Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Using Your Camera Zoom

Lens zoom in camera: We will Look into how a Zoom Lens really works and reveal how they can alter the outcome of your photographs.Your camera lens plays one of the most important roles when it comes to capturing an image. Designed to direct the light through to the image sensor, it’s responsible for ensuring that the scene you’re shooting is accurately portrayed. Selecting the right lens is therefore really important and can be the difference between getting just good or really great images.

When selecting a camera lens, there are two types to look out for: prime and zoom. A prime lens is capable of producing great-quality captures, however, they are expensive to buy and you’re limited to a fixed focal length. On the other hand, a zoom lens offers much more flexibility, enabling you to stay where you’re standing with the option to zoom in or out of the scene.

Zoom lenses are generally the more popular of the two and often come as part of a kit package for a new CSC or DSLR camera; they are also incorporated into the fixed-lens design of compacts and camera phones.

We look further into the design of zoom lenses to find out how they really work and uncover what they can offer you and your photography when it comes to quality and creative freedom. 

All zoom lenses have a set focal range. To find out what your lens offers, check the first and last number that is written across the lens barrel, this will give you an indication of how far you can zoom in or out. Focal lengths are measured in millimetres, with most standard kit lenses offering anything between 18-100mm. Each of these millimetre settings impacts the outcome of your images, not only in zoom but also when it comes to quality of results. To explain, there are generally three standard zoom lens varieties: wide-angle, medium telephoto and telephoto.

Wide-angle zoom lenses can offer anywhere between 14-35mm in focal range; these smaller millimetre numbers represent a wider field of view. Although great for getting more in the frame, extremely wide angles can create barrel-distortion effects similar to a mild fisheye lens.

Medium-telephoto lenses usually fall within the 70-135mm focal range. Although zoomed in, results are much more realistic as they generally appear distortion-free. Telephoto lenses on the other hand enable you to get much closer to your subject and can offer a focal range anywhere between 135-300mm+. A good-quality telephoto lens can also come with vibration reduction (VR) technology to help eliminate camera shake. 

There’s a big difference between optical and digital zoom. Cameras with interchangeable- lens designs such as DSLRs and CSCs are compatible with lenses that offer only optical zoom. Compact cameras however have a fixed lens, and can incorporate both zoom types, whereas cameraphones will only use digital zoom, if at all. So how do optical and digital differ, and which one is better?
Optical zoom relies on the glass elements inside the lens in order to get in closer to your subject. Image quality isn’t affected by this type of zoom, as the same number of pixels are still exposed and able to record light. Digital zoom on the other hand, enlarges the image to simulate the results of an optical zoom lens. The camera lens doesn’t have to adjust to achieve this, as it’s taken care of in-camera by first cropping into, then enlarging the image. As a result, image quality is reduced the closer you get to your subject using digital zoom.
To keep the quality of your shots and overcome this problem, it's advised to work only within your camera’s available optical-zoom range. You can always crop in later using Photoshop if you want to, as the results will be the same as if you were to use the digital zoom in the first place.

DSLR
✓ With an interchangeable-lens design, you can opt to shoot using either a fixed-focal-length lens or an optical zoom to suit your chosen subject. To zoom in, simply rotate the barrel of the lens.
Compact system Camera
✓ Like a DSLR but much smaller, you can also change the lens you want to shoot with. With plenty of lenses available, attach an optical zoom and rotate the barrel to get in closer to your subject
Compact Camera
✓ With a fixed lens, most compacts come with both an optical and digital zoom. To zoom in, use either the dedicated buttons on the back of the camera or rotate the zoom lever
Camera Phone
✓Some cameraphones don’t have a zoom-in option. On the iPhone, drag the zoom slider on the screen to + or - points to get closer in or further away from your subject




For The User 

******Usman ahmed owner of this blog created this post with his knowledge.All content provided on this blog is not copied from any other blog and site and is for informational purposes only and  The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

No comments:

Post a Comment