Camera lenses

Started by Dtm115300, November 20, 2004, 07:33:13 PM

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Dtm115300

I want to learn more about lenses. Anyone have a good site, or a book i could get?

metroshane

Grab just about any photography book as it will be impossible to understand lenses without understanding aperature, focal length, depth of field etc.  Is there anything in particular you'd like to know?
We live in an age that reads too much to be intelligent and thinks too much to be beautiful.

Dtm115300

I just wanted to study diffrent types of lens. I want to see how film makers make their movies look the way they do.

Is there a diffrence between photography lens's and movie camrea lens's?

I got a pretty good book about still photography.

metroshane

Theoretically movie lenses are the same as still lenses.  Infact, I can use my Canon EF still lenses on that mini-35 system they have out.  The difference is going to come about in the mount...which is just how it attaches to the camera.  Even still cameras vary by brand.  And still cameras often have autofocus mechanics in them.  But functionally they do the same work and operate the same way.  

Without going overboard, lenses are valued by the focal length (in mm's) and the aperature (sometimes called "fast or slow").  A wide angle lens will be very short (maybe 28 mm's) and a zoom or telephoto lens can be...well pretty much infinite, but more practically up to 300 mm or so.  For a scientific experiment you can take a paper towel roll and look through it at full length, then cut it in half...and again, etc...to see how the peripheral is affected by length.  The aperature, or f stop, is how much light the lens will can let in.   A "fast" lens is one that can let a lot of light in and therefore operate at lower light levels.  But your Depth of Field is going to change dramatically.  That's a whole different lesson.  The fastest lenses will open up to .8 f stop....typical cheaper ones only go to about  4.  The lower the number the wider the aperature.  Now you will also hear about prime lenses.  A prime lens is one that can not zoom in and out and has a fixed focal length.  This is really a better lens because any lens that can zoom in and out will by design have many pieces of glass in them to function.   But the more glass you have to put in, the less clear the image will be.  So prime lenses only have the minimum glass needed and therefore offer a much clearer picture.  Now this is a basic study on lenses, but you have to understand that it's relative.  For example, a 50mm lens on a 8mm camera will look a little different than a 50mm lens on a 70mm camera.  But relatively, you can use the same knowledge.

Now that that is done, it's important to say that the look of the picture is just as much if not more affected by the lighting and the film chosen.  That should get started.
We live in an age that reads too much to be intelligent and thinks too much to be beautiful.

cine

Quote from: Dtm115300Anyone have a good site, or a book i could get?
I don't know about a book but one thing you should read is at the top of your screen next to DONATIONS where it says you have 1 Private Message...

Jesus..

Dtm115300

So i can pretty much read about still lens, and i would be learning what i want right?