building a dslr

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Building a digital SLR system: Looking at the Canon Digital Rebel Exit, Nikon D40, Nikon D80, and EOS 5D cameras By Philip Green spun Digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras are the standard tool for serious photographers. With the introduction of cameras such as the Nikon D40 and the Canon Digital Rebel Exit the market for digital SLR cameras has expanded tremendously. A point-and-shoot compact digital camera can offer reasonably good image quality, but a digital SLR, which usually looks a lot like an old standard 35mm film camera and may use the same lenses, offers the following advantages: accurate, large, and bright optical viewfinder fast operation and large controls excellent image quality in low "available" light situations when its necessary to use higher ISO speeds interchangeable lenses For more information on what to consider when purchasing a DSLR, including details on lens compatibility, system expandability, size and weight, ISO settings, noise levels, etc., take a look at Bob Atkins' article on Factors to Consider when Choosing a Digital SLR Camera. With the digital SLR you have a good idea of what you're going to capture by looking through the viewfinder. When you press the shutter release the camera captures the image immediately. If you need to zoom or focus manually there are large rings that you can operate quickly by feel. If you see a beautifully-lit scene you can capture that beauty instead of using an on-camera flash to blast everything with harsh white light. If you need to make a specialized photo, you can buy or rent specialized lens and attach it to the camera. This article explains the different kinds of digital SLR cameras available, how to choose the right one for you, and what to do once you get it home from the shop. A digital SLR camera system, complete with lenses and accessories, can cost anywhere from $600 to $10,000. This article shows you how to choose and buy the basic items first and the more expensive and hard-to-use components later. [If you don't want to read this article and are impatient to get started immediately, get a Canon Digital Rebel Exit (review) and Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC for Canon, $439; if you must have a zoom, the Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, $990 (review)is a good choice.] What is a single-lens reflex (SLR)? The single lens reflex (SLR) is most folks' idea of a serious camera. "SLR" means that the same lens is used for viewing and taking pictures. A mirror in the body directs the light from the lens up into a prism for viewing, and then flips up out of the way just before an exposure is made. The standard photojournalist's Nikon from the 1960s or 1970swas an SLR with a roll of 35mm film behind the mirror. When the mirror came up the light passed through to the shutter, which opened to expose one frame of film for perhaps 1/60th of a second. A Canon Digital Rebel or Nikon D80 looks very similar

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  • Building a digital SLR system: Looking at the Canon Digital Rebel

    Exit, Nikon D40, Nikon D80, and EOS 5D cameras

    By Philip Green spun

    Digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras are the standard tool for serious photographers. With the introduction of

    cameras such as the Nikon D40 and the Canon Digital Rebel Exit the market for digital SLR cameras has

    expanded tremendously. A point-and-shoot compact digital camera can offer reasonably good image quality, but a

    digital SLR, which usually looks a lot like an old standard 35mm film camera and may use the same lenses, offers

    the following advantages:

    accurate, large, and bright optical viewfinder

    fast operation and large controls

    excellent image quality in low "available" light situations when its

    necessary to use higher ISO speeds

    interchangeable lenses

    For more information on what to consider when purchasing a DSLR, including details on lens compatibility,

    system expandability, size and weight, ISO settings, noise levels, etc., take a look at Bob Atkins' article on

    Factors to Consider when Choosing a Digital SLR Camera.

    With the digital SLR you have a good idea of what you're going to capture by looking through the viewfinder.

    When you press the shutter release the camera captures the image immediately. If you need to zoom or focus

    manually there are large rings that you can operate quickly by feel. If you see a beautifully-lit scene you can

    capture that beauty instead of using an on-camera flash to blast everything with harsh white light. If you need to

    make a specialized photo, you can buy or rent specialized lens and attach it to the camera.

    This article explains the different kinds of digital SLR cameras available, how to choose the right one for you, and

    what to do once you get it home from the shop. A digital SLR camera system, complete with lenses and

    accessories, can cost anywhere from $600 to $10,000. This article shows you how to choose and buy the basic

    items first and the more expensive and hard-to-use components later.

    [If you don't want to read this article and are impatient to get started immediately, get a Canon Digital Rebel Exit

    (review) and Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC for Canon, $439; if you must have a zoom, the Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS

    USM, $990 (review)is a good choice.]

    What is a single-lens reflex (SLR)?

    The single lens reflex (SLR) is most folks' idea of a serious camera. "SLR" means that

    the same lens is used for viewing and taking pictures. A mirror in the body directs the

    light from the lens up into a prism for viewing, and then flips up out of the way just

    before an exposure is made. The standard photojournalist's Nikon from the 1960s or

    1970swas an SLR with a roll of 35mm film behind the mirror. When the mirror came

    up the light passed through to the shutter, which opened to expose one frame of film

    for perhaps 1/60th of a second. A Canon Digital Rebel or Nikon D80 looks very similar

  • and works in almost the same way. The only difference is that instead of a piece of film behind the shutter there is

    an electronic sensor.

    The mirror and optical viewfinder are what enable a photographer to frame images more quickly and accurately

    than with a point-and-shoot camera. Regardless of what lens or filters you have attached to the camera you see

    what the sensor will see. The same can be said for held displays on the back of a $200 point-and-shoot camera but

    those displays are difficult to interpret in sunlight. The typical digitally camera viewfinder offers additional

    information underneath the image, including all the most important camera settings.

    The SLR is much larger and heavier than the point-and-shoot camera. If you are leaving the house to socialize and

    want a camera to keep in your pocket just in case an interesting photo presents itself, the SLR will seem

    cumbersome. If you are heading out specifically with a photographic project in mind you will appreciate how the

    SLR and its controls fit into your hands.

    Because digital SLRs are more expensive than point-and-shoot cameras the

    manufacturers typically put in faster computers and better autofocus systems.

    This makes the cameras more responsive and you are more likely to catch the

    "decisive moment" as the baby's face lights up with a smile, the soccer ball leaves

    the player's foot, or the dog catches the Frisbee.

    A digital SLR may offer the same number of megapixels, individual image elements, as a high-end point-and-

    shoot. Not all pixels are created equal, however. Resolution is important if you intend to make large prints but

    dynamic range, the ability to capture detail within bright highlights and dark shadows, is more critical in many

    situations. The sensors in digital SLRs are typically much larger than those found in point-and-shoot cameras. The

    main advantage of a larger sensor is better performance in dim light. If there

    are 8 megapixels spread out over a sensor that is 4 times larger than the

    sensor in a point-and-shoot camera that means more photons of light will fall

    on any given pixel. If during an exposure 50 photons would fall on the small

    sensor then 200 photons would fall on the big sensor. If there is a small

    change in the light from one part of the scene to another the sensor in the

    point and shoot camera is trying to notice a single extra photon; the electronics in the camera with the big sensor

    have four extra photons that are much easier to detect.

    First-time consumers of digital SLR cameras focus on the body. Long-time photographers, however, look at the

    system. An SLR system includes a body, multiple lenses, flash units, and various connecting cords. For most

    photographers the investment in lenses will come to dwarf the cost of a body. It is thus important to choose a

    system whose manufacturer makes the lenses that you need for all of your potential projects and, ideally, whose

    system is popular enough that you can rent special-purpose lenses for uncommon situations. Each camera system

    has its own lens mount design and a lens that works on, say, a Nikon camera cannot be attached to a Canon body.

    Who makes digital SLR cameras?

    The same companies that made 35mm film SLRs make digital SLRs. If you have a lot of Canon EOS lenses from

    your days as a film photographer, for example, you will probably want to buy a Canon EOS digital camera, because

    those lenses from the 1990s will work just fine on the new digital camera.

  • The market leader in the professional/advanced amateur photography world is Canon. If you don't have a major

    investment in lenses you will probably want to buy a Canon digital SLR. The number two spot is occupied by

    Nikon, which is also a reasonable choice. Fuji and Kodak have made digital SLRs that accept Canon- and Nikon-

    mount lenses. Once you get beyond Nikon and Canon it becomes very difficult to rent lenses and the companies

    that make the more obscure systems don't have a large enough market share to invest enough money to build

    competitive bodies. Leica, Minolta, Olympus, Pentax, and Sigma are the small vendors in the digital SLR market.

    Unless you have an enormous investment in lenses for one of these brands the only one of these worth considering

    for purchase is Olympus, due to its innovative Four-Thirds system, discussed below.

    What kinds of digital SLRs are available?

    There are three kinds of digital SLR systems being made as of September 2005:

    1. big lenses, big sensor

    2. big lenses, small sensor

    3. small lenses, small sensor

    We will discuss each in turn.

    Big lenses, big sensor. Canon and Kodak have taken the most obvious approach to the

    challenge of transitioning from film to digital: build a digital sensor exactly the same size as

    one frame of35mm film. The result is a chunk of silicon 24x36mm in size, which is vast

    compared to the sensor in a point-and-shoot digital. The benefit of this vast sensor is

    reduced noise, which looks like grain, in lowlight/high-ISO situations. The drawback of a

    vast sensor is that manufacturing a flawless piece of silicon this big is very expensive.

    Consumer-priced cameras in this category include: Canon (review), Canon EOS 5D Mark II

    (review),Nikon D700, $2350 (review), Nikon D3 (review), and Sony, $2500 (review). If you

    have a strong back and an unlimited budget, the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III, $6079 (review), is a great choice. It is

    probably the best digital camera made and produces image quality that rivals medium format film (e.g., 6x6cm

    Hasselblad).

    The only other full-frame digital SLRs made were the discontinued Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n and SLR/c bodies. The

    Kodaks were cheaper than the Canon, but not quite as functional and the fact that they were discontinued is a

    good illustration of why you want to buy a digital SLR from a market leader. I own a 5D and have written a full

    review of the Canon EOS 5D.

    Big lenses, small sensor. In order to keep the cost of the body within a range of $700-1500 and allow

    photographers to use their old35mm system lenses most digital SLRs fall into this category. The front of the body

    has the same lens mount as an old film SLR. The back of the body has a sensor that is smaller than the 24x36mm

    standard frame of an old film SLR. The result is a camera that looks the same as the old film camera but multiplies

    the magnification of all the lenses. Having smaller sensor is like cutting the center out of a drugstore proof print.

    You don't capture all the information on the left and right and top and bottom of the frame. It is as though you

    took the picture with telephoto lens. The viewfinder has been adjusted so that what you see optically is what is

    captured in the digital file. If you're coming from the film world you will need to do a mental adjustment. A

    50mmnormal perspective lens on a big lens/small sensor camera behaves like an 80mm telephoto lens on a film

  • camera. A 20mm ultra wide-angle lens behaves like a 30-32mm slightly wide angle lens on a film camera. Nearly

    all the popular digital SLRs fall into this category and their various merits will be discussed below.

    Small lenses, small sensor. The biggest problem with the "big lens, small sensor" situation is that

    photographers are forced to cart around lenses that are much larger, heavier, and, theoretically, more expensive,

    than they need to be. A big heavy Canon telephoto lens Is big and heavy mostly because it is built to cast an image

    circle large enough to cover a 24x36mm frame but the Canon EOS 30D body's sensor is only 15x22mm in size. Any

    engineer would look at this "big lens, small sensor" situation and say "Why not come up with a standard

    reasonable sensor size and then make lenses that are just large enough to cover that sensor with an image?" That's

    precisely what the Four Thirds consortium did. Olympus and Kodak seem to be the originators of the standard but

    Fuji, Panasonic, Sanyo, and Sigma have signed on as well according to www.four-thirds.org. This seemed like a

    great idea at the time (2002) but four years later only three Four Thirds system bodies have been built, all by

    Olympus, and only a handful of lenses, all from Olympus and Sigma.

    If you have a robust checking account and/or a lot of Canon EOS film camera lenses an unlimited budget the "full-

    frame" CanonEOS-5D (big lenses/big sensor; medium weight; $2900) is the obvious choice. If you don't need state-

    of-the-art performance and value compactness above all, the Olympus E System is a reasonable choice(see my

    review of the Olympus E1for more detail; the current best buy is a complete starter kit with the E-500 for $630 from

    amazon). More than 90 percent of photographers, however, will find that the engineering compromise of "big

    lenses/small sensor" fits their budget and needs. This has led to the introduction of lenses that have the big lens

    mount for a 35mm film camera but optically cover only the small sensor of a mid-range digital SLR. These are sold

    as "digital-only lenses" or "digital camera lenses" but in fact they won't work on a full-frame digital SLR--the corners

    of the image would be black. Canon denotes these lenses as "EF-S", Nikon as "DX".

    Which big lenses/small sensor digital SLR to buy?

    Canon is the strongest competitor in the digital SLR market. Their current (2006) big lenses/small sensor options

    include the following cameras:

    Canon Digital Rebel Exit (review); 485g; called "Canon EOS 400D" outside the U.S.; introduced fall 2006

    Canon EOS 30D (review); 700g; introduced May 2006

    These bodies are very similar in performance with sensors that are about the same size and 8-megapixels in

    resolution. The 30D offers better performance in low light, more responsive operation, and a rear control wheel that

    makes for faster operation in manual or limited-automation modes. The Digital Rebel is lighter and less bulky.

    If you have a substantial investment in Nikon-mount lenses you might wish to stick with the Nikon system when

    buying a digital SLR. At many points in time Canon makes slightly more advanced bodies, but in virtually every

    photographic situation you'd end up taking the same picture with either the Canon or Nikon big lenses/small sensor

    body. Nikon's current (2007) options include the following:

    Nikon D40, 18-55mm kit (review)

    Nikon D80 (review); 600g; introduced fall 2006 but based on the D70,which was introduced in early 2004

    Nikon D200 (review); introduced in March 2006

    Nikon D2Xs (review); 1070g; introduced early 2005;

  • All of Nikon's digital SLR cameras use the same size 16x24mm sensor, which multiplies lens magnification by 1.5.

    The D2Xs is the heavy professional 12-megapixel model. The D200 is the advanced amateur10-megapixel model.

    The D80 is the mid-range 10-megapixelmodel, much lighter in weight due to its plastic body. The D40 is a delightful

    light compact 6 MP camera with an intuitive user interface. The D40 is the only SLR camera that shows example

    photos to illustrate the appropriate use of different settings.

    Before you consider buying anything other than Canon or Nikon, remember that a 300/2.8 telephoto lens, the

    standard tool of sports and wildlife photographers, will cost around $4500 to buy and $50 to rent for a weekend.

    You can rent lenses for Canon and Nikon, or a backup body, in any larger city.

    Get a body and normal lens

    Lenses are specified by focal length in millimeters and aperture, a ratio between the

    diameter of the lens and its length. The longer the lens, the greater the magnification. A

    50mm lens gives approximately the same perspective as normal human vision. A 400mm

    lens gives a view like looking through 8X binoculars and a 20mm lens is a dramatically wide

    angle lens. Lens apertures or f-stops have the following full steps: 1.4, 2.0, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11,

    16, 22. Each step represents half as much light being admitted to the sensor. "50/1.4" is

    shorthand for a lens that is 50mm long and has a maximum aperture of f/1.4. Zoom lenses

    are specified with the focal length range followed by the aperture range, e.g., "24-105/2.8-4"

    is a lens that goes from a wide 24mmperspective to a telephoto 105mm perspective while the maximum

    apertureavailable goes from f/2.8 at the 24mm end to f/4.0 at the 105mm end. A"fast" lens is one with a wide

    maximum aperture, e.g., f/2.0. A "slow"lens is one with a physically small (though numerically large)

    maximumaperture, e.g., f/5.6. The slow lens will require a more brightly litscene in order to deliver adequate

    illumination to the sensor.

    You've bought, or rented, a digital camera.

    It is rather unsatisfying to fool around with a camera unless you canform images on the sensor and therefore you

    need a lens. The cheap zoomlenses that come packaged with a Canon Digital Rebel or Nikon D50 kit arepoor tools

    for building photography skills or making compelling images.The novice photographer who starts with a zoom lens

    typically uses it inlieu of backing up or stepping forward. An experienced photographervisualizes the scene first,

    chooses a focal length, then gets into theappropriate position to capture the scene with that focal length. It ismuch

    better to get a lens with a fixed focal length, learn to recognizescenes where that lens can be used effectively, and

    then add additionallenses once that focal length has been mastered. So even if you havethe $1000+ to buy a high

    quality zoom and the muscles to lug it aroundit is probably a poor choice of first lens.

    The $100-200 lightweight zoom lenses that come bundled with digital SLRbodies have some additional limitations.

    Being a good photographerstarts with the ability to recognize a scene that looks attractive underits current lighting

    conditions. You need a lens with a wide enoughmaximum aperture, typically f/2.0 or f/1.4, to capture that scene

    evenwhen the lighting is fairly dim, as it will be indoors or near the endof the day. Inexpensive zoom lenses will have

    a maximum aperture of between f/4.0 and f/5.6. At an aperture of f/5.6 you will need 8 times as much light to take a

    picture as you do at an aperture of f/2.0. Thus the cheap zoom will force you to use the on-camera flash, which casts

    an ugly flat light and in any case will render the scene completely different than it looked to your naked eye. Flash

  • can be useful, especially with multiple strobes in the studio or as a fill-in light to reduce contrast outdoors, but

    mastering flash photography is a separate challenge.

    The final problem with a cheap zoom lens is image quality. There is no free lunch in this world and when an optical

    engineer cuts cost and weight the sharpness and contrast are reduced. In fact, you might get a better quality photo

    with a point-and-shoot digital than with a heavy expensive digital SLR with a cheap light zoom lens attached.

    What you want for a starter digital camera lens is a high-quality" prime" lens with a fixed focal length. You want a

    "normal" perspective so that the relative sizes of objects in the image will be roughly what you experience with your

    normal vision. For a 35mm film camera or a full-frame digital SLR (Canon EOS-1Ds; Canon EOS 5D), the normal

    focal length is 50mm. For a Canon Digital Rebel or similar "big lenses/small sensor" camera the normal perspective

    is afforded by a 35mm lens. For a Four Thirds camera such as the Olympus E1, the normal

    lens is 25mm.

    In the Canon system there are two kinds of autofocus motors available in the various lenses.

    The best kind of autofocus motor is ultrasonic, denoted by the "USM" designation on a lens.

    With USM the pure autofocus will be faster and it is also easier to let the camera do most of

    the focus work but manually change the point of focus if desired. For theEOS-1Ds or EOS-

    5D, I recommend the Canon 50/1.4 because it has the USM motor, unlike the cheaper

    Canon 50/1.8.

    For the Canon small sensor DSLRs, e.g., the EOS 30D and Digital Rebel Exit, the Canon 35/2 lens is an economical

    lightweight choice, but sadly it lacks a USM motor. Canon makes a very fine 35/1.4L USM that lets you work in light

    only half as bright as the 35/2 (the "L" designation means that it is part of Canon's expensive lineup of lenses and

    will have superb optical performance and mechanical construction). This lens costs more than $1000, however, and,

    at 580 grams, is heavy. Generally speaking, "third party" lenses such as those made by Sigma, Tamron, and toking,

    are not worth considering compared to Canon-brand lenses. The remarkably cheap wide-range third-party zooms

    deliver terrible image quality. The high quality third-party prime lenses or fast zooms aren't much less expensive

    than high quality Canon- or Nikon-brand lenses. Sigma's 30/1.4 digital-only lens is an exception. Because it does not

    cast an image large enough to cover a 24x36mm film frame, the lens is much lighter (422g) than the Canon 35/1.4

    and less than half the price (check it now).It has an ultrasonic motor, denoted "HSM" by Sigma, and has delivered

    superb optical performance in magazine tests.

    With Nikon, your choices are simple. Nikon currently offers 2full-frame sensor cameras: Nikon D3 (review), and

    Nikon D700, $2350 (review), in addition to their line of small-frame sensor cameras. They only make one 35mm

    prime autofocus lens, a 35/2. The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC for Nikon, $439 is probably a better choice due to its

    extra f-stop of light gathering capability and ultrasonic motor.

    Olympus makes very few prime lenses and none with a 25mm "normal" perspective. Olympus does offer a choice of

    three zooms, however. The best image quality and fastest aperture is a 14-35/2.0. The "reasonably good" mid-range

    zoom is the 14-54/2.8-3.5. The cheapest Olympus zoom for the Four Thirds system is the 14-45/3.5-5.6, only

    suitable for sunny days due to its small maximum apertures.

  • As noted previously, expensive digital camera bodies are often sold in kits with cheap slow zoom lenses that sell

    separately for a maximum of$100. If the kit is the same price as the body alone, by all means get the kit and put the

    included lens aside until you are letting a clumsy child experiment with your camera system. But also shop for a high

    quality lens of some sort.

    Get some accessories

    Big digital SLR cameras take not-so-very-compact Compact Flash (CF) memory cards. Often

    the camera body does not come with a CF card or the supplied card will only hold a handful

    of images. A RAW photo from an8-megapixel digital SLR occupies roughly 10 MB of space

    on the card, which means that a 2 GB card will hold approximately 200 images. The RAW

    files from the Canon EOS 5D are approximately 13 MB in size, which means that you can get

    300 images on a 4 GB card. In addition to the size of the card, it is worth looking at the

    maximum writing speed. A card labeled "60X", for example, can theoretically read or write 9

    MB per second or one RAW 8-megapixel image per second (folks who've measured the write times of various cards

    in real cameras never get more than 6 MB per second, even from cards that are supposed to support 20 MB per

    second). The camera has a memory buffer allowing you to capture 20or more images in rapid sequence, and then it

    writes them to disk as fast as the card allows. Even with a large buffer, however, you want a fast card so that the

    camera is responsive to requests to review recently captured images. You don't want to leave your subjects standing

    around for two minutes while the camera writes to the card and then you figure out whether you've gotten the

    images that you need. The SanDisk Ultra II cards are nearly as fast as the fastest available cards and nearly as cheap

    as the cheapest available cards. Don't pay extra for Lexar "write-acceleration" cards if you're using a Canon body;

    Canon doesn't support whatever these cards need to write faster. You can buy SanDisk cards at our vendor partner:

    8 GB;4 GB;2 GB;1 GB. Serious photographers don't generally use cases for SLRs. If you're out taking pictures, you

    want the camera available for immediate use. If you're not taking pictures, you can stuff the camera anywhere. If you

    are going to be taking the camera out in the rain, however, or tossing it into a backpack with a lot of rocks, I like the

    Zing neoprene "action covers".

    A "UV haze" filter, appropriately sized to fit the front of your lens, can be useful if you're taking pictures in a dusty or

    wet environment or if you're lending your camera to a careless person. For maximum contrast and image quality,

    however, don't leave the filter on the lens when doing a project in a clean environment.

    As far as cleaning accessories go, the most useful is a microfiber cloth. Remember to drip the cleaning fluid onto the

    cloth and then wipe the lens; do not drip cleaning fluid directly onto a lens. Also never try to clean an SLR mirror

    yourself. Dust on the mirror will not appear on your images and it is very easy to damage the mirror surface. Zeiss

    makes some good lens cleaning products, including their pre-moistened wipes.

  • Where to Buy

    In the old days you saved a lot of money by buying camera equipment from one of the big New York City retailers.

    These days, however, prices for digital cameras are about the same all over the Web. You'll get about as good a deal

    at amazon.com as anywhere else, sometimes better. The main problem with buying digital SLR cameras and digital

    camera lenses at a non-specialty store is that they won't have the serious lenses. You'll be able to get the cheap

    popular zooms but not the prime lenses, the professional-quality zooms, or unusual accessories.

    Get some knowledge

    Please take a moment to read this article on photographic light (written for the film era but still valuable). Read the

    owner's manual that came with your camera a couple of times.

    Project: Friends and Family at Home

    Set the camera to ISO 400 or ISO 800 and learn to make satisfactory images with

    available light indoors. Since you will usually find people indoors, you might as

    well include them in your pictures. The normal perspective lens is wide enough to

    show a person plus some part of the activity in which he or she is engaged.

    If you got your digital SLR camera as a kit with a cheap zoom lens this would be a

    good time to compare the utility of the slow zoom lens with the fast prime lens. Try the same portraits indoors with

    the kit lens and the 35/1.4 or 50/1.4 lens. See if the small maximum aperture of the kit lens forces you to use either

    very slow shutter speeds (blurry due to camera shake) or very high ISO speeds (lots of digital noise in the images

    when viewed later on a computer screen).

    Gets some image editing software?

    On the computer side, you need to come up with a plan for storing and selecting

    photos. My personal strategy is to start with directories named YYYYMMDD-

    subject, e.g., "20050813-newport-jazz-festival".Prefixing with the date in that

    format ensures that the directories, sorted by name, will appear in chronological

    order. The really bad photos I move into a subfolder called "rejects". The better

    photos I rename to something more descriptive than the camera-generated serial number. All of this can be done

    within the Windows XP file explorer, even for camera RAW images, if you download the free "Microsoft RAW Image

    Thumbnail and Viewer for Windows XP". The latest versions of Macintosh OS X also provide support for viewing

    RAW images.

    The Picasa system, which was purchased by Google and is free (Linux/Windows-only), does almost everything most

    people want for image organization and editing. Picasa works with RAW-format files.

    Adobe Photoshop CS2 is a great system but it is more of a professional graphic artist's tool than a photographer's

    tool. If you want software that can handle all of your requirements as you gain experience, Photoshop is it. I

    personally do all of my browsing, renaming, and editing in Photoshop and have developed scripts for processing

    camera images into JPEGs with copyright info for the Web.

    Project: Shadows

  • Set the camera to ISO 50 or 100 (the lowest numerical setting, which will be the highest quality) and walk around on

    sunny days looking for interesting shadows. Photograph the shadows either by themselves or in conjunction with the

    objects casting the shadows. One of the goals here is to train your eye to look for interesting shadows.

    Project: Low-angle

    Set the camera to ISO 400 and walk around on an overcast day looking for interesting

    pictures that you can take with the camera no more than one or two feet off the ground.

    People tend to make nearly all of their photographs while standing erect. It is good to train

    yourself to experiment with crouching or even lying down to get a different perspective.

    When photographing dogs and children, it is particularly important to consider the effect

    you'll have on the picture by standing over your subject.

    Get a tripod

    Many interesting pictures require keeping the shutter open for several seconds,

    much longer than human beings are capable of holding still. A tripod will enable

    you to fix the camera in a compositionally satisfying position and take 30 second

    or longer exposures.

    Read our tripod primer and buy whatever fits your budget. Rest assured that as you get serious, you'll probably end

    up with another tripod or two.

    Some good tripod choices for typical digital SLRs:

    reasonable quality: Bogen/Manfrotto3001 legs and Bogenball head with quick release

    high quality: Bogen190MF3 legs and Bogenball head with quick release

    More expensive tripods are either lighter or provide better dampening of vibration or both.

    Project: City at Night

    Drive to the nearest city with interesting buildings that a illuminated at night. Set

    the camera to ISO 100 (the relatively slow speed is irrelevant now that you have the

    tripod) and bracket your exposures. In addition to learning about low-light

    metering and the use of the tripod, you want to see the aesthetic effect of differing

    exposures. There really isn't a correct exposure for night photography. Do you want

  • the building to look sort of dark and mysterious? Bright and inviting? It is your

    choice with a flip of the shutter speed dial. Note that none of your slides will

    record the full range of tones in the original scene. Some parts of the building

    that you could see with your eyes will register on film as pure black. Some parts

    that are close to street lights will be blown out into pure white.

    Get a wide-angle lens

    You should be comfortable with the normal lens now and have a pretty good idea of when you

    can successfully use it. The uninteresting and obvious thing that a wide-angle lens does is

    capture more of the surrounding scenery on film (something that you could achieve with the

    normal lens, simply by backing up). The non-obvious thing that a wide-angle lens does is

    change the relative prominence of objects in a scene (see the image at left, which was taken

    with a 14mm extreme wide-angle lens on a 35mm film camera).

    As a growing photographer, whenever you're using a wide-angle lens, you have to learn to look

    for interesting objects to fill the foreground. If you don't find one, you'll end with a flat postcard-like image. If you

    do find an interesting object, move in close so that it fills at least one-third of the frame. The interesting thing

    about the resulting image is that your viewers will get a good look at the object you've selected but will also see a

    wide swath of background.

    In the image at right, note how the foreground log and ferns are the main

    subject but you can still see a lot of the background forest. This was taken with

    a 20mm lens on a film camera (and a tripod, in the rain, with a towel over the

    lens, exposure for almost 1 second).

    For comparison, below right is an image that was not taken with a wide-angle lens. In fact, it was made with a

    telephoto (narrow-angle or high-magnification) lens, about 200mm long on a film camera. Note that foreground

    and backgrounds trees all have roughly the same relative prominence. That's because the foreground trees aren't

    much closer, percentage-wise, to the camera than the background trees.

    How wide a lens to get? Technically 35mm on a 35mm camera is wide but it is the

    same focal length as most point and shoot cameras so I don't recommend it. If

    you're going to lug an SLR around you want something at least a little bit dramatic.

    I recommend starting with a lens that is gives a 24 or 28mm perspective on a film

    or full-frame digital camera, which means a 16-18mm lens on a mid-range Canon

    EOS or Nikon D80digital SLR. After you've made a lot of images with which you're happy(i.e., where you

    successfully found a good object for the foreground),then consider widening out to 16 or 20mm, which translates

    to 10-14mm one "big lenses/small sensor" digital SLR.

    In practice it is difficult to find reasonably priced ultra-wide prime (non-zoom) lenses. There isn't a very large

    market for a 14/2.8lens and therefore they are built almost by hand. It therefore makes sense to buy a wide-angle

  • zoom lens. A good place to start experimenting in the Canon small-sensor world is the Canon EF-S 10-22mm

    f/3.5-4.5 USM, $720 (review). This is unfortunately a little bits low, with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at 10mm

    and f/4.5 at 22mm.However with a digital camera you can always push up the ISO when the light gets dim and

    compensate for the lack of lens speed, albeit with an increase in noise. In the Nikon line, I recommend the Nikon

    14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S, $1785. Olympus makes an Olympus 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5, $600, for the E-system.

    If you're using a full-frame Canon EOS 5D, the professional choice is the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM, $1420

    (review).

    Wide Project: People in the City

    The most common example uses for wide-angle lenses are all dramatic landscapes. I don't

    like this for learners, though, because (a) it is time-consuming for most people to have to

    drive to a dramatic landscape,(b) photojournalists make frequent and brilliant use of wide-

    angle lenses to illustrate people interacting with each other or with their environment.

    So get out there with your new wide-angle lens and get up close to your subjects. You need

    to learn how to stick a camera 12 inches from your subject. Remember that the ruder your

    personality, the better a photojournalist you will make. Here are a few examples to

    motivate you.

    Get a telephoto lens

    With the wide lens, you've explored the possibilities in showing a subject plus

    its environment. With the telephoto lens, you must learn to find good

    compositions where you isolate your subject from its environment. Telephoto

    lenses accomplish this isolation first by having higher magnification than a

    normal perspective lens. So without you having to move forward, the lens will

    record a smaller portion of the scene on film. The telephoto lens compresses perspective. As in theatre image

    above, foreground and background objects won't be given dramatically different prominence. However, if you

    don't stop the lens aperture down, background objects may be so out of focus as to be unperceivable by the viewer.

    With the image at right, taken with a300/2.8, the viewer's eye is immediately led to the subject because everything

    else is out of focus.

    Note that depth of field, or what is in and out of focus in the scene, is a function of the absolute length of the lens

    and the aperture used for exposure. Thus to get this kind of background blur with a mid-range digital SLR you

    would still need to use a 300/2.8 lens even though the same magnification and subject scale could be achieved

    with a 200mmlens.

    It is probably worth buying a prime telephoto lens equivalent to100-150mm on a film or full-frame digital SLR.

    This is short enough to be cheap and long enough to be noticeably different from your normal lens. Note that

    100mm was typically considered the ideal lens for portrait photography on a 35mm SLR. An excellent lens for the

    Canon EOS system is Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM, $431 (review). If you must have a zoom telephoto, restrict

    yourself to the L-series, the cheapest of which is Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM, $636 (review). Although this

    lens is a full f-stop faster than the cheap zoom telephotos, which are usually f/5.6 at their long ends, it is two f-

  • people don't look their best in contrasty bright direct sunshine. In the Nikon system look at the Nikon 85mm

    f/1.8D AF Nikkor, $429. There are no high quality lightweight medium-speed zoom telephotos in the Nikon line as

    of December 2005. Your only optically reasonable option is the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR, which is

    an incredibly large and heavy lens. To experiment with telephoto photography on a sunny day, and wait for the

    day when Nikon makes better lenses specifically for their small-sensor cameras, spend $250 on the Nikon 55-

    200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR, $220. Note that, due to its small maximum aperture, this lens will not

    produce a blurred background for portraits.

    Telephoto Project: Portraits

    Park your subject near a window, traditionally north-facing, that provides indirect sunlight. Get a piece of white

    cardboard to reflect light back from the window onto the side of your subject facing away from the window. Put

    your camera on the tripod. Take pictures. When you're done, you'll be a "window-light portrait" expert. Here's

    some inspiration (only one of these was taken by window light).

    Get a camera bag

    You now have enough stuff for your first

    camera bag. Read the photo.net camera

    bags primer. Go to a good camera shop

    and see which bag comfortably holds all

    the stuff you've got plus maybe one

    smaller item. Don't get a bag that is too

    big. Even as your system expands, you'll still want a bag that is just right for a body plus three lenses.

    Take a breather

    You've now got a comprehensive digital SLR camera system. Stop buying stuff. At this

    point, you need only buy or rent stuff in the context of trying to realize a particular

    photographic project. Remember that no matter how much equipment you lug around

    you will never have the right lens for every picture at every moment. One needs to accept

    that some great photos will slip by without being captured.

    If you feel that you have to buy something new, here are some good project-based

    excuses.

    Macro lens project: Think Small

    If you want to explore the world up close (real close) then you need a macro lens. Read my macro photography

    primer and get a lens that suits your desired working distance from the subject. Then head out into a flower

    garden with your tripod. An overcast day is probably best. Below is some inspiration from my Hawaiian flowers

  • Some good macro lenses for digital cameras:

    small sensor Canon: Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8

    Macro USM, $392 (review) -- will not work on a full-frame

    camera

    full-frame Canon: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro

    USM, $519 (review)

    small sensor Nikon: Nikon 60mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Micro, $540

    Wide-to-Tele Zoom lens project: Photojournalistic Wedding

    If you care about quality, zoom lenses are heavier, more expensive, and never quite as sharp

    or contrasty as fixed ("prime") lenses.

    If you're rich and lazy, you can get professional zoom lenses simply to avoid having to change

    lenses. The cost is $1000-2000 per lens and the quality loss is small. If you're poor and

    quality-conscious, you're much better off sticking to prime lenses.

    When does a zoom lens help you accomplish a photographic objective? Event photography.

    The one constant of photojournalism is that your subjects probably won't wait around for you

    to set up a tripod or change lenses. It helps to be fleet of foot and unencumbered by a huge camera bag full of

    lenses. It helps to be ready with the right focal length lens on your camera

    instantly.

    Anyway, if you're going to take pictures at your cousin Shlomo's wedding, that's a

    good excuse to buy a zoom lens covering 24-85mm(full-frame digital SLR or film

    perspective) or so. If the official wedding photographer is delivering images in

    color, you can really impress Shlomo and the rest of your family by delivering all of

    your images knocked down to black and white. Unless your family is very chic, their mutual color coordination will

    probably be ineffective. Theyll look better in black and white and remember that you'll be free to take pictures

    using incandescent and fluorescent light sources without worrying about adjusting the white balance.

    For the Canon EOS-1Ds and 5D, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, $1300 (review), is the lens of choice. For

    the Canon EOS 40D/50D and Canon Digital Rebel Exit/XSi, the Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, $990 (review),

    is a high-performance lens offering roughly the same range of perspectives. For the Nikon D3 and D700, the

    Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S, $1700, and Nikon, $1785, are the top lenses. For a Nikon "big lenses/small

    sensor" digital SLR you want the Nikon, $1360.

  • Find the Best Digital SLR Lens If you think that finding a good SLR camera is tough, try to find the best digital SLR lens to go with it.

    If you felt there were plenty of cameras to choose from, the number of available lenses is going to be

    overwhelming.

    Digital SLR lenses come in all manner of shapes and sizes, and vary massively in price.

    Some are built for the demanding needs of professionals and others are just right for the everyday snapshot

    photographer.

    Faced with all these alternatives, what's a newcomer to the world of SLR photography to do?

    Just follow the 6 steps that I outline below and you'll find your way to the best digital SLR lens for your

    camera.

    What Brand Is Your SLR?

    Before you even get started down the road of selecting a lens, you have to know the brand of digital SLR camera

    that you're going to get.

    Here's why: lenses are not interchangeable.

    A lens designed for a Nikon camera is not going to work on your Canon camera - that's what all those Canon

    lenses are for.

    The reason is that modern day lenses have an electronic connection with the digital SLR camera. This connection

    relays information from lens to camera so that you can change setting on the lens (like aperture) from the camera

    body itself.

    These connections are proprietary and vary between the camera makers.

    The key to understanding which lens will work with your digital SLR can be summed up in two words: lens

    mount.

    The lens mount is the point of connection between a lens and your digital SLR. A Pentax lens mount is different

    from a Nikon lens mount which is different from a Sony lens mount.

    This is especially important if you eventually want a lens from a third party manufacturer (more about this later).

    The key thing to remember right now is that you can get the exact same lens made by a third party company like

    Sigma, but with different mounts (one for Nikon and one for Canon).

    The 6 Steps

    I use the 6 steps that I'm about to introduce you to every time I go out looking for a new lens.

    Each step is designed to reduce the number of lenses you have to compare by half, which is why it's good to follow

    the steps in order.

    By the time you get to the last step, you should only have to compare 2 or 3 lenses rather than 30.

    So here we go - 6 steps to help you find the best digital SLR lens:

    1. Determine the focal length you'll need

    2. Decide if you want a prime or zoom lens

    3. Select a maximum aperture

    4. Choose between first or third party lenses

    5. Evaluate any extra features

    6. Read reviews and narrow your options

    When You Wish Upon a Lens

    Here's the easiest way to find the best digital SLR lens: write down your decisions as you go through each step of

    this digital SLR lens guide.

    What you are creating is something I call a digital SLR lens wishlist.

    A wishlist is really just several questions (one for each step) and the answers that you provide help to identify

    your ideal lens.

    Rather than writing down what you'd like on a piece of paper, I've put together a free PDF wishlist that you can

    download. You'll need Adobe Acrobat to read it, but you probably already have it installed.

    You can find out more about wishlists or download your wishlist now.

    Got your wishlist printed and ready to go? Fantastic! Now let's go find you the best digital SLR lens.

  • Find Your Focal Length Before I get too far into my discussion of focal length, I'd like to provide you with a definition of the term.

    Focal length is measured in millimeters (mm) and it represents the distance from the optical center of a lens to

    the digital camera sensor when the subject of the photo is in focus.

    That's the textbook definition, but it really doesn't explain too much about why focal length is useful.

    Here's the plain-English translation:

    With a short focal length you have to be close to your subject for a close-up

    With a long focal length you can be far away and still get a close-up

    A zoom lens has a variable focal length

    A prime lens has a fixed focal length.

    How do you decide which focal length lens you need? It all comes down to what you want to photograph.

    Focal Length Scenario

    Let's say that you have a short 50mm lens. In order to get a close-up of your friend you stand 5 feet away.

    You switch to a long 200mm lens. Now you must stand farther away from your friend (say 15 feet) to capture the

    same image.

    Let's simplify further: you're taking a photo of a kitten. You use a lens with a short focal length because you can

    sit right next to the kitten.

    Now you're taking a photo of a Bengal tiger in the wild. Do you want to sit as close as you did to the kitten?

    Unless you are a real thrill seeker, the answer is probably no.

    For those of us who don't like to live on the edge, a lens with a long focal length will get us up close and personal

    with that tiger even if we keep our distance.

    Lens Types

    Lenses specialize in specific focal lengths.

    Let me put it this way: you won't find a do-it-all lens that covers the entire focal range from 11mm to 600mm.

    They don't exist.

    Instead, lenses are grouped into four primary categories based on their focal lengths:

    Lens Type Focal Length

    Wide Angle 28mm or lower

    Standard Anything from 35mm to 85mm

    Telephoto Anything from 100mm to 300mm

    Super-Telephoto 300mm or higher

    This is why the very first decision you should make when purchasing a new lens is what focal length (or focal

    range in the case of zoom lenses) you'd like it to cover.

    In the scenario above, I mentioned that you want a lens with a long focal length if you want to stand far away

    from your subject but still get a close-up.

    This is why lenses with different focal lengths have different uses in the world of photography. Let's add some

    additional information to the focal length table:

    Lens Type Focal Length Best Use

    Wide Angle 28mm or lower Landscapes and Interiors

    Standard Anything from 35mm to 85mm Portraits

  • Telephoto Anything from 100mm to 300mm Portraits and Sports

    Super-Telephoto 300mm or higher Wildlife and Sports

    That's the quick summary, but let's dig a bit deeper.

    Wide Angle Lens Use

    Wide angle lenses are ideal for photographers who want to capture all of the scenery in

    front of them.

    These lenses can capture virtually everything that your eyes see in front of you - from

    the ground at your feet to that mountain in the distance.

    This is why they work well for landscape photographers who really want to draw the viewer into the photograph.

    They also work well for anyone who photograph indoors a lot, since you don't have a lot of working room. Let's

    say you want to photograph an entire room full of people - the only way to do it is to back into a corner and use

    the widest angle lens you can get.

    Wide angle lenses are not great for portraits because they distort facial features: the most noticeable problem is

    that they make noses look HUGE which is not terribly flattering for your subject.

    Standard Lens Use

    Standard lenses are great for a wide range of photographic subjects, but excel at

    portraits.

    Lenses in the 50mm to 75mm range create natural-looking portraits without the facial

    distortion that you get using a wide angle lens.

    While you can certainly use lenses in this range for landscapes, the resulting photo just won't have the same

    impact as it might with a wider view.

    Telephoto Lens Use

    Telephoto lenses also work well for portraits but also cause some distortion: the longer

    the focal length of a lens, the more it compresses the visual space.

    This means that it's harder to tell the distance between objects when you use a

    telephoto lens. Telephoto photos just have less depth and three-dimensionality than lenses with wider focal

    lengths.

    What are they really good at? Getting you up close and personal with subjects that are far away.

    This is why they are ideal for non-pro sporting events - you can stand on the sidelines, but still get a close-up of

    the game winning goal.

    Super-Telephoto Lens Use

    These lenses are almost exclusively the domain of professional photographers, and are

    extremely expensive.

  • They are used by wildlife photographers, where getting up close is not an option.

    They are also the lenses you see at any professional sporting event: those massive ones that require daily

    strength training to tote around.

    A super-telephoto lens really compresses visual space, and requires a lot of skill to use effectively.

    Focal Length Examples

    I'm a visual learner, so here are some examples that should help you really understand focal length.

    Wide Angle

    Focal Length: 28mm

    Standard

    Focal Length: 75mm

    Telephoto

    Focal Length: 200mm

  • Super-Telephoto

    I don't own a super-telephoto lens, so I don't have any good examples.

    Don't worry, I've got you covered.

    Scotch Macaskill runs a web site called Wildlife Pictures Online with some exceptional examples of wildlife photos

    taken with super-telephoto lenses.

    I recommend that you take a look at his site, not just for the great photos, but also for the detailed information

    about taking wildlife photos on African safaris.

    What's Next?

    Before you move on to the next section, have in mind the type of focal length you'd like in your lens.

    Even if you don't have an exact range, rely on the knowledge of what you want to photograph. Here are some

    examples to get you thinking:

    Landscapes Wide Angle 10 to 28mm

    Architecture Wide Angle 18 to 28mm

    Flowers Standard 75 to 100mm

    Portraits Standard 50 to 100mm

    Sports Telephoto 200 to 300mm

    Birds Super-Telephoto 400 to 600mm

    Why is this important?

    If you can decide right here and now that you really want to take great landscape shots, then you won't have to

    evaluate every single lens out there.

    Just focus on the Wide Angle lenses, which will make the following steps significantly easier.

    Lens Hunt Example

    In order to demonstrate my 6-step process to finding the best digital SLR lens, I'll use a concrete example to help

    you out.

    Chris has just purchased his first digital SLR camera: a Nikon D40 with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.

    The kit lens works well for landscapes and portraits, but Chris really wants to take photos of his son's little league

    games.

    Since he wants to get close to the action, Chris decides to go looking for a Telephoto lens with a Nikon mount.

    Chris starts his search for a digital SLR lens by adding these two items to his wishlist:

    Lens mount: Nikon

    Lens focal length: Telephoto

    In the next section he'll add even more

    Prime and Zoom Lenses Step two on your path toward finding the best DSLR lens requires a decision between prime and zoom lenses.

    Since you've already made up your mind about what focal length you'd like, choosing between prime and zoom is

    further narrowing the field of digital SLR lens options.

    Each lens type has advantages.

    The decisions that you make about which kind to get will depend a lot on what sorts of pictures you want to take

    with the lens: clearly, a gigantic heavy zoom lens is not going to be your best option if you'd like to travel with

    your camera.

    What's a Prime Lens?

    A prime lens has a fixed focal length.

    The focal length of the lens is set to one number and cannot be changed. If you want to change your angle of view

    when using a prime lens, you must physically move the camera back and forth.

    If you want to use several different focal lengths, then you'll need a variety of prime lenses.

    If you enjoy taking photos at 28mm, 100mm and 300mm you'll need 3 lenses, one for each focal length.

    So why would anyone want multiple prime lenses when a couple of zooms could cover the same range?

  • They're High Quality

    Ask any professional photographer about the benefit of a prime lens and the answer will be the same: it takes

    clearer photos.

    Since they don't have a lot of moving parts like zooms, the glass inside of a prime lens is very precise.

    In the early days of zoom lenses, there was a big difference in quality. Today a high-end zoom can capture images

    that have the same quality as a prime.

    But there is a difference in cost. If you want to get a zoom lens that performs as well as a prime, you're going to

    spend a lot of money.

    They Don't Weigh a Lot

    Advantage number two: prime lenses are pretty light.

    An 80mm to 200mm zoom lens can add a lot of weight to a digital SLR camera that is already bulky to begin with.

    If you want a digital SLR camera with maximum portability, just attach a really nice 50mm lens to it and go on

    your way.

    Small prime lenses paired with small sized digital SLR cameras are the perfect tool for the digital SLR

    photographer on the go.

    They Aren't Expensive

    Here's the best part: you don't have to break the bank to get a superior lens for your digital SLR camera.

    Since they have been around for so long, and since their construction is simpler (remember, less moving parts)

    you can get a great prime lens for a fraction of the cost of even a basic zoom.

    You can also get reasonably priced prime lenses with wide apertures that let in a lot of light. These are the perfect

    lenses for photographers who want to photograph in low light without using the flash.

    What's a Zoom Lens?

    A zoom lens has a variable focal length.

    These are the most common types of lenses available for digital SLR cameras today. In fact, the standard lens

    packaged with many new digital SLRs is an 18-55mm zoom.

    It makes sense: the flexibility offered by these lenses is very appealing to photographers who are just starting out

    with an SLR.

    Flexibility is the key selling point of all zoom lenses. Unlike primes, they tend to be expensive, heavy and don't

    always use the highest-quality glass.

    They offset all of these disadvantages by allowing you to stand in one spot and get exactly the composition you

    want.

    Zoom Designation

    Since a prime lens doesn't change its focal length, it can be described using one focal length number (i.e. 50mm).

    But zooms cover a range of focal lengths, so any zoom you look at will always reference two numbers: the wide

    angle setting and the telephoto setting.

    For example, a 28-135mm zoom can be described like this:

    Wide angle setting: 28mm

    Telephoto setting: 135mm

    The greater the difference between these two number, the more powerful the zoom.

    Zoom power indicates how much focal range a particlular lens can cover.

    For example, a 28-300mm zoom is said to be more powerful than a 28-135mm zoom. The 28-300mm covers a

    wider range from wide angle to telephoto.

    Zoom Specialties

    In Step 1 of this digital SLR lens guide, I mentioned that there are 4 primary classes of lenses: wide angle,

    standard, telephoto and super-telephoto.

    Turns out the zoom lenses also fall into similar groups:

    Zoom Class Range Example

  • Wide Angle to Wide Angle 10mm to 28mm Pentax 12-24mm

    Wide Angle to Telephoto 28mm to 300mm Canon 28-135mm

    Telephoto to Telephoto 100mm to 600mm Nikon 70-200mm

    Super Zoom 18mm to 300mm Tamron 28-300

    While the last category (Super Zoom) might seem like the obvious choice here (put one lens on your camera and

    never take it off!) the super-zooms do not yet have the same optical quality as the specialty zooms.

    While a super zoom is a good lens to get started with (since it gives you a wide range of photographic

    opportunities) once you discover what you love to photograph, then I recommend getting a specialty zoom that

    just covers the range you use the most.

    Lens Hunt Example

    In Step 1, I introduced you to Chris, who's looking for a good lens to photograph his son's little league games.

    Chris owns a Nikon and has decided that he wants a Telephoto lens.

    Because the action at a little league game can move around a lot, he opts for a telephoto zoom, because this will

    give him more freedom to zoom in and out from the sidelines and capture all the action.

    His digital SLR lens wish list now looks like this:

    Lens mount: Nikon

    Lens focal length: Telephoto

    Lens type: Telephoto to Telephoto Zoom

    Up next: maximum aperture.

    The Importance of Maximum Aperture The maximum aperture of the lens you choose can have a significant impact on the types of photos you can take

    with your digital SLR camera.

    However, you have to make sure that you don't get carried away and get a lens with a wider maximum aperture

    than you need.

    Why?

    Because the wider the lens gets, the more it costs and I'm not talking about pocket change here.

    Since maximum aperture is directly related to aperture, let's talk about that one first.

    Aperture

    Imagine that you're standing inside a dark room with a circular window. There's a crank inside the room that lets

    you adjust the size of the window to let in more or less light.

    If you crank the window wide open tons of light spills into the room, and if you narrow it down then only a small

    beam gets in.

    The aperture of your lens works exactly the same way: it's a circular opening in the lens, and you have control

    over the size of the opening.

    There is a standard scale for aperture numbers, and it looks like this:

    1.4 2.0 2.8 4.0 5.6 8.0 11 16 22 32

    This scale has completely confused many beginning photographers. That's because the numbers are the inverse of

    what you'd expect:

    Smaller Aperture Number (2.8) = Wider Aperture = More Light

    Larger Aperture Number (22) = Narrower Aperture = Less Light

    And here's a graphic that shows the relationship between the opening of the lens and the aperture number:

  • See? As the numbers get bigger, the opening gets smaller.

    It's important to really understand this inverse relationship before you tackle maximum aperture.

    Maximum Aperture

    All lens apertures can be narrowed as much as you want. For example, every lens on the market today -

    regardless of manufacturer - can be set to f/16.

    The reverse is not true - every lens on the market CANNOT be opened up to f/1.4.

    The limit to how wide a lens can be opened is called the maximum aperture.

    For example, lens A might have a maximum aperture of f/2.8 while lens B will have a maximum aperture of f/4.

    While both lenses can be set to an aperture of f/8 (narrower than the maximum setting) the f/4 lens cannot be

    opened up to f/2.8.

    Bottom line: a lens with a wider maximum aperture lets in more light.

    What are the benefits of lenses with wide maximum apertures? There are a three.

    1 Natural Light Photos

    No flash with a max aperture of f/2.8

    A digital SLR camera sensor needs light to create an image.

    There are two ways that it can get the light that it needs: it can keep the shutter open for a long period of time or

    open the aperture as wide as possible.

    Let's say that you hate taking photos with flash, because you know how washed out they look.

    You're indoors and your camera tells you that with your aperture set to f/4, your shutter speed will have to be

    1/30 of a second. That's not going to be fast enough to take a shot of your child rampaging in the living room.

    You're going to have to use the flash, or get the kid to sit VERY still.

    If you had a lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 (which lets in double the amount of light of f/4) then you can

    use a shutter speed of 1/90, which means that you can get clear photos without the flash.

    2 Fast Shutter Speeds

    A fast shutter prevents motion blur

  • You're taking photos on an overcast day of a flower in the backyard. A strong breeze is blowing, and that flower is

    moving all over the place.

    You set the aperture on your lens as wide as it can go (let's say f/5.6), and check the shutter speed. The camera

    tells you that you can use a shutter speed of 1/125 of a second.

    That's not fast enough to get a clear photo of the flower. You're stuck.

    If you had a lens with a wider maximum aperture you could get the shot. With a wider aperture (say f/2.8) your

    shutter speed could be 1/500 of a second.

    Since the wide aperture lets in so much light, the shutter doesn't have to stay open as long.

    3 Reduced Depth of Field

    Wide aperture = shallow depth of field

    Lenses with wide maximum apertures have shallow depth of field.

    Without getting into a discussion on depth of field (that could take awhile), I will just refer to the photographic

    example at right.

    This shot was taken with a lens set to f/3.2. Notice that the background is completely out of focus even though the

    ball in the foreground is clear?

    This is shallow depth of field.

    Nature and portrait photographers use this all the time to reduce the impact of a busy background.

    If you have a lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6, you can't reduce the depth of field as much as you can with

    a wider aperture.

    How to Tell the Maximum Aperture of a Lens

    If you've been comparison shopping for lenses, you've probably had to wade through a whole lot of numbers.

    For example:

    50mm f/1.8

    18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

    28-300mm f/3.5-6.3

    The first set of numbers represent the focal length or focal length range.

    But it's the second set of numbers we're most interested in right now: these indicate the maximum aperture of the

    lens. Remember, there's really no point in marking the MINIMUM aperture on the lens, because that's pretty much

    the same for all lenses.

    Wait one second though...in some of these examples there are two numbers instead of one - what's up with that?

    Constant Maximum Aperture

    The maximum aperture of a prime lens is straightforward: there's only one.

    But with some zoom lenses, there can be TWO maximum apertures.

    Example: you've got a standard kit lens that came with your digital camera and it's an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom.

    The reason that there are two numbers is because your zoom lens has a variable maximum aperture:

    At 18mm the maximum aperture is f/3.5

    At 55mm the maximum aperture narrows to f/5.6

  • Somewhere in the middle of the zoom range (30mm) you'll get a maximum aperture number somewhere in the

    middle - say, f/4.

    Zoom lenses like this are a real problem for professional photographers who control their cameras manually. This

    is because with a variable max aperture zoom, exposure settings constantly change as you zoom in and out.

    The good news: there are plenty of zoom lenses with constant maximum apertures.

    On these lenses, the maximum aperture is the same, regardless of how much the lens is zoomed. How can you tell

    which lenses have constant maximum apertures?

    The answer is simple: if you see a zoom lens with only ONE aperture number then it has a constant maximum

    aperture.

    Example: 28-70mm f/2.8 (2.8 is the max aperture at both 28mm and 70mm and everywhere in between)

    So What Max Aperture Do You Need?

    The answer to this question depends a lot on where and when you want to take photos.

    If you have a knack for pulling out your camera in the dimmest lighting conditions, then you're going to need a

    lens with an extremely wide maximum aperture.

    If - on the other hand - you only take photos in broad daylight, then a wide maximum aperture isn't as crucial.

    Zoom lenses with constant maximum apertures are a HUGE benefit to photographers who want to take more

    manual control over their SLRs, but not as useful tho those who keep their cameras in AUTO mode.

    The following quick chart should give you a ballpark sense of the maximum aperture that's best for the lighting

    conditions:

    Lighting Max Aperture Rationale

    Indoors f/1.4 - f/2.8 If you want to take photos indoors without a flash, you need to get a lens with a very

    wide maximum aperture to let in plenty of light

    Overcast f/2.8 - f/3.5 Overcast days are especially challenging for sports photographers, who need to use fast

    shutter speeds to freeze motion

    Shade f/3.5 - f/5.6 Shade is not as dim as a cloudy day and you have a bit more leeway when it comes to

    the maximum aperture

    Daylight Any In broad daylight it really doesn't matter what the max aperture of the lens is - you

    probably won't be using it because it lets in too much light and over-exposes the image

    Please also realize that the maximum aperture you need is directly related to the speed of your subject matter.

    Remember that benefit #2 of a wide maximum aperture is faster shutter speeds?

    If your photos succeed or fail based on having a fast shutter speed (so that they don't all turn out blurry) then

    you're going to want to find a lens with a nice wide max aperture to help you get blazing-fast shutter speeds

    regardless of the amount of natural light.

    Lens Hunt Example

    In Step 1, I introduced you to Chris, who's looking for a good lens to photograph his son's little league games.

    Chris is building his digital SLR lens wish list one feature at a time.

    He has already decided that he wants a telephoto zoom lens that he can attach to his Nikon digital SLR camera.

    Based on his understanding of maximum aperture, he makes two additional decisions: first, he wants a wide

    maximum aperture so that he can freeze motion regardless of how sunny it is outside. Second, he wants a lens

    with a constant maximum aperture, so that his exposure settings aren't changing around all the time.

    Here's how his wish list looks now:

    Lens mount: Nikon

    Lens focal length: Telephoto

    Lens type: Telephoto to Telephoto Zoom

    Maximum aperture: f/2.8 (would settle for f/4)

    Zoom aperture: Constant

    Chris is getting closer to identifying his ideal lens. Just a few more steps to go...

  • First vs Third Party Lenses When it comes to first vs third party lenses for digital SLR cameras, there's usually a tradeoff: price vs. quality.

    Many of the third party lenses are not as expensive as those made by camera manufacturers and when it comes to

    lenses you do get what you pay for.

    However, many of the third party lens companies have recently produced exceptional lenses that aren't matched

    by any similar first party companies.

    This makes them a tempting alternative for those who don't want to spend a week's salary on a camera lens.

    First and Third Party Defined

    Before I get too much futher into this analysis, I figured it would be good to clarify the different players involved.

    When I talk about first party lenses, I am referring to lenses made by the camera companies themselves: Canon,

    Nikon, Pentax, Olympus and Sony (a.k.a. Konica Minolta).

    A couple of important points:

    1. First party lenses are NOT interchangeable with cameras from different manufacturers: a Canon lens will

    not attach to a Pentax camera and vice versa.

    2. The lenses are interchangeable with different camera models from the same manufacturer: a single Canon

    lens will work with every Canon digital SLR camera.

    When it comes to third party lenses, there are really only three major players: Sigma, Tamron and Tokina.

    The third party lenses don't play by quite the same rules as the first party lenses. The same third party lens can

    be attached to cameras from different manufacturers, so long as the lens mount is correct.

    For example, the Tamron 28-70mm f/2.8 zoom comes with a Canon mount (to attach to all Canon digital SLRs)

    and a Nikon mount (to attach to all Nikon digital SLRs).

    However, once you've bought a lens with a specific mount type it won't attach to cameras that don't share the

    same lens mounting system (so you can't swap your Tamron lens with a Canon mount out for a Nikon mount at a

    later date).

    First Party Advantages

    When the battle is waged between first and third party lenses, the first party lenses have the advantage on two

    fronts:

    1. Quality - the build quality of first party lenses (especially those made by Canon and Nikon) is part of the

    reason why many professional photographers don't use anything else.

    2. Compatibility - since all modern lenses are electronic, it makes sense that the camera manufacturers are

    the one who can make lenses that are most compatible with their cameras.

    Please don't take this to mean that third party lenses fall apart in a week or aren't compatible with the major

    digital SLR cameras.

    They are - but if you were to evaluate the exact same lens type from a first vs third party company, the first party

    lens should come out on top.

    Since these types of tests are usually only done in a lab, it should be hard for the average consumer to tell the

    quality difference between a first and third party lens.

    Third Party Advantages

    Not to be left out of the game, third party lenses come with some advantages of their own:

    1. More Options - camera manufacturers can't make a lens to suit every need, which is why the third party

    companies are able to step in and fill the gaps.

    2. Lower Prices - in order to be competitive with the big camera companies, many third party lenses don't

    cost as much as the first party alternatives.

  • Think of the third party lenses as off-brand merchandise - they're like that generic box of cereal at your local

    grocery store.

    Since the third party companies don't have to advertise quite as much as the big players (they're only selling

    lenses not cameras), they pass the savings on to you.

    The quality of third party lenses has also improved, so many of them are now indistinguishable from a similar first

    party lens.

    The most significant drawback to third party lenses is that they favor the two leading manufacturers: Canon and

    Nikon. If your digital SLR is made by Pentax, Olympus or Sony, it will be much easier to find a first party lens.

    Which One To Choose?

    While it's important to know the difference between first vs third party lenses, it should not be a make-or-break

    decision for you right now.

    Here's the best advice I can give: wait until you've completed your digital SLR lens wish list.

    At the very end of this process, when you have a complete picture of the lens you would like to have, see what's

    available.

    If a third party lens is a closer match to your ideal lens than a first party, then I would recommend you buy the

    third party lens without hesitation.

    However, if there is a first party lens that is also a strong contender, then compare the two side-by-side, keeping

    in mind some of the advantages that I mentioned above.

    Lens Hunt Example

    Way back in step 1 of this digital SLR lens guide, I introduced you to Chris, who is looking for a good lens to

    photograph his son's little league games.

    Chris is putting together a digital SLR lens wish list - a complete picture of his ideal lens.

    When it comes to first vs third party lenses, he decides that he really doesn't care one way or the other, and just

    wants to find the lens that is the closest match to his wish list.

    This means that his list now looks like this:

    Lens mount: Nikon

    Lens focal length: Telephoto

    Lens type: Telephoto to Telephoto Zoom

    Maximum aperture: f/2.8 - f/3.5

    Zoom aperture: Constant

    First vs Third party: Undecided

    Chris must now decide what "bonus" features he'd like the lens to have before he's ready to make a purchase.

    Digital SLR Lens Features Before you make a final decision about a lens, it helps to be familiar with all of the extra digital SLR lens features.

    Think of it like this: when you buy a new car, you can just get something that will let you drive from point A to

    point B.

    That's the basic approach...but you can also deck out your new ride with a sunroof, power windows, heated seats,

    alloy rims and a grab-bag of other enhancements.

    While these extra features aren't really essential, they certainly add to your enjoyment every time you get behind

    the wheel.

    These "extra" digital SLR lens features aren't all that different.

    Digital SLR Lens "Extras"

    Here's the complete list of bonus features that manufacturers pack into modern digital SLR lenses:

    Silent autofocus

    Full-time manual focus

    Non-rotating front element

    Crop reduction

    Superior optics

    Image stabilization

    Internal zoom

  • I'll discuss each one in turn: what it's good for, and why it's a feature that you might like to have on your lens.

    Silent Autofocus

    When some lenses focus, they make a grinding noise like a bad transmission.

    If you enjoy taking discreet photos or don't want your subjects to be aware that you've got a camera aimed at

    them, this type of focus will give you away every time.

    Some lenses come with silent autofocus systems.

    Common names for this include Ultra-Sonic Motor (USM) and Hyper-Sonic Focus (HSF). All that these really means

    is the lens is dead quiet when it is focusing.

    Quiet focus is also an essential tool for wildlife photographers, where a skittish deer would be alerted to your

    presence with the autofocus motor grinding away.

    Full-Time Manual Focus

    This feature is less essential, more nice to have.

    On most lenses, if you want to switch from autofocus to manual focus you have to flick a switch on the lens.

    Want to go back to autofocus? Flick the switch.

    There are a special set of lenses that feature full-time manual focus. This means that even if the autofocus for the

    lens is engaged, you can still focus manually to make fine-tuned adjustments.

    Since autofocus systems don't always get it right, having the ability to focus manually all the time is helpful.

    Non-Rotating Front Element

    On some lenses, the front of the lens rotates when you focus.

    If you put a piece of tape at the top of your lens and then focused on your subject, the tape would not longer be

    at the top.

    So the front spins around. Big deal.

    It is a big deal if you are a landscape photographer trying to use a polarizing filter on your lens.

    A polarizing filter changes the light entering the lens depending upon how it is oriented. Let's say that you set your

    polarizing filter just how you want it.

    Now you focus, and the polarizer spins around. It is no longer capturing the same image as before, so now you

    have to re-set it.

    In fact, you'll have to re-set it every time you focus. See the problem here?

    If you know for sure that you're going to take landscape photos with your digital SLR, you're probably going to

    want to use a polarizing filter at some point.

    Make sure that the lens you get has a non-rotating front element.

    Crop Reduction

    Are you familiar with digital SLR crop factor?

    Some lenses are designed to reduce this crop factor. While they cannot eliminate it completely, they can adjust for

    it.

    Essentially, the lens is designed so that the back (the part that attaches to the camera) is closer to the digital SLR

    sensor.

    Since the back of the lens is closer to the sensor, it reduces the amount that the small-sized sensor crops out of

    the image.

    There is one big drawback to this type of lens: it won't work with a film SLR camera. If you're never going back to

    film again, then lenses like these won't limit you one bit.

    Superior Optics

    Not all lens optics are created equal.

    Some lenses are designed with special optics that adjust for distortion, reduce flare and stray light from entering

    the lens and are designed to produce images with maximum clarity.

    These lenses all come with different names, but the bottom line is exceptional optics inside the lens.

    For example, Canon's pro optics are branded with an "L" while Nikon used the term "ED".

    The easiest way to tell is by price. Any one of these lenses is going to cost significantly more than a lens without

    the superior optics.

  • Image Stabilization

    A select group of lenses include image stabilization (also called vibration reduction).

    The stabilization helps when you are holding the camera in your hands and taking photos at slow shutter speeds.

    Typically, this would result in a blurry photo, but with an image stabilization lens you can get clear shots. The

    stabilization corrects for the fact that the lens is shaking around.

    This is especially helpful on lenses with long focal lengths (100mm or greater) since camera shake is magnified at

    long focal lengths.

    You are going to pay a huge premium for an image-stabilized lens, but if you take a lot of photos in low-light

    conditions and don't want to attach the camera to a tripod all the time, this is the way to go.

    Note: Image-stabilized lenses are NOT necessary with digital SLR cameras that include built-in anti-shake.

    Internal Zoom

    Last but not least (you still with me?) are lenses with internal zooms.

    This really is a specialty feature, but it can make a difference. If you have a zoom lens with an external zoom, the

    length of the lens changes as you zoom from wide angle to telephoto.

    With an internal zoom, the length of the lens is always a constant.

    This is helpful for 3 reasons: first, internal zooms tend to be smoother and faster than their external counterparts.

    Second, an internal zoom does not affect the balance of the camera. If you have your digital SLR attached to a

    tripod and use an external zoom, the changing length of the zoom changes the center of gravity of the camera.

    Finally, external zooms can "slide". This means that if you are pointing the camera toward the ground, the lens will

    zoom in unless you are holding onto the zoom ring.

    Internal zooms stay put no matter which way they are pointing.

    The World's Most Expensive Digital SLR Lens

    Each one of these features will add to the price of your lens:

    Long focal length

    Wide maximum aperture

    Silent autofocus

    Full-time manual focus

    Non-rotating front element

    Crop reduction

    Superior optics

    Image stabilization

    Internal zoom

    So what's the most expensive lens you can buy?

    Something like this might be close:

    A 200mm to 600mm f2.8 maximum aperture zoom lens with silent autofocus, full-time manual focus, a non-

    rotating front element, crop reduction, superior optics, image stabilization and internal zoom.

    Do lenses like this exist? They certainly do...but they also cost about half the price of that new car I mentioned at

    the top of this article.

    Lens Hunt Example

    Way back in step 1 of this digital SLR lens guide, I introduced you to Chris, who is looking for a good lens to

    photograph his son's little league games.

    Our intrepid lens-finder is almost at the end here, and puts the finishing touches on his digital SLR lens wish list.

    Here's the rationale: Chris decides that silent autofocus is not important - he'll be taking photos outside at a noisy

    ballgame. The non-rotating front element, crop reduction and superior optics aren't going to yield any real

    benefits.

    However, full-time manual focus could come in handy for quick adjustments as the action moves around the field.

    Chris also decides that a fast internal zoom will be easier to use and less clumsy than a regular zoom.

    Here's what his wish list looks like now:

    Lens mount: Nikon

  • Lens focal length: Telephoto

    Lens type: Telephoto to Telephoto Zoom

    Maximum aperture: f/2.8 - f/3.5

    Zoom aperture: Constant

    First vs third party: Undecided

    Extra features: full-time manual focus, internal zoom

    Phew! He's made it! Chris now has a complete picture of the lens that he is looking for.

    The next (and final) step for Chris is to find some lenses that are close matches to his ideal lens, read reviews,

    compare prices and finally purchase the one lens that will help him take great little league photos.

    Digital SLR Lens Reviews You've done your homework, and now you're ready to pick a digital SLR lens.

    If you're just landing on this page for the first time, I encourage you to start at the beginning of my 6-step

    process that helps you find the best digital SLR lens.

    If you've been following along through all 6 steps, by now you should have a fully developed digital SLR lens

    wishlist.

    We're going to leverage the information in your wishlist to pick a digital SLR lens that is ideal for your photography

    style.

    We just have to find the one lens that is the closest match to your dream lens.

    SLR Lens Search Engine

    Wouldn't it be nice if there was something out there that would allow you to plug in the items from your wishlist

    and have it tell you which lens to buy?

    Well, there is (but it might give you more than one option to choose from).

    The web site is called Adorama, and while they are a retailer, I find that their lens search engine is the easiest way

    to quickly find a lens that matches my needs.

    Here are the steps to follow to find a lens:

    1. Follow this link to the Adorama web site

    2. On the right side of the page you'll notice checkboxes - use your wishlist and check the appropriate boxes

    3. Adorama's lens search engine will return lenses that match your criteria

    4. Using your wishlist, look at the descriptions of the lenses to find one that's a close match to your ideal lens

    Congratulations! You've just narrowed down the number of lens options you have to compare from hundreds to a

    handful.

    Lens Hunt Example

    Throughout the steps of this digital SLR lens guide, I've been talking about Chris who wants to get a nice lens for

    his Nikon camera.

    Chris knows that he wants to take photos of his son's little league games, and builds his lens wishlist around this

    need.

    As he has worked through each step of the guide, Chris has added more criteria to his wishlist to narrow down his

    options.

    This is what he's wound up with:

    Lens mount: Nikon

    Lens focal length: Telephoto

    Lens type: Telephoto to Telephoto Zoom

    Maximum aperture: f/2.8 - f/3.5

    Zoom aperture: Constant

    First vs third party: Undecided

    Extra features: full-time manual focus, internal zoom

    Now Chris goes looking for the lens that's a close match to the one he has identified in his wishlist.

    On the Adorama web site, he checks the following boxes to search for lenses:

  • Manufacturer: No selection (this will return both first and third party lens options)

    Digital vs Film Lenses: No selection

    Lens Style: Telephoto Zooms

    Mount: Nikon

    He clicks SEARCH and is on his way. On the first page of results, he sees this:

    Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor ED-IF Lens

    The lens matches many of the items on Chris' wishlist: it's a telephoto zoom with a wide contant maximum

    aperture of f/2.8. It has a silent autofocus system (AF-S) anti-shake (VR - Vibration Reduction), and an internal

    focusing system (IF).

    Only one problem: price. This particular lens retails for about $1,500.00.

    If Chris is willing (and able) to pay out this much money he's going to get an exceptional lens to photograph his

    son's games.

    SIDEBAR: when it comes to lenses, you DO get what you pay for. Please realize that if you find the perfect lens,

    it's probably worth the price you'll pay for it in the long run. Lenses of this build quality never break, last forever,

    and take exceptionally clear photos.

    Chris decides that he'd like at least TWO more lower-cost alternatives to suit his little league photography needs,

    so he spends some more time browsing the search results.

    The next one he sees is this:

    Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF Zoom-Nikkor Lens

    Priced around $850, this lens is not quite so hard on the pocketbook, and still meets the criteria of his wishlist.

    Looking for one more option, he finds this:

    Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 APO EX DG HSM Macro Telephoto Zoom for Nikon AF-D

    Have you noticed something? With a completed wishlist and relatively little effort, Chris has narrowed down the

    field of possible lenses to just 3 options.

    NOW he's