Before you snap here and there, know your lens first

Oppsss! I think I should introduce the lens, camera parts and photographic terms first before going to image composition. This time, I just want to share and introduce the terms and parts of lens. It is applicable for whatever lenses especially for the DSLR camera. The different will only be the terminology or abbreviation used by the specific manufacturer. Lenses can be categorized to many types such at wide angle, standard, prime and zoom. Each type of lenses have specific features and is used for specific purpose. For example, wide angle lenses are usually used for scenery/landscape and narrow space photography.

Each lens will be marked with zooming distance (look at the numbers which ended with mm; see photo bellow). This number will gives you some ideas about the width of view when a photo is captured. A number less that 35mm can be considered as wide angle, the 50 - 55mm as normal lens, and the 75 mm and above as zoom lens. Wide angle lens will highlight the perspective of an image. Normal and zoom lenses are suitable for portrait as image distortion is minimal. Zoom lenses are required for capturing distance objects or wild animals.

Wide angle zoom lens 18 - 55 mm

Lens with fixed zoom 50 mm and fixed f1.4

Another important feature of a lens is the aperture opening. Aperture opening indicates how much light can enter the camera. It is usually labeled as the f-value. Smaller f-value signifies larger opening, on the other hand, a bigger number signifies narrow opening. The function of aperture in composition will be discussed in other post. Lens with smaller f-value is usually very costly. Some lenses have fixed aperture and some are not (look at the image below). The number 1 : 3.5 -5.6 indicates this lens has a maximum opening at f-value of 3.5 at 18 mm and f-value of 5.6 at 55 mm.

Lens of 18 to 55 mm with f-3.5 to 5.6 as the largest aperture, respectively.

The next marking on the lens is the shortest distance of focus between the subject and the image sensor. If the distance of your camera and the subject is shorter than this distance, your image cannot be focused by either auto- or manual-focus. To get this distance, look at the macro sign as showed in the following photo.

This lens has a minimal sensor to subject distance of 0.25 m or 0.8 ft.

Expensive lenses usually have the following part which indicates depth of focus in relation to the distance of subject. Look at the following photo, the top (in ft; green) and the second line (in meters) indicated the distance between the camera and subject. The third line have left and right number with similar value, this is actually the f-value. Subject within the distance which drops between the marks of f-value will be in focus. For example (photo below), if the subject is located far away and the f-value is set at 5.6, any subject or object located between 1 m to infinity will be in focus.

Indicator of depth and distance of focus

Lens with fixed zoom distance, f-value and vibration control

Other components of the lens are the buttons of focusing mode and vibration control. Usually, the focusing button is labeled as auto- (AF) and manual-focus (MF). Most of the time the AF mode will be activated. MF mode is usually helpful in focusing subjects that are quite dark, low contrast and shiny. Vibration control is useful in low shutter-speed snap without the use of tripod. Without vibration control, the image will be blurred. Vibration control is known as Image Stabilizer (IS) or Vibration Reduction (VR). When the vibration control is activated, battery consumption will also increased.

Buttons for mode of focus and vibration control.

Other markers on the lenses are related to the size or diameter of filter, the types of motor for focusing (ie. USM or IF) and the types of special glass (DO or ED). Now, take out your lens and look for all these marks or parts. Understand them will help in the production of good photos.