depth.
Telephoto lenses are useful for photographing distant sports action, or when walking up to your subject just isn't possible or safe!
There are also some very specialist lenses including: macro lenses for close-up photography of tiny subjects; and perspective control "shift" lenses used in architectural photography.
Zoom lenses allow the user to change the focal length of the lens by zooming, and often cover both the wide angle and short telephoto ranges - useful if you want to travel light!
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