Wednesday

The Lens

     Certain types of lenses are better for certain situations, so it's important to know their classifications and differences. The first thing worth noting is the difference between zoom lenses and prime lenses. Zoom lenses—as you can probably guess—let you zoom in and out. While they have that advantage, they're generally more expensive, heavier, and larger. Prime lenses, on the other hand, do not allow you to zoom, but they're often cheaper, lighter, and smaller. In many cases, prime lenses will provide sharper images than zoom lenses at lower price points. When you start paying thousands of dollars for lenses, lens performance tends to be a little more equal.
     The next thing you want to understand is the difference between wide-angle, standard,medium, telephoto, and ultra telephoto lenses. These terms are all based on a lens' focal length, which is a complex definition that's beyond the scope of this lesson (if curiosity compels you, read about it on Wikipedia). What you need to know is that focal length is measured in millimeters (mm) and you can think of it like the amount of magnification. A low number is like being zoomed really far out, and a high number really far in. Here's what you need to know about each type:

Tuesday

The Body

     Camera body design affects the user in a couple of ways. First, the size of the body can have a major impact on comfort when being held and used. Small hands will have difficulty with large bodies and, conversely, large hands will have difficulty with small bodies. Before purchasing a camera, it's a good idea to hold it and take a few pictures so you know if you'll find it comfortable to use with regularity. Size often impacts the location of buttons, dials, and other parts of the hardware you'll need to touch and press to operate your camera. The positioning on small point-and-shoot cameras tends to be fairly simple, because there are fewer hardware controls, but the moment you step up to a smaller DSLR (such as Canon's Rebel series) that number increases significantly. On higher-end DSLRs, the extra space tends to ensure your hands will always be able to reach and easily access the most important controls. This is a generalization, however,
and you'll want to test them out for yourself. When you do, adjust camera settings and see what all the buttons do in manual mode (so you're aware of their full capabilities). If it feels uncomfortable or
awkward to make adjustments you'll make often, you may want to consider a different model. While most cameras are fairly similar, the little differences in body design can have a significant impact on their ease of use. While you can generally judge a camera's abilities without ever using it, you'll need to test it out yourself to make sure it feels right.