How does lenses work on camera

The shorter the focal length, the lower the magnification. For example, a lens with a focal length of 24mm will offer less magnification than a lens with a focal length of mm.

Camera lenses come in all shapes and sizes and are designed for different shooting scenarios. However, because they have fewer lens elements, and fewer moving parts in general, they typically offer superior image quality. This makes them suitable for portraits and product photography, or any type of photography where a soft blurry background is desired.

These wide apertures also allow more light into your camera, making them ideal for shooting in low light conditions. Lenses with larger focal lengths are called telephoto lenses and offer greater magnification when shooting subjects that are far away. Macro lenses allow you to zoom in and focus on subjects at extremely close distances. This is ideal for magnifying insects, flowers or manmade objects and capturing them in extreme detail.

It can be adjusted much like the irises of the human eye, which dilate or contract depending on the available light. In general, the smaller the F-stop, the larger the aperture opening, and vice versa.

Aperture also controls depth of field, which is used to separate your subject from the background. The relationship between these three functions is commonly known as the Exposure Triangle Basics. This is one example of using a specific focal length of lenses for practical application in your story, but focal length can also be used for emotional reasons. Aperture describes the light intensity of a specific image or set of images.

Lens aperture controls light that passes through the lens to the image sensor or film. You will normally find T-Stops used when describing the best camera lenses versus a standard digital photography lenses. T-Stop and F-Stop are not the same, though they are commonly mixed up or used in place of one another.

Just know that they both refer to aperture stops. That means that a T2 is higher than a T8. Camera lenses with higher stop ratings and wider openings allow more light, which means you can film in darker locations.

Aperture range of a lens is expressed by the lens ratio focal length divided by max aperture. Shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter is open. This is typically measured in fractions of a second, especially with video recording.

The standard frame rate is 24fps This Degree Shutter Rule is meant to provide filmmakers with the look and feel of what we're used to seeing over decades of filmmaking. The standard frame rate is 30fps You may notice that the math here is off a bit, and there are some very complicated and logical reasons why these numbers have evolved over the years.

In this scene, the crew actually replaced the shutter blades to shorten the amount of time the film was exposed. You can achieve a similar look by increasing shutter speed to 4x or 8x the frame rate. Depth of field refers to how much of your image is in focus, and more specifically the area of acceptable focus. A shallow depth of field will give you a blurred background, while a large depth of field will keep everything in focus so that we can see everything around us.

With a shallow depth of field, your viewer often has less imagery to digest, and you can place more emphasis on a specific part of your frame. In this example below, you can see acceptably sharp imagery all around the frame, and even far off into the distance. Different tools for different jobs. The aspect ratio of a lens is determined by the sensor size or film size of the camera with which it is intended to mount.

If a lens is built for an APS-C size sensor, it will not line up correctly with a full-frame camera. Our video on aspect ratios shows you how different ratios are used for presenting final cuts of projects, but your camera lens aspect ratio cannot be changed, as it is baked in the construction of the lens.

As you noticed from the video above, your subject matter can help determine which aspect ratio is best for your project. Lens breathing is the amount of shift in your angle of view when focusing. Can you imagine your frame composition changing while pulling focus in a scene? Less than ideal. Lens flaring is when light is scattered in a lens system, usually caused by bright lights that shine directly into the eye of the lens.

This is more prominent in anamorphic lenses than spherical lenses but it can be achieved with both types. Lens flares are often considered to be unwanted artifacts in your image. But they can also add a visual texture to your imagery.

If you know anything about J. Abrams' directing style, the first thing that comes to mind is his use of lens flares. Chromatic aberration is your lens failing to focus all colors to the same convergence point.

This is one of those really advanced lens specs that professional cinematographers give attention. Bokeh is a term used to describe when a lens renders out-of-focus points of light. Even your custom bokeh will look a little different when using an anamorphic lens. The throw is very important in cinema and television because you need to make pinpoint adjustments when pulling focus from one subject to another.

The more degrees available, the more accurate your focus pull. Performing focus pulls with still photography lenses can also shake the lens, resulting in footage that may be deemed unusable during the edit.

There are focus pull accessories for still photography lenses, but the actual focus throw will likely remain the same. These do not adapt to different mounts but rather affect the way the lens behaves.

Macro extension rings on the other hand are just spacers which allow you to put your subject much closer to the lens and still have focus. This is because the focusing range of your lens in decreased, no longer being able to focus at infinity. Camera bodies are also replaced often besides the fact that shutters dont last forever because camera technology evolves so quickly.

Camera manufacturers are in a high level of competition every year putting out new models that are better than last years, whether its the sensor, battery life, megapixel count, etc. What you should keep in mind when buying new lenses if you are serious about photography due to what i described so far is you should buy good quality lenses with quality features, such as a low number fixed aperture.

They will last if you take care of them, and you will be able to use them on different camera bodies. While im on the topic of budget, third party lens manufacturers such as Sigma, Tamron and Tokina make lenses for other camera brands and these can save you quite a bit of money, while keeping image quality good. Always read lens reviews or try before buying, especially with third party manufacturers, to make sure you are satisfied with the photos.

Now that you have a greater understanding about how a DSLR lens works, understanding which lens is right for you and why will be an easier task. There are two main types of DSLR lenses:. These lenses have a fixed focal length meaning that you have to move around more when framing your shot. However, they are generally a much faster lens and produce a sharper image. They also tend to be lighter which is great for travelling.

These lenses have a varying focal length meaning that you can zoom in and out of a scene without having to move your location. Their flexibility can be a great asset although they tend to be much bigger and heavier than prime lenses.

Zoom lenses work on the idea that you are moving various lens elements inside the lens with relation to each other, whether by turning the zoom ring or pulling it forward or back. This changes the focal length and the magnification power of the lens. While prime lenses can help quickly develop your photographic skills, if you are not sure what kind of photography you will be doing, a zoom lens can be a great option. Within these two types of lenses there are several different more specialised lenses available.

Again, depending on the type of photography you are going to be doing will depend on which lens you should choose. These are the lenses that allow you to capture the tiny and intricate details of a scene. Often used in photographing small creatures such as ants and spiders, flowers as well as abstract images.

Macro lenses can be purposely built prime or zoom lenses or they can be classed as macro simply because their closest focusing distance is short. The prime macro DSLR lenses will usually have a wider aperture and higher quality glass than their zoom counterparts, therefore producing a higher quality image.

A more affordable option if you are just getting started is to choose a lens that also has a macro function.

This means that you can still do your everyday photography but if an occasion to capture a macro image comes along there is no need to change the lens.

On the other hand, these types of lenses often have a longer focal length which will lower the quality of the image. If landscape photography is your thing then wide-angle lenses will be your bread and butter. These lenses can often produce the images we find most visually fascinating as the lens can often distort what we see with our eyes in real life.

This distortion, however, can be linked to the quality of the lens. With the top wide angle DSLR lenses giving little to no distortion or chromatic aberration whereas the more affordable will see more. You are able to correct for this in editing software. Wide angle DLSR lenses are available in both prime and zoom lenses with quality and affordability varying between the two.

To determine which is for you, first you need to think about what you will be using it for. For example, if you are shooting portraits where you are able to easily move yourself around to capture the shot then a prime lens maybe best. However, if you are shooting a live performance where you are in a fixed position a zoom lens is probably going to be a better option. If you are looking to photograph subjects from far away, then a telephoto lens is for you. They are generally lenses that have a focal length of 85mm or longer and like the other lenses they come in both prime and zoom.

When it comes to telephoto lenses though, it is the zoom lenses that are the most popular. This is because the situations that you generally need a telephoto lens require a little bit of flexibility and a zoom lens gives you that. Zoom telephoto lenses are particularly popular with sports and wildlife photographers as they are able to follow a subject without having to move much themselves. These lenses also tend to have image stabilisation features which can be really helpful.

It helps cut down any shaking or vibrations which become more obvious at longer focal lengths. Your general purpose, all-round and kit lenses are great when you are just starting out. They allow you to do multiple different types of photography with just one or two lenses. This means you can figure out which kinds of photography you are most interested in before buying more specialised lenses.

They are also popular with event and wedding photographers where the act of changing lenses can mean missing a potentially amazing shot. These lenses are generally zoom lenses and because they are built to do multiple different things the overall image quality is not as high as a prime lens.

However, there is a huge variety with some even having the ability to go from a wide angle to a long telephoto! Obviously the more you want the lens to do the lower the image quality will be. Nevertheless, it is a great option if you are just starting out.

If shooting portraits is your jam, then bagging yourself one of these lenses is a no brainer. These lenses are generally prime lenses and so deciding on what kind of portrait you want to capture will help you decide which focal length to get. In general, a great starting point is to go for a focal length of around mm. This is because you can capture the soft beauty of a subject while still being able to add some drama and vibrancy.

These lenses are ultra-wide-angle lenses and produce a full degree radius image. These types of images are instantly recognisable as they distort the image and make everything look like its in a bubble. These types of lenses are usually prime lenses. Also known as perspective-control lenses they allow you to shift and tilt the optical configuration of the lens relative to the sensor.

Basically, it means that when you are photographing buildings you can correct for key stoning an effect that makes buildings appear like they are falling over.

You can also adjust the depth of field without changing the aperture which can be helpful in landscape and product photography. On the other hand, they only have the ability to focus manually. Not all lenses are perfect, and they all have varying degrees of distortion. Prime lenses usually have the least because they do not have to accommodate a range of focal lengths.

There are two main types of distortion to be aware of when choosing your lenses: Barrel distortion and Pincushion distortion. Barrel distortion is when the edges of the image look barrel-sized rather then straight. Pincushion distortion on the other hand is the opposite. It makes the edges bow inwards. You can also get an image that has a mixture of both which is known as a complex distortion. As technology improves modern zoom lenses are not plagued by distortions as much.

Although it is worth noting that these distortions can often be corrected for in photo editing software. One of the reasons multiple lenses or glass elements are used inside a camera lens is because while a single lens could form an image, it would have aberrations. Sometime the light that passes through your lens is not all bent in exactly the same way and causes what is known as aberrations or edges of the image that are not coloured correctly.

There are some colours that are affected by this more than others and also some lenses. You can often correct for this using editing software though. Chromatic aberrations are also diminished when different material lenses are used together in the group, therefore realigning the colors. Lenses are usually sharpest in the middle and sharpness also isnt the same throughout a lenses zoom range.

If you use your lens for many types of projects you will learn its sharpness qualities.