Weekly Assignment: How Lenses Work

[PWS-Staff]

Photograph a scene or subject using the widest angle lens you own, and then photograph the same scene using the longest (telephoto) lens you have. If you are using a zoom, just zoom all the way in and then all the way out. Which image do you prefer and why? Are you able to keep the same settings to expose the image, or do you have to change them? What did you change, and why? Also, did you change your physical position to achieve a similar perspective, or did you simply stand in one place and have one wide and one narrow shot? Post your photos and comments here.

From: "Canon EOS Digital Photography," by Serge Timacheff

[InspiringFotos]

I went to the park to work on this assignment. My subject was a park garage on the other side of the pond. I took these photos using my tripod and these two lenses:
1) Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Autofocus lens - Photo 2 - f/4.5 -1, focal length 30 mm, 1/640, ISO 100
2) Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom lens - Photo 1 -f/5 -1, focal length 131 mm, 1/640, ISO 100

I prefer photo 1 (telephoto lens), because you can zoom in on a subject from far away and get more details of that subject then from a distance and eliminate other back ground distractions.

Most of my setting stayed the same except for the f-stop changed a .5 and the focal length was increase 99 mm. I didn't do any manual changing of my setting as the camera was set at the aperture priority mode, but my first lens is an autofocus lens and that might of made some difference.

I did not change my physical position as I just had my camera on the tripod and change lenes from wide to narrow shot.

[goldcoastgolfer]

It might be interesting if you were to use your wide angle lens and take a shot of the same scene trying to achieve a similar perspective to your telephoto lens and compare the difference to.

[InspiringFotos]

I will try again when I am in Tucson this weekend. I will try to pick a subject that is not so far away and no pond in front of me. Thanks for the feedback. Can't wait until I go to Tucson so I can practice my photography. Love digital cameras compare to film as I can take more pictures, learn by my mistakes, and the cost is a lot cheaper.

[goldcoastgolfer]

I hear you there - although I'm trying to not take so many photos    Processing hundreds of photos at a time gets a bit tedious when you get rid of half of them!

[InspiringFotos]

Here is the one thing I think is really great about digital photography compare to film photography from a learning perspective. Film photography you have to carry lots of different type of exposure film (i.e. 100, 200, 400, etc) with more than one camera. You also cannot see the photography until after you develop the film which can be weeks or months later for me  . With digital photography, you can adjust the different exposure or lens setting for the same shot with one camera and compare your results instantly and save money all at the same time  . So even if it is a bit tedious to process hundreds of pictures and you might get rid of half the images, it is all worth the time in the digital age cause I think you can learn faster by having more images to compare to and save money in the process. Would you agree?

[goldcoastgolfer]

Absolutely.  I don't think there would have been anyway I would have taken photography up as a hobby if I still had to pay for film and processing of the photos as well.  I rather like post processing photos now too.  It lets me take a photo of a scene with a vision in my head and even if the light isn't quite right, I can tweak it in post processing to how I wanted to portray it.

[InspiringFotos]

I have taken pictures ever since I was a child, but the develop film process took a while as it was too expensive to process. I really enjoy photography now, because I can take lots of pictures and learn from my mistake right after I have taken them. Plus I agree post processing is quite fun.