Can someone help with lens size

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Can someone help with lens size

Postby D » Thu Jun 10, 2010 6:29 pm

I'm looking to start some wildlife photography mostly river bank, reservoir and shore line type stuff, mostly ducks,:)
i have no idea about magnifications and lens sizes and having great rouble trying to figure it out, is there someone that can explain and suggest in simply terms
thank you
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Late to the Party » Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:27 pm

Not the easiest question to answer really - depends on a few things. Most of all, it's going to depend on your budget if you're just starting out.

You say you've no idea, so let's break it down to the real basics. Take for example a lens like the Canon 70-200mm f4.

70-200mm is the focal length of the lens: a measurement of the zoom range. The higher the closer your subject will appear, so this particular lens will zoom from 70mm (kind of a good portrait range) to 200mm (moderate telephoto range - you'll be getting much closer to distant subjects). A lens of this sort of range is probably pretty good for what you're looking for, particularly as you'll be using a cropped frame sensor* and you'll get a bit more reach out of your zoom.

*A full Frame sensor is the same size as an exposure on an old-school 35mm film. Cameras with sensors that size are really expensive, and I'm assuming that if you're having to ask what lens to buy then you've probably not just spent £1.5k on a camera body. Most entry level digital SLRs have a smaller sensor, which essentially has the effect of only taking the centre part of what would be exposed on a 35mm frame. This means that you are, in a way, getting more reach out of a lens of a cropped frame sensor than you would have in the days of film. Or with a fecking expensive pro body.


f4 is the speed of the lens. The f number of a lens refers to the size of the aperture that lets the light through to the sensor. The larger the aperture, the more light gets in and the faster your shutter speed can be. f4 is kind of middle of the road: not very fast, but fine and dandy for shooting in daylight. Fast lenses both cost and weigh a heck of a lot more. The faster version of the 70-200mm weighs and costs over twice as much as the f4 version. Sometimes lenses have a rating that reads something like f3.5-5.6 - this means that when the lens is zoomed out the maximum aperture is f3.5, and when zoomed in the maximum aperture is f5.6 (quite slow).

Forgive me if I'm telling you what you already know. If you don't and you still don't understand, there's a fuller explanation here: http://leadinglinesphotography.net/tuto ... re-and-iso (just started writing these tutorials - will try to get more online soon).

Using something about the 70-200mm range you'll get close enough to get some good detail with the ducks, but still be able to zoom out enough to take in a little more of the scene. You can of course go for a much wider zoom range - some lenses these days are giving you a range more like 18-200mm or more. Sounds great, but the trade off is that the image quality won't be the same. That said, if you're just getting started they have some serious advantages....

For a start, you don't have to change lenses all the time, cutting down the chance for dust to get into the camera. aside from the, it's often just more convenient and less kit to carry than taking a selection of lenses with you. If you can get one that does everything and you're not making large prints or selling your work then the compromise might be well wroth thinking about. And for the money, they might well be a lot more cost effective.

I don't know what system you're using, but most manufacturers have an equivalent of the 70-200mm f4. A few generic lenses you might be interested in researching would be:

Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6
Sigma 50-200 f4-6.3
Sigma 18-200 f3.5-6.3
Sigma 18-250 f3.5-6.3
Tamron have equivalents of them all too, as will whatever camera manufacturer you've bought into. I've never used any of these (except the original 70-200mm f4 we talked about) so can't vouch for any of them, but there's plenty of reviews around the internet.

If you're wanting to take photos of birds in flight or further away then you're going to have to start looking at longer zooms with larger apertures: sheds more cash.

Hope that this helps.
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Doorstop » Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:13 pm

LAdies and gentlemen, we have a winner for most informative post in an age .. loads of stuff to chew on in there and I, for one, learned quite a lot from thon discourse and thoroughly applaud LTTP for his/her efforts.

Superb, sterling stuff. t.t.v.g.g.s. 8)
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:55 pm

Undoubtedly the best forum on the web - the stuff that I have learned from this is amazing, don't understand it all but I have learned lots. I too have a Canon EOS 450D and it came with a 'bog standard' Canon lens and a Tamron zoom lens but I am looking for a wide angled lens that will allow me to capture buildings and other items. Recently priced the Canon lens coming in at around the £650 mark it's not cheap and it remains on my wish list...
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Late to the Party » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:00 am

Delmot, sounds like you want to look into the Sigma 10-20mm, which is lot cheaper (especially if you pick one up second hand). I used to have one and it was great, a really lovely bit of kit and you can probably pick it up around 350 quid new.

Glad it was a useful post! I was waiting for someone and I guess I got a bit carried away....
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Thu Aug 19, 2010 2:24 pm

Thanks for that - I kind of knew that was the size of lens I was needing, but never thought of going for another brand to be honest - will do now that I can save over 50%. I admit to being a little 'snobbish' about buying second hand but only because I have been stung in the past with such purchases - so I prefer to buy new.

Glad you've arrived on this forum - feel free to hold surgery anytime - cause you make iit soo much easier for us who are used to Box Brownies make the transition too the world of modernity....
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby tobester » Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:25 pm

Looking for a decent macro lens, that will give me very close macro shots, at present im using the basic 18-55mm, but would like to get closer...found this on a search

http://www.simplyelectronics.net/mainpr ... 2&sd=specs

Also is the 10-20mm lens better?
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby TA_Ealing » Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:11 pm

Tobester - DO NOT ORDER FROM SIMPLY ELECTRONICS!!!

Heard nothing but bad things about them - case in point: http://www.avforums.com/forums/gadgets- ... rning.html
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Late to the Party » Mon Apr 25, 2011 4:48 pm

The 10-20mm will be fairly hopeless for macro. Never used the 50mm you linked but Canin do a great EF-S 60mm macro that is well worth picking up.
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby tobester » Mon Apr 25, 2011 4:54 pm

Thanks for the help guys...so ill look for a 60mm macro elsewhere


Is this the type you mean - http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/p-38477- ... o-usm.aspx
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby hazy » Fri Apr 29, 2011 11:26 am

Tasty tip for macro pictures. Get a length of velcro and strap it round your lens, get some (6) those small LED torches you get for your key ring. Glue some velcro onto the smal torchers . Hope you are getting the idea by now. Now just push the wee LED torches on to the velcor round your Lens and test it out. Works a treat.
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Doorstop » Fri Apr 29, 2011 2:09 pm

8) cooltip.
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Late to the Party » Sun May 01, 2011 9:22 pm

Sounds like it's worth a try - gotta be cheaper than shelling out for a ring flash!
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby tobester » Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:46 pm

I have both the canon 18-55mm and 55-250mm lens and was wondering would i be better with a tamron 18-250mm f3.5/6.3 to stop switching lenses?
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Re: Can someone help with lens size

Postby Lucky Poet » Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:26 pm

I suppose it depends on how much you dislike switching lenses (and who can blame you if you do). The received wisdom seems to be that generally an all-purpose lens like that will suffer a bit though, optical quality-wise, against a more specialised one, so it's always a bit of a trade-off. There's apparently an update of it with in-built image stabilisation as well, though that will add to the price of course.

By the way, the lens reviews >here< are interesting.
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