best camera lens landscape photography image
Sarah Stev
I have a canon digital rebel xt that i received as a Christmas present. I'd like to take professional looking portraits of my baby and family, whats the best lens for this? I'd also like to buy a good lens for landscape photography. Any suggestions?
Answer
If you understand the fundamentals of photography you will know the lens that best fits your needs. The fundamentals are not really rocket science, to really really use an SLR/DSLR like the XT you need to know how to get the max out of it.
For example: If by landscape you mean like a sunset or a sort of mountain/lake scenery you will need a deep depth of field (DOF) and you need to know what DOF means and how you can very easily change that on your XT (you do this by changing the aperture of your lens in the the Aperture Priority (Av) or Manual mode (M) mode). Similarly for babies you want a shallow DOF and you do this since the baby is the focus of your pic and you want the background blurred.
But by changing the aperture you also mess with the amount of light thats entering the camera and that affects the shutter speed etc.
Its not that hard, once you understand the fundamentals you will know EXACTLY what kind of lens you need. For starter I suggest:
1) Get a good photography teacher or a good easy to read photography book. I recommend "Understanding Exposure" it has lots of pics that explains what the terms means visually. IMO its the BEST $15 you will ever spend in your photography hobby. You will understanding what makes up an Exposure-Aperture, Shutter and ISO.
2) Once you know that, when you read your Camera manual it will make a lot of sense.
3) For beginner portraits the best lens is the $75 EF 50mm f/1.8. This is a prime lens (it does not zoom you zoom in and out with your feet) and it a fast lens (any lens with an aperture more than f/2.8 is called fast, since it usually yields fast shutter speeds) and bigger the aperture f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.8 even f/4 the shallower the DOF and the more blurred the background is.
Note: In photography f/2.8 is smaller than f/2, which is smaller than f/1.8. This is because it is a ratio, so f/1.8 is large coz it lets in MORE light than say f/2.8. It's confusing now but will make a lot of sense once you get the fundamentals.
I am assuming your camera came with a EF-S 18-55mm kit lens. This is a moderately Wide Angle Zoom lens and its really good for landscapes and close people shots. If you do 1-3 as listed above you will figure out what your favorite focal length is for shooting and what you really need.
I could easily tell you to get a $640 EF-S 10-22 mm lens for wide angle landscapes or a $300 EF 50mm f/1.4 for portraits but you need to know WHY they cost that much and how to use them first to justify the cost. There is a reason why good lens cost a LOT of money and you need to understand photography to understand their cost and how to get the most from them.
If you understand the fundamentals of photography you will know the lens that best fits your needs. The fundamentals are not really rocket science, to really really use an SLR/DSLR like the XT you need to know how to get the max out of it.
For example: If by landscape you mean like a sunset or a sort of mountain/lake scenery you will need a deep depth of field (DOF) and you need to know what DOF means and how you can very easily change that on your XT (you do this by changing the aperture of your lens in the the Aperture Priority (Av) or Manual mode (M) mode). Similarly for babies you want a shallow DOF and you do this since the baby is the focus of your pic and you want the background blurred.
But by changing the aperture you also mess with the amount of light thats entering the camera and that affects the shutter speed etc.
Its not that hard, once you understand the fundamentals you will know EXACTLY what kind of lens you need. For starter I suggest:
1) Get a good photography teacher or a good easy to read photography book. I recommend "Understanding Exposure" it has lots of pics that explains what the terms means visually. IMO its the BEST $15 you will ever spend in your photography hobby. You will understanding what makes up an Exposure-Aperture, Shutter and ISO.
2) Once you know that, when you read your Camera manual it will make a lot of sense.
3) For beginner portraits the best lens is the $75 EF 50mm f/1.8. This is a prime lens (it does not zoom you zoom in and out with your feet) and it a fast lens (any lens with an aperture more than f/2.8 is called fast, since it usually yields fast shutter speeds) and bigger the aperture f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.8 even f/4 the shallower the DOF and the more blurred the background is.
Note: In photography f/2.8 is smaller than f/2, which is smaller than f/1.8. This is because it is a ratio, so f/1.8 is large coz it lets in MORE light than say f/2.8. It's confusing now but will make a lot of sense once you get the fundamentals.
I am assuming your camera came with a EF-S 18-55mm kit lens. This is a moderately Wide Angle Zoom lens and its really good for landscapes and close people shots. If you do 1-3 as listed above you will figure out what your favorite focal length is for shooting and what you really need.
I could easily tell you to get a $640 EF-S 10-22 mm lens for wide angle landscapes or a $300 EF 50mm f/1.4 for portraits but you need to know WHY they cost that much and how to use them first to justify the cost. There is a reason why good lens cost a LOT of money and you need to understand photography to understand their cost and how to get the most from them.
What kind of camera would be good for landscape photography?
Exile
I am interested in getting into some landscape photography. However I know nothing about it, cameras, or photography in general. So I need some help finding a camera that will let me get into this.
I am trying to avoid breaking 250 dollars, so that would be my upper limit, and I would really like to be able to switch out the lenses also if that is possible.
Any tips on this hobby would also be great.
Thanks for helping
Answer
You will need a camera with a wide angle lens.
The cameras that can use interchangeable lenses cost about $700 at the entry level, plus the cost of a good lens like the 10-24 mm wide angle zoom
For $250 you will have to buy a P&S camera which has a good wide angle focal length at the wide end of the optical zoom,.
Look here for such cameras.
http://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon/compacts/nikon_cps6200
You will need a camera with a wide angle lens.
The cameras that can use interchangeable lenses cost about $700 at the entry level, plus the cost of a good lens like the 10-24 mm wide angle zoom
For $250 you will have to buy a P&S camera which has a good wide angle focal length at the wide end of the optical zoom,.
Look here for such cameras.
http://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon/compacts/nikon_cps6200
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
No comments:
Post a Comment