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Anonymous
Hey /p/

I want to learn a couple of things about lenses and what to look out for when choosing one.

First off, when we're talking about a wide-angle lens, does it mean the lens necessarily has to have a short focal length, as in 24-55, or does it simply refer to zooming out entirely on whatever lens you got?

Also, I've noticed there are some lenses that don't have zoom at all. They're just one set focal length, and that's it. Is there a reason to this?

Also, is it true that, the larger the focal range, i.e. 18-200mm instead of 18-55mm, the higher the price of the lens?

Lastly, what would you suggest a starting photographer like myself should get? I'm planning on buying the Canon 400D pretty soon, but I understand that the kit lens will not fulfill your needs for very long, even if you're an amateur.
Also, is it preferred to buy a canon lens for a canon camera, or will something like a Tamron do?

If anyone has a link to a site that explains all the above questions, that'd be fine too.

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>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
1. Yes, wide-angle means a short focal length. Note that what's wide varies depending on the size of your imaging surface. E.g., 30mm would be a wideangle on a 35mm film camera, but it's about normal on an APS-C film camera or most digital SLRs because the APS-C size is smaller than the 35mm size. And for point&shoot digital cameras, which use very small sensors indeed, that would be a telephoto. However, you might hear someone talking about the "wide end" of an all-telephoto zoom lens. But it's still not a wideangle zoom.

2. Lenses with just one focal length (known as "prime" lenses) can generally be made with fewer optical distortions than zoom lenses. Less chromatic aberration, less barrel distortion, etc. Also, primes are usually a lot faster than zoom lenses that include that prime's focal length. So for the cost of a little flexibility, you can get an optically-better, fast lens for less money. "The best zoom is a fast prime and a pair of feet."
3. All other things being equal, yes, a greater zoom range means it's gonna be more expensive. However, all things are not always equal. For example, Canon's EF 16-35mm f/2.8L has a much smaller zoom range than the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, but the kit lens has a much smaller maximum aperture, is designed only to project an image over an APS-C-sized sensor, and is generally of much lower quality than the L.

4. I'd suggest a starting photographer like yourself get a smaller, cheaper camera than an SLR until you've learned enough to really make use of it. Maybe a PowerShot A630.

5. I would personally suggest going with a Canon lens for a Canon camera. Third party lenses are a lot more hit-or-miss, quality-wise, a lot more likely to have compatibility issues, and don't hold their value nearly as well.

6. http://www.google.com
>> Anonymous
Thanks for the reply. You really helped clear some things up for me.

As for starting out with a different camera, I currently own a Canon Powershot S50, which I've been using for longer than I can remember. Interesting thing is, I've only recently started to master most of its functions after having delved more deeply into the fundamentals of photography, including the proper use of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO value. That said, I really just want a DSLR for the advanced feel of it. I already asked on this forum once if my S50 would still cut it to make decent pictures with, and the answer was generally no. I can see that now, considering the camera is actually quite dated already, despite still being able to make satisfactory vacation photos.

So currently I'm focusing on the Canon 400D with a lens with as big a zoom range as I can afford (less walking), and preferably with built-in IS.

On other question, though a fairly basic one:

I'm assuming the aperture is located in the lens of the camera, and not in its body. In that case, it surprises me to see the aperture range of most standard lenses to be barely more than one stop, if they even have more than one setting at all. Why is this? I find this strange because on my S50, I can go from f/2.8 to f/8.0, which seems like a lot more compared to some of these lenses.
>> elf_man !fBgo7jDjms
In the name of the lens, it'll say something like f4-5.6. That's the minimum aperture depending on focal length. If you're zoomed all the way out, the minimum is f4; zoomed in all the way it's f5.6. That just indicates the widest aperture. There's actually a much wider range at the narrow end, many go up to f30 or so.
>> Anonymous
Oh hey, that really makes sense actually.
So how do you know what a lense's largest f/ number is? Besides asking the salesman of course.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57345
The largest doesn't generally matter. It's pretty rare that you'll actually need to use it. I'm reasonably sure it's f/22 on all Canon lenses. I know that's all my XTi has ever gone up to.
>> Anonymous
>>57345
Even at f/16 you'll have to use high sensitivity or long exposures to get proper photos because too little light gets to the sensor; and image quality will worsen due to refraction. So the highest f-number doesn't matter in most cases (the exception is macro photography because you'll need narrow apertures to achieve bigger DOF).
>> Anonymous
One of the disadvantages of lenses with a massive zoom range is that they tend to have more distortions and less optical quality, as they're being engineered for a huge distance. The zoom ratio, basically it's telephoto end divided by its wide end (70-210mm = 3, 18-55mm = ~3, 18-200mm = 11.1), as a rule of thumb shouldn't get over 4 if you want the BEST optical quality.

With modern lens design, however, and manufacturing techniques making it easier to mass-produce aspherical elements, the rule of thumb of <4 zoom ratio is sort of disappearing, and the advantage of carrying around one lens to cover 4 common ranges usually outweighs any theoretical distortions you might have.

The best thing to do if you're looking at a lens with a massive zoom ratio is to look for a site that did a thorough review of it, including a CA test, distortion test, sharpness test, etc. Also, as ac said, you're likely to get more value out of a Canon lens for a Canon body, even though it might cost more.

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

Is a good place to start for lens reviews, even if you're looking at lenses for different systems or different price ranges (>$2000). It gives you an idea of what to look for and what all these things mean in the end.
>> Anonymous
Please do not get a shitty superzoom lens. You will regret it later.

Get one decent third-party wide-standard zoom, meaning either Sigma's 18-50/2.8 or Tamron's 17-50/2.8, and see how that works. If you need to go longer or wider, get another lens.