Camera Lens

Using the zoom lens.

No matter if your a real photographer or just someone that loves taking pictures.  When using your camera, specifically the single-lens reflex camera or SLR camera, you must know how to use a camera lens, specifically a zoom lens. A zoom lens is is added to your basic camera unit to be able to focus on a subject correctly. The installation of a camera lens is is similar to the filters that you also add on your camera for specific special effects.

In days gone by, you would often see a photographer carrying his huge camera case which contained about half a dozen different camera lenses. Each of these camera lenses ha a fixed focal length and could only be used for a certain type of focus shot. If the photographer wanted to take a shot of something from a different angle, he would need to change the camera lens. This took lot of time and sometimes lost the good view for the shot.

Having all these different camera lenses and carrying them every time you have a shoot could be a big burden. This burden was not only hard on the body, but on the pocket book, they were expensive. Thankfully, the improving technology introduced the zoom lens. With one zoom lens, you can cover the same range of three or more fixed focal length lenses. This special camera lens lets the photographer change angle or focus instantaneously as compared to the old lenses.

A mid-range zoom camera lens is versatile since it can cover normal, wide-angle and telephoto focal lengths with just a single lens. A telephoto zoom lens is great for portraits, scenic, travel, candid and sports photos. The long zooms are useful for wildlife and sports photography.

The Features of Zoom Lenses

Here are a few of the features of most zoom lenses available:

* Gives you macro focusing. This feature will allow the lens to focus at close ranges.  The reproduction ratio specified in the lens let you determine how close a lens is able to focus. If a lens has a 1:4 reproduction ratio it means that the lens can focus an object such that if the diameter of the object is 4 inches, it will measure just 1 inch in the picture itself.

* Gives you one-touch zoom control. Most all of the zoom lenses have just a single ring that controls the zoom and focus at the same time.

* The lens aperture. There are zoom lenses that have only one maximum aperture. While there are others that have two, for example f2.8-4.0. The f-number will change as the zoom changes.

Few tips for buying zoom lenses

If you are planning to buy a zoom lens, the first thing you have to consider is the focal length range. For you to know what correct focal length range to buy, you must identify your purpose for the lens. If you think you will use it mostly for travel and vacations, the mid-range zoom lens would suffice. However, if you are planning to use it for sports and portraits, a telephoto zoom would be the better choice.

Comsider the size and weight of the lens. Generally, the bigger and heavier lenses are usually faster. A lens that has a wide zooming range can also be larger.

The lens speed is important, especially if you are intending to use the lens for indoor photography. A faster lens allows more light. This makes it easier to shoot in subdued lighting.

If you are planning to use a lot of filters, it is best to consider the size of the zoom so it can accommodate as such filters. For those close-up photos, you must consider the specifications of the camera with regard to macro focusing. When flexibility is a factor, you best choice will be a zoom with continuous macro focusing than a limited one.

Unless you are old money bags, just like any other product, price is also a consideration. The better the features of the zoom lens, the more expensive they will be.

Zoom lenses are a must have item and are really a good investment if you are thinking of making photography a business. Even if you don't intend to make it a business, and you are just someone who loves taking pictures, having zoom lenses is still a good choice. This lets you SLR cameratake great shots at different angles and distances.

So if you are thinking of getting a new camera lens, first decide how you intend to use the lens so you can make the right choice. As you grow more into this hobby or profession, then you will want to buy a camera lens to use, especially a zoom lens. Carrying just a camera lens or two is a lot better than several.