Guy - The lens a practical guide for the creative photographer

The Lens

NK Guy

A Practical Guide for the Creative Photographer

NK Guy, photonotes.org

Editor: Joan Dixon
Copyeditor: Judy Flynn
Layout: Petra Strauch
Cover Design: Helmut Kraus, www.exclam.de
Cover photos: NK Guy
Printer: Everbest Printing Co. Ltd through Four Colour Print Group, Louisville, Kentucky
Printed in China

ISBN 978-1-933952-97-0

1st Edition 2012
2012 NK Guy

Rocky Nook, Inc.
802 E. Cota Street, 3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93103

www.rockynook.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Guy, NK.
The lens : a practical guide for the creative photographer / by NK Guy. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-933952-97-0 (pbk.)
1. Photographic lenses. I. Title.
TR270.G89 2012
771.352--dc23
2012001393

Distributed by OReilly Media
1005 Gravenstein Highway North
Sebastopol, CA 95472

All product names and services identified throughout this book are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are used throughout this book in editorial fashion only. No such uses, or the use of any trade name, are intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with the book. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

All photographs, screenshots, example layouts, and illustrations by the author.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

For Mum
For always working tirelessly to make everything possible

Appendices

Which lens should I buy for my camera?

Such a simple question, but its actually one of the most important photographic decisions you can make. Nothing affects the technical quality of a photo more than the glass.

Lenses are at the very heart of the image-forming process. Theyre not a peripheral, and theyre not an accessory.

Many new photographers put a lot of effort into choosing the right camera, but leave the lens as an afterthought. Lots of people rarely venture beyond the standard kit lens that came in the box. This is partly because of the expense. But its also because shopping for lenses is frankly very confusing: theres such a panoply of choice covering every price point imaginable.

Whether youre shooting with a huge professional digital SLR like this Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, or a tiny pocket camera like this Pentax Q, interchangeable lenses give you total flexibility.

Sticking with the kit lens just doesnt take advantage of the incredible versatility of an interchangeable lens camera, though. The ability to swap lenses gives you amazing photographic scope. Take in vast sweeping scenes with a wide angle lens. Capture faraway birds with a telephoto lens. Record the tiniest detail of a flower with a macro lens. Take the perfect portrait with a prime lens. All this and more is possible when you choose the right lens for the job!

So thats the inspiration for this book. Its not a simple buyers guide listing the specs for various lenses. You wont find out whether the SuperLens 70300 3.54.5 lens is sharper than the MegaGlass 100200 2.8 lens at 200mm. That sort of specific comparative data has very narrow utility.

Instead, this book gives you all the information you need to make educated buying decisions based on your needs, priorities, and budget. The Lens will help you build the perfect lens collection to suit your needsnow and in the future.

Check out some of these before and after shots. The befores are what you might see using a standard manufacturer-supplied kit lens. The after shots were taken using specific lenses suited for each shoot.

This view of Arundel Cathedral in Arundel, England, doesnt really show the scale of the buildings interior.

However, this wide-angle shot of the same cathedral reveals the grandeur of the rib-vault ceiling.

The fishing village of Beer in Devon, England. Picturesque, but what if you want to take a closeup of the seagull? If you move too near itll fly away.

One solution is a telephoto lens, which lets you zoom in close to the bird without frightening it.

Low-light photography is always challenging. Heres a typical blurry shot caused by attempting a photograph in dim light without flash.

But by using a lens capable of admitting lots of lighta fast lensa sharp low-light photo is possible even though the candles are the sole light source.

The Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris is famous for its massive 1912 Art Nouveau glass dome. This first shot shows the detail of the dome, but doesnt really give a sense of scale for the space.

A circular fisheye lens, while distorting the image considerably, yields a much more dramatic view.

There are three basic categories of interchangeable lens cameras covered by this book: single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, mirrorless interchangeable-lens digital cameras, and rangefinders.