Really Dumb Questions Part II
- Thread starter ferg822
- Start date
gregr
New member
It depends on what kind of camera you're talking about. I'm going to assume you're asking about a point and shoot camera- if not let me know. For point and shoots you first need to check the front of the lens and see if there are threads. If there are you can add a "lens" on. I put that in quotes because what you add on are actually filters or converters. A lens is something you'd use on a dslr and they are interchangeable. With point and shoot cameras the lens is a permanent built-in part of the camera. On a point and shoot the lens is non-removable; it zooms in and out [usually] but you're basically stuck with what you got... except for those filters and converters I mentioned.
Different lenses have different focal lengths and allow you to see more of the scene in front of you, or they allow you to zoom in and isolate only a small portion of what is in front of you.
There are different types of filters and two basic converters as far as point and shoot cameras go. The converters are either wide angle or telephoto. The wide angle allows you to see a wider field and the telephoto allows you to zoom in, or isolate a far away object better. Filters come in a big variety and can create color casts, correct color casts, increase contrast, decrease contrast, etc. etc. There are also filters that help with close-up photography and in our hobby most people are looking for close-up filters when they ask about add-on lenses. Close-up filters increase the magnification of the lens so close-up/small objects appear bigger in your picture. That's what most people are after in this hobby- making tiny pieces of coral fill their picture frame. Hard to do though but not impossible.
Different lenses have different focal lengths and allow you to see more of the scene in front of you, or they allow you to zoom in and isolate only a small portion of what is in front of you.
There are different types of filters and two basic converters as far as point and shoot cameras go. The converters are either wide angle or telephoto. The wide angle allows you to see a wider field and the telephoto allows you to zoom in, or isolate a far away object better. Filters come in a big variety and can create color casts, correct color casts, increase contrast, decrease contrast, etc. etc. There are also filters that help with close-up photography and in our hobby most people are looking for close-up filters when they ask about add-on lenses. Close-up filters increase the magnification of the lens so close-up/small objects appear bigger in your picture. That's what most people are after in this hobby- making tiny pieces of coral fill their picture frame. Hard to do though but not impossible.
hybridgenius
In Memoriam
What he just said^^^
gregr
New member
Hopefully you were able to sift thru that and find the pertinent info 
I'll give it another try though.
Some real world examples that might help you are:
Wide angle lenses, generally from about 17mm to 35mm, are used for landscape type shots where you want to see a big area. Along with landscapes common usage would be architecture and people pictures in small areas (parties for example).
Standard lenses, roughly from about 35-85mm, are used for general photography- people, scenery, etc.
Telephoto lenses are the long ones, roughly from 85mm on up to 600mm and beyond. They are used for making far away objects appear closer. Typical usage would be for sports and wildlife.
Because there are many different types of photography there are many different lenses. By the way, close-up (also known as macro) photography uses specialized lenses. 100mm range macro lenses are the most common and generally the best for aquarium photography.
I'll give it another try though. The point of adding a lens is to change the framing- changing what/how much or how little the camera sees. What does it increase? Well, the increase (or decrease) would be in focal length.
Some real world examples that might help you are:
Wide angle lenses, generally from about 17mm to 35mm, are used for landscape type shots where you want to see a big area. Along with landscapes common usage would be architecture and people pictures in small areas (parties for example).
Standard lenses, roughly from about 35-85mm, are used for general photography- people, scenery, etc.
Telephoto lenses are the long ones, roughly from 85mm on up to 600mm and beyond. They are used for making far away objects appear closer. Typical usage would be for sports and wildlife.
Because there are many different types of photography there are many different lenses. By the way, close-up (also known as macro) photography uses specialized lenses. 100mm range macro lenses are the most common and generally the best for aquarium photography.
gregr
New member
Here are some real real world examples:
Taken with 20mm lens:
Taken with 540mm lens (400+1.4x converter):
Make sense? If I'd used that 20mm lens on the sheep he'd be a tiny spec in the frame- the size of one of those rocks in the landscape shot. And vice versa, had I used the 540mm lens on the landscape one of those rocks would be about all you'd see in the pic.
Taken with 20mm lens:
Taken with 540mm lens (400+1.4x converter):
Make sense? If I'd used that 20mm lens on the sheep he'd be a tiny spec in the frame- the size of one of those rocks in the landscape shot. And vice versa, had I used the 540mm lens on the landscape one of those rocks would be about all you'd see in the pic.
