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Home >> Learning >> e-Book on Photography Table of Contents

Photography e-Book Chapter 6 - The Lenses

All right, you bought yourself a decent body but now you need some glass to mount to that body and start taking some photos. What to buy, what to buy?

The old adage comes through again, buy the best you can afford but before you blow the kids' college fund on all those high tech lenses with built in motors and image stabilizers, ask yourself what are you going to be photographing? What compelled you to learn more about this hobby? What kind of images inspired you and moves you emotionally and intellectually.

If your thing is landscapes then you need not concern yourself with super long and fast telephoto lenses (400mm and longer) or ultra wide-angle lenses (wider than 17mm). In all likelihood, your basic focal length range will be between 20mm to 200mm and anything wider or longer than this range is a bonus but not wholly required. In fact, between this range and the technique you will need to obtain a sharp image, you will have to question whether 35mm format is even suitable at all. If you are honest about the question, you will discover that 35mm format is not suitable at all but that is for another section to deal with.

If your thing is wildlife photography and if you want to do it right with the best image quality then be prepared to dip into the retirement savings to buy some big, heavy, fast, and expensive glass. There just does not seem to be away around this as even third party lenses such as those offered by Sigma are still quite expensive.

There are some generalities about lenses,

• The best built lenses are found among the most expensive lenses
• The best optics are found among the most expensive lenses
• The fastest optics are found among the most expensive lenses
• If you want both fast and quality optics, be prepared to let the camera company have their way with you because they'll be shaking the coins out of your pocket the same way as the elementary school bully did for your lunch money (and it will cost you a lot of lunches to pay for a monster 600mm f4 lens).

In case you are wondering to go with zooms or prime lenses let me just acknowledge that prime lenses will indeed provide you with superior results in most cases but given the compromised nature of the 35mm format and its ultimate enlargement capabilities, the differences between zoom lenses and prime lenses is not one to be overly concerned about. If you were that fussy to eschew high quality zoom lenses over primes then you would be using something much better than the 35mm format, or at least you should be.

Some things to look out for in various types of lenses:

• Wide-angle lenses have a very wide field of view measured in degrees similar to your geometric protractor (remember the plastic half circle with numbers that measured from 0 to 180 degrees).
  
  
• Wide-angles lenses have greater depth of field than normal and telephoto lenses and much of the time you could get away with shooting at the lens' sweet spot instead of stopped all the way down to the smallest apertures. The sweet spot is generally within two or three stops down from the maximum aperture. However, the mark of a truly excellent lens is one that provides you with excellent results wide-open, not just stopped down, a feature that Leica and Zeiss lenses are known for. Also how well the lens keeps light fall off in check, meaning the more even the illumination from the center of the lens to the edges, the better it is but sometimes even the best companies cannot overcome fall off with ultra-wide lenses such as the 14mm f2.8 types.
  
  
• Wide-angle lenses are not just for obtaining wide vistas of a scene but also to get as close to the subject as you can while still providing something of the background to provide contrast or a relationship between the subject and background. Photojournalists use wide-angle lenses a lot for this relationship. Wide-angle lenses focus much closer than other lenses and this allows you to get very close, sometimes within inches of the subject but still allows you to place the subject within a context for compositional purposes.
  
  
• Subject matter will look much smaller in the camera's viewfinder than with longer lenses due to the immense field of view BUT your perspective will remain the same if you stand in the same spot and take photos of the subject with longer lenses. All that changes is the magnification of the subject. What this means is that if I take a photo of something with a 20mm lens and then take another photo with a 200mm lens, all I have to do to get the same image from the 20mm lens as with the 200mm lens is to magnify the subject on paper or in the computer to the same size as the 200mm image. There is no change in perspective, just magnification. However, if I were to take the shot first with the 200mm lens and then moved in closer to the subject in order to get the same subject size on film with the 20mm lens, the perspective will be altered radically. Check out the example images here to see what I am talking about.
  
  
• Wide-angle lenses can suffer from flare due to their large field of view, so use the dedicated lens hood for your particular lens. Unfortunately, lens hoods for wide-angle lenses are often little more than metal lips protruding barely above the front element. Learn to recognize flare and its effects so that you can use your hand, body or even a hat or jacket to block out the sun from your shooting position. Preventing flare can be dramatic in how much your image will improve. The use of a tripod and cable release will easily allow you to position yourself to block out the sunlight. I do this all the time when caught shooting in harsh sunlight with my medium format Bronica 40mm wide-angle lens (about 24mm in 35mm format) and its immense 95mm filter size negates the use of a lens hood. If you are in the habit of using protective UV or Skylight filters on your lenses, you should remove the filter from the wide-angle lens when shooting in the bright sun, as filters will exacerbate any flare problems you encounter.
  
  
• Wide-angle lenses are NOT the preferred types for human portraiture unless the distortion is actually desired. Wide-angle lenses are often used for group shots in constricted spaces but the unfortunate byproduct of their use is that subjects at the edges of the frame will be spread out laterally while those in the middle will maintain correct perspective. If the space allows, use a 50mm lens for group portraits to minimize distortion

Modest amount of flare is seen in the top right hand corner of this shot

A simple shade with the hand blocks out the flare to provide a cleaner looking image

• Normal lenses in the 40 to 60mm range are a bit of a misnomer as they are not normal in any sense of the human eye's field or magnification of view. They are considered normal lenses because they most closely resemble the diagonal measurement of the 35mm film frame. The actual measurement is about 43mm but 50mm is considered close enough.
  

• I have read various claims that the human eye sees from as wide as 16mm to as long as 28mm, so far as field of view is concerned but the centre portion of the eye that we pay attention to can be constricted from 80mm to 300mm (Reference: Thom Hogan's web site). As you can see 50mm is not within these focal lengths.
  
  
• 50mm lenses do offer the least amount of distortion and in this way can be considered "normal" as they neither spread out the subject laterally as wide-angle lenses do or compress the subject as telephoto lenses do. A professional airplane photographer who contributes to the (new) Nikon Mailing List, states that he uses the 50mm focal length for exactly this reason when shooting airplanes with large portions of the wings in the frame. A 50mm lens keeps the wings in their proper perspective and the photographer remarks that some aficionados who collect images of airplanes will reject anything not taken with a 50mm lens due to the distortion factor.
  
  
• The lack of distortion means that 50mm lenses will be perfect for full-length human portraits such as commonly done for weddings.
  
  
• 50mm lenses are generally the cheapest of the prime lenses ((the f1.8 or f2 variant whereas the f1.4 and faster can be three or more times as expensive) as they are the easiest to design and manufacture because lens companies have been making them for so many decades.
  
  
• 50mm lenses are generally the fastest available and are worthwhile to have if your thing is low ambient light photography. Canon and Leica have offered super fast designs and both currently have a 50mm f1 lens in their lineup. Canon has even offered a 50mm f.95 lens for their rangefinder cameras of the 1960s.
  
  
• Despite the pooh-poohing of the 50mm lens as being boring and not particularly useful (and I dispensed with my own 50mm lenses sometime ago) I have found that I often use an intermediate focal length when using my 35-70mm f2.8 lens and guess where that intermediate range falls around, 50mm.
  
  
• Moderate telephoto lenses are the preferred choice for portrait photography and for good reason.
  
  
• You can buy a very fast 85mm f1.8 lens for not too much more than a 50mm f1.4 type of lens. The extra 35mm gets you a more compressed perspective and this is a good thing for human portraiture. The fast aperture allows you to blow out the background when using wide-open apertures in the f2 to f2.8 range and this helps to separate the subject from the background for a more pleasing image.
  
  
• The compression factor means that your subject's nose will not appear larger than it really is unless you wanted to make your mother-in-law look like the wicked witch of the east. Use a wide-angle lens only for purposely-distorted looking portraits - the closer you get the greater the distortion.
  
  
• Moderate telephoto lenses in the 85mm to 105mm range are often times the sharpest lenses offered by a lens company, on par with the 50mm lenses. Nikon 85mm lenses are legendary for their sharpness, however some regard Nikon's 105mm f2, to be the finest that Nikon has ever produced. You will find similarly excellent lenses from the other major brands.
  
  
• For portraits, you do not need to go past 135mm and even a 135mm may be too long depending upon your working space.
  
  
• Telephoto lenses up to the 200mm range straddle a middle ground that is sometimes too long for portraits yet too short for wildlife. For the generalist and landscape photographer, this can be a wonderful range to work with as this range provides the Goldilocks-like just right range.
  
  
• You will probably most often see this range covered by the 80-200mm lenses, particularly the fast f2.8 type. These are big, heavy, and expensive lenses to use but given how much they cover and the superb quality that accompanies most f2.8 zoom lenses, they are well worth the extra cost. This is probably my favorite range to work with for everything from general photography to landscapes.
  
  
• There are some wonderful 180mm or 200mm prime lenses available from the major companies and they are considered superior to the 80-200mm zoom lens, especially wide open. However, the quality of the zooms can be so good that you have to consider whether you want to carry three smaller lenses or one larger one to cover the same range (and remember 35mm is qualitatively, a compromise format).
  
  
• This is also a good range for macro lenses as the longer focal lengths provide greater working distance between the lens and the subject while still providing 1:1 magnification. Just be aware that 180mm or 200mm macro lenses are quite expensive in comparison to regular lenses and the shorter macro lenses.
  
  
• Super telephoto lenses are the stuff of wet dreams and hernias. Everyone wants one but so few really need one and fewer still can actually afford one. This is serious business and you had better have a passion for the type of photography these big bastards do best.
  
  
• You will most often see these lenses on the sidelines of the sports field, used by the sports photographer. You are likely to see these men and women haul not one but two such artillery-like lenses along with some smaller lenses such as the 80-200mm for closer range shots (low-wage assistant to carry it all often in tow). Sports photographers fight for positioning on the sidelines but of course the play is going to be all over the field or surface, so long lenses are required to isolate the action. The choice of fast telephotos is twofold as it allows the photographer a faster shutter speed to freeze action while also blowing out the distracting background. The choice of lenses depends on the size of the field and how close the photographer is to the action. Football fields will see all manner of super telephoto lenses from 300mm f2.8 to the monster 600mm f4 whereas hockey may be shot comfortably with an 80-200mm f2.8 lens for much of the game.
  
  
• Photojournalists may utilize long lenses to cover an important event as nowadays photographers are often pushed away from the staging areas of importance. Generally, though, 300mm f2.8 lenses are probably the biggest lenses used by photojournalists day in and day out as the 17-35mm and 80-200mm zoom lenses appear to the most oft used lenses in their arsenal.
  
  
• Fashion photographers often use long lenses for the same reason as photojournalists, because they have been pushed well away from the catwalks. Space is at a premium and you are neck and jowl beside the other photographers. You get there early to stake your turf and you stay there until the bitter end.
  
  
• Wildlife photography is the other major arena (besides sports) for long lenses to shine and show their worth. Moose Peterson and Arthur Morris will never be without their 600m f4 lens, as these photographers never seem to get enough focal length range. Right now Moose Peterson has the edge with his use of the Nikon D1 and its 1.5x magnification so his 600mm becomes in effect a 900mm f4 lens. However, these people do not always require big glass and will often use smaller and much lighter zoom lenses such as the Nikon 80-400mm VR or Canon's 100-400mm USM IS. These smaller lenses that max out at 400mm f5.6 seem to excel at capturing birds in flight.
  
  
• Macro lenses are used to magnify a small subject to various ratios of magnification on the film. Most of today's better macro lenses offer 1:1 magnification meaning that the subject is life size on the film surface, meaning a pretty damn good size enlargement. A few zoom lenses offer macro capability to as much as 1:2 ratio meaning half-life size on the film but generally, such capabilities are not of the same quality that dedicated macro lenses offer. The one exception is Nikon's 70-180mm lens that was designed to be a macro zoom lens from the get go and apparently suffers none of the compromises save for ultimate magnification ability, to single focal length macro lenses.
  
  
• 50-60mm macro lenses are the most cost effective but also the most restrictive. Their performance for general subjects is somewhat limited as their optical qualities have been refined for extreme close focusing and not for infinity focusing that normal lenses excel at. However, in real world use, you may be satisfied with the use of 50-60mm macro lens as your standard lens too. Do be aware that these lenses are usually f2.8 maximum aperture types and you will not enjoy the near one-and-a-half stop advantage that a much cheaper 50mm f1.8 lens offers. The working distance for these lenses is also of concern as your subject is scant inches away from the front element. If you do have one of these lenses you will probably find it to be an exceedingly sharp lens as macro lenses are among the sharpest lenses made by a lens company and few macro lenses seem to be dogs, even from third party brands.
  
  
• 90-105mm macro lenses are the compromise choice that many photographers make with regard to cost and working distance provided. The working distance can still be a bit short but it is usually double what is available from the 50-60mm macro lenses. Lenses in this range are much more reasonable then the big macro lenses and a third party lens, the Tamron 90mm, is very well regarded for optical performance and costs much less than Nikon's equivalent 105mm Micro. One factor about these mid-level macro lenses that few know about is that the effective focal length of the lens decreases as you get closer to 1:1. The Nikon 105mm macro lens actually only offers a focal length of about 70mm at 1:1, which is not a whole lot better than Nikon's 60mm lens but you do get an extra 6 inches of working space with the 105mm. (Reference: Really Right Stuff catalogue)
  
  
• 180-200mm macro lenses are the biggest and most expensive but also provide the greatest working distance between you and the subject, something not to be taken lightly if your subject is a poisonous snake, skittish insect. or small animal.
  
  
• Some photographers who carry big artillery into the field will also use the monsters as macro lenses with the use of extension tubes. Extension tubes reduce the minimum focusing distance of lens so that the lens can get closer to the subject. Telephoto lenses are the opposite of true macro lenses in the 50-60mm range that have too little working distance. The monster telephoto lenses have minimum focusing distances in terms of feet not inches but get closer with a tube and you can take advantage of the high magnifications offered by such lenses.
  
  
• Extension tubes can be an affordable way to get into macro photography without the need to spend big bucks on a true macro lens. Kenko sells a kit of three tubes for modest cost and far less than what Nikon would sell its cheapest 60mm Micro lens. Just be aware that you lose light with the use of tubes as the added space reduces the amount of light traveling through the lens to the film. TTL metering is a Godsend when using tubes or teleconvertors to increase magnification.
  
  
• The rule of thumb for extension tubes is that you need the same amount of extension in mm as the focal length of the lens being used for 1:1 magnification. A 50mm lens requires 50mm of extension while a 100mm lens requires 100mm of extension and so on. 
  
  
• Teleconvertors can also be used in conjunction with extension tubes to increase the magnification. For example, if you have a normal 50mm lens and wish to use it for 1:1 macro but only have the use of a 25mm extension tube, you could use a 2x TC mounted to the camera body first, then the tube, then the lens. The 2x TC "doubles" the 25mm tube to an apparent 50mm extension, which would then allow you to obtain 1:1. Just keep in mind that you will lose a lot of working distance and at least three stops of light when using such methods as the 2x TC robs two-stops and the extension tube also robs a stop meaning your 50mm f1.4 lens becomes a 50mm f4 macro lens. If you mounted the tube to the camera first, then the 2x TC, then the lens, what you will end up is adding 25mm of extension to an effective 100mm lens. If you did not get that, read it over again and work it out.
  
  
• The closer you get to a subject, the less depth of field you have to work with and the more you have to stop a lens down in order to have adequate sharpness throughout the subject. If your subject is a still life shot indoors with no wind blowing around and buffeting it a like a mini-hurricane, then by all means use the very slow shutter speeds that the camera's TTL meter will calculate for you when you shoot a macro subject at f22. Otherwise, pull out your flash and blast the subject with a burst of light that runs in the tens of thousandths of seconds to freeze it on film. Use some care with your flash so that it does not create unsightly shadows on one side of the subject. Many pros use dual-strobe or specialized macro-ring light setups to blast the subject with even illumination. Others make sure a fill-light source such as a bounce card or disc is used.
  
  
• Shooting outdoors in natural light can be problematic for the macro photographer. Using flash is not conducive for a natural look to freeze wildflowers and wind is the enemy of every photographer who wants a subject perfectly still for a shot with a slow, fine grain film.

• Fisheye lenses can offer some intriguing perspectives for everyday subjects. Fisheye lenses come in two separate flavors and adapters can be bought to attach to lenses to mimic the effect.
  

• There is the full frame fisheye lens such as the Nikon 16mm f2.8 or the Canon 15mm f2.8. These lenses cover a 180-degree field of view and can be used for regular landscapes or other similar uses when the horizon line is kept smack in the middle of the frame. Full frame fisheye lenses have no distortion in the center of the lens but pronounce the barrel distortion of the edges by curving the normally straight lines. These lenses cover the entire frame of the 35mm film, hence the term, full frame.
  
  
• There are fisheye lenses that have even wider fields of view and can even look behind them and can capture the photographer in the scene if the user is not paying attention to everything seen in the viewfinder. These lenses are not full frame, meaning the image is a circle in the center of the film frame. These are big, heavy and extremely expensive with fields of view up to 220-degrees. The Nikon 6mm f2.8 fisheye sets the standard for all such lenses and is probably among the rarest current production lenses (actually, made to order only) due to its enormous cost.
  
  
• Adapters can be bought to attach to lenses to mimic the fisheye look. The wider the lens used, the greater and wider the effect. I have such an adapter and when used on a 50mm normal lens, the effect is a mild version of what a 16mm fisheye lens produces. On a 24mm wide-angle lens, the fisheye adapter creates an effect similar to that of the more expensive, ultra-wide lenses, with a half-frame circle image on the film. The quality of these adapters is not very good so if you have one, use it for fun rather than for serious use.

• Tilt/Shift (TS) lenses for SLR cameras provide the user with similar, if limited, control of perspective and depth of field, as a view camera. A view camera would offer far greater control but at greater expense, weight, and bulk. There are not many true TS lenses available for 35mm or medium format cameras and the ones that are, are usually quite expensive.
  
  
• Canon is the leader in providing its users with three TS lenses of different focal lengths of 24mm, 45mm, and 90mm. Essentially, medium format sized optics mated to a 35mm sized lens mount to provide enough coverage to handle all the tilting and shifting.
  
  
• Nikon has one TS lens at 85mm and two ancient 28mm and 35mm Shift only lenses.
  
  
• Most of the other major companies offer some sort of shift lens but not full TS lenses.
  
  
• If you shoot medium format and want tilts and shifts then your choice is a bit better but it will cost you dearly especially if you actually want to buy the Schneider TS lens for the Rollei system. Hasselblad has a couple of options but apparently one of them, the Arc Body, is being phased out meaning having to live more limited options from the largest medium format system, such as the less versatile Flex Body or the Mutar Shift teleconvertor.
  
  
• TS lenses for SLR bodies are a very small market so a lot of companies prefer not to spend R&D money to develop and produce such lenses. I would love to have a TS lens available for my Bronica but unless I can find some extremely rare and almost mythical Schneider TS lens made for the SQ body back in the days before the Tamron buyout of Bronica, I have no choices available. Even third party companies making TS adapters ignore Bronica bodies but in actuality, it probably has more to do with trying to create a lens shutter compatible adapter as most of the adapters are for focal plane shutter cameras. The third-party adapters for Hasselblad bodies are for the focal plane series and not for the more common 500 series lens shutter ones.
  
  
• If your thing is for landscapes or architecture, a company offering a good TS or at least a Shift lens should be given prime consideration.

Chapter 6 Subsection - Lens Technical

Previous Chapter 5 Subsection - Holding the Camera

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