DIFFERENT TYPES OF LENSES FOR DSLR AND MIRRORLESS CAMERAS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.
Photography is a type of art, which can be cherished as a hobby or it can turn out to be a great business, if done seriously. But in both cases, it is a costly thing to have. This is mainly due to the fact that, good cameras are expensive piece of gear to own. But it’s full functionality and power can be revealed only with the help of better quality lenses. Which are costly too.
But why do we have to invest in many lenses? What are various types of lenses one should be aware of? Why any single lens can’t be used to take all types of photos? All these questions will be answered in this post.
Interchangeable digital camera lenses can be mainly categorized in following two types.
1. Types based on working of lens
2. Types based on focal length of lens.
As this topic is very vast, it is impossible to cover it in a single short post. So in this post we will only see lens types based on working of lenses. Second type will be handled in next post.
At first we have to understand one very important thing, and that is, ‘There is no any single lens available on earth, which can take all types of photo’. Because for every photography work need, special lens has been made for that specific use only. We just have to identify our work areas and chose the right lens accordingly.
But first of all, let’s understand the term FOCAL LENGTH, because this term is related to each and every lens available today.
Because of the concave and convex glass elements in lens, light gets concentrated at a single point inside the lens. This point is called as ‘Focal point’ of that lens. And the distance of this point from the camera sensor is called as ‘FOCAL LENGTH’ of that particular lens. Generally this distance or focal length can be any any number from 8 mm to 1200 mm. Some lenses even go beyond this range on both the ends.
Now let us see types of camera lenses based on it’s working.
1. ZOOM LENSES
As the name suggest, these lenses can be zoomed in or out, as per their designed range. When zoomed in, some lenses may extend along their length externally. Whereas some lenses may not extend externally, as they extend internally.
As we can see in above photo, the zoom range of these lenses is always mentioned on their body in ‘mm’, using which we can get focal length of those lenses. For example, 10-18 mm, 24-70 mm, 70-200 mm, etc.
As these lenses have to perform well at all focal lengths throughout their zoom length, they are made up of more number of glass elements. But downside to this is, the light has to pass through more number of glass elements and thus it’s quality reduces after each pass through. Thanks to today’s modern technology, this loss in light quality has been reduced to greater extent, to give us better pictures.
The advantage of a zoom lens is that, we can get pictures of objects/people at various distances from camera, by sanding at one location only. For example, we can take a head shot, a half body shot and a full body shot of a person, by standing at one location only.
The downside of zoom lenses is they are heavy and big in size. Also other thing to consider is, if they extend externally when zoomed in, the chances of dust and moisture getting inside the lens are high. So, take care in these situations.
Links of some of the best zoom lenses are given below. If you want to know more about them or you want to buy them, checkout the following links.
2. PRIME LENSES
Prime lenses work completely opposite to zoom lenses, as they don’t have capability to zoom in or out, having any one focal length only. This focal length is mentioned on the lens body in ‘mm’. We can see this in above photo.
As these lenses are not meant for zooming, their construction requires less number of glass elements. Because of this, light has to pass through less number of glasses and therefore it’s quality in retained when it comes out at the other end of lens. This results in greater image quality.
One more advantage of prime lenses is that, due to less number of glass elements, the size and weight of the lens is less. This allows use of maximum possible wide aperture in prime lenses, which is not technically possible in zoom lenses. Aperture is a whole different subject in itself, which we will see in some other post.
Dis-advantage of prime lens is, for taking photos in different compositions, you have to move by yourself to and fro. Suppose that you don’t have entry permission further ahead of a specific point or you can’t get back more because of obstructions like wall, etc. In these uncontrollable situations, only one prime lens cannot be used and zoom lenses prove to be more useful.
Links of some of the best prime lenses are given below. If you want to know more about them or you want to buy them, checkout the following links.
3. MACRO LENS
Macro lenses are designed to take photos of minute objects and make them look bigger on screen. Many times we see enlarged photos of a small spider, an ant, water droplets on leaves, pen nib, pencil, etc. These photos are taken with macro lenses.
These lens are designed in such a way that, they can focus on an area, which is really very close to the camera, say just 2-3 cm away from front element of lens. That’s why we can see objects very closely, which is not possible by normal lens or naked eyes.
Any macro lens can be called as TRUE MACRO LENS only if it has a magnification ratio of 1:1. In above photo, this ‘1:1’ notation is clearly visible on the lens. This ‘1:1 ratio’ means that, any object will occupy same area on the sensor, as it's own area in real life. This means, if a 1x1cm object is photographed from a closest focusing distance, it will occupy an area of 1x1 cm on camera sensor.
This is also known as ‘Life size macro’ photo. In following photo, we can see a photo taken by normal lens and a photo taken by a dedicated macro lens.
Even beyond this 1:1 ratio, some lenses have a magnification ratio of 1:2, 1:3, and even 1:5, etc. This means the object will look five times bigger than it’s actual size in real life. But to take photograph at such a magnification ratio, specific setup and advanced skill set is required for good photos. Another thing is, all the macro lenses available today, are prime lenses. We can see such lens in photo above.
Links of some of the best macro lenses are given below. If you want to know more about them or you want to buy them, checkout the following links.
4. TILT - SHIFT LENSES
This type is a very different and specific type of lens. These lenses are used by very few photographers in very limited situations, worldwide. These lenses are all prime lenses. They have two parts in themselves, back part is attached to the camera and the front part is kept movable, regardless of movement of back part.
You can see photos of such lens by clicking on following link.
Now, let us understand for what purpose this is done. The plane in which the camera focuses (known as focusing plane), is always parallel to the camera in all other lenses. The portion in front and back of this horizontal plane is out of focus. We can see this in first photo in following collage.
But what if we want to focus on a plane which is not parallel but is inclined to sensor plane? This tilting of focusing plane can be done with the help of tilt shift lens. When the front part of the lens is moved or tilted, the direction of focusing plane can be changed, as we want it to be. See second photo in above collage.
As stated earlier, the use of this lens is limited to specific conditions and is done by very few people in the world. Also, the construction of a lens with moving and tilting parts, is an engineering challenge. That’s why these lenses are too much expensive.
These were the types of lenses based on their working. Today the technology is so much advanced that, for every work there is a specific lens available in the market. While buying these lenses, one must consider his/her use and think thoroughly on the fact that, do they really need that lens.
We will see remaining types of lenses in next post.
Good bye for now. See you again in next post.
- Prasanna Joshi
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Next post
‘TYPES OF LENSES'
(PART 2)
Keep smiling & keep clicking.
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