What`s the difference... ?? (1 Viewer)

[old-mo]

Between "Telephoto" and "Zoom" len`s..

Took loads of photo`s with me new camera............. all turned out crap..

Cannot get me head round all the F`s, Apertures, White Balance, Back Light, and setting`s..

 

[Munchie]

Telephoto is a single long lens I.e. 500mm
Zoom is multi I.e. 28-300

 

[old-mo]

Telephoto is a single long lens I.e. 500mm
Zoom is multi I.e. 28-300

Thanks Ken.............. does that mean a telephoto will zoom in 500mm and a zoom len`s only 300...

Which to me means the telephoto zooms in more...

I`ll pay your fuel .... come over and show me how to drive the stupid bloody camera....

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[scotjimland]

Until you understand it all Mo, just use the Auto settings ..

it will also have program mode.. and there should be different ones for different types of photos.. . Landscapes, Sport, Portrait etc that take the guess work out of it ..

Guess it's time to read the manual.. modern SLRs have a steep learning curve.... just take one step at a time..

look for a local camera club to learn the ropes..

 

[Munchie]

Telephoto does not zoom. It is fixed.
Normal lens is usually 50mm
So a 100mm telephoto lens if say photographing a bird, the bird would be twice as big.
A zoom lens say 28mm-300 goes from wide I.e.28mm to a much closer shot at the 300mm end

 

[Munchie]

F numbers are the hole which lets light into your camera the bigger the f number the smaller the hole.
Shutter speed dictates how long the hole stays open to let light in.
The bigger the f number the more will be in focus in your shot. You must have enough light to maximise this though!

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[whingyraindrop]

There are excellant tutorial videos on 'You Tube' for most cameras. The manufacturers websites also often have links to tutorials.
Don't despair, with use it will become instinctive.

Lorraine x

 

[Munchie]

Tis complicated and I have tried to simplify what I said.
As said start with camera on auto then play!
Best tip for a beginner is to use the rule of thirds. Look it up on Google.
You will get better shots!

 

[Jim]

Don't worry about the names. I have a number of telephoto zoom lenses

Telephoto just means that the lens is shorter than its focal length, a 600mm lens that is physically only 300mm long could use mirrors to shorten the light path (mirror lens) or the more common, telephoto lens group (telephoto). Yours will probably be a telephoto zoom, and now you know that you can forget it

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[Allanm]

I can recommend the book below in the link. It will give you a pretty good idea of how the camera works and how to get the best from it.
Otherwise, do as Jim says above and put it in Auto or Programme mode.
Amazon product ASIN 1607748509

 

[PaulyP]

If you need to know how it works give it to a child of about 12, they will have ot perfect in minutes.

Once had a fancy Olympus camera over 30 years ago, kept getting blurry pics, son aged 12 wanted to take it on school trip to Russia.
Told him it would be difficult for him, wife said let him have it
Came back with loads of perfect pics, don't you just hate kids.

 

[Munchie]

Strictly speaking any lens over 50mm is telephoto.
Any lens under 50mm is wide angle!

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[Scattycat]

Why not start by setting it to 'ia' intelligent auto, to get used to it and then venture out to using the other settings.
I had a few problems when I bought mine and found that the 'white balance' was set to a minus so most of the pics were too dark when set on manual, I changed it to '0' and I've been quite pleased with the results.

 

[Jim]

Strictly speaking any lens over 50mm is telephoto.
Any lens under 50mm is wide angle!

Strictly speaking that is wrong Ken, as was your earlier advice that a telephoto lens is a fixed focal length. He's confused enough

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephoto_lens

 

[Munchie]

fair enough i will keep out of trying to help

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[Deleted member 29692]

As Jim said don't worry about it that much. It isn't important.

Just remember that the longer the focal length of the lens (the bigger the number in mm) the closer it will make the subject appear and vice versa.

 

[Jim]

What make and model of camera is it Mo?

 

[SuperMike]

He's confused enough

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephoto_lens

Strictly speaking, that is wrong. He is just confused, it comes with old age.

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[old-mo]

What make and model of camera is it Mo?

Nikon D3200 and 5 different lenses... and umpteen filters.

and other stuff that is going in the bin..

 

[old-mo]

Until you understand it all Mo, just use the Auto settings ..

it will also have program mode.. and there should be different ones for different types of photos.. . Landscapes, Sport, Portrait etc that take the guess work out of it ..

Guess it's time to read the manual.. modern SLRs have a steep learning curve.... just take one step at a time..

look for a local camera club to learn the ropes..

Trouble is Jim........... using auto focus I have to do the samee as with my Sony Digital...... ie....... hold the shutter thing down half way while it focuses.... then press again to take the photo...

And by the time I have done that and taken the photo.... the bird is half a mile away..

 

[scotjimland]

Trouble is Jim........... using auto focus I have to do the samee as with my Sony Digital...... ie....... hold the shutter thing down half way while it focuses.... then press again to take the photo...

And by the time I have done that and taken the photo.... the bird is half a mile away..

can you not set the lens to manual focus..

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[Larrynwin]

Get the birds to stay still while you focus Mo

 

[Jamwitt]

I think we need a photo meet so we can all get to no are cameras

 

[whingyraindrop]

I can't do links so here is a screen shot of something on You Tube that may be useful. There are lots of tutorials.

Lorraine x

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[Abacist]

If you are trying to photograph birds then you want a relatively short depth of field or depth of focus so that only the bird is in focus and everything else is out of focus. For that you need to have a large aperture which means the lowest F stop number available which will mean that you will also automatically get the fastest speed available in the given light conditions to freeze the bird's movement. Try using aperture priority with the F stop at the smallest available for the lens that you have. You can also set the film speed setting on the camera to 400 or 800 ASA or ever higher but if you want to enlarge your photos the higher the film speed then less enlargeable your photo becomes. If the camera has a spot metering function then use that to set the exposure relative to the bird only rather than the whole picture or centre weighted average. Forget about white balance let the camera do its thing. The beauty of digital cameras is that you can take lots of photos on different settings and then download them to your computer to see the different results.

As a good rule of thumb a 50mm lens is known as a standard lens which is neither wide angle nor telephoto i.e. doesn't bring the subject into closer view or enlarge the image - it is the lens closest to real life image as you see with your eyes. Anything smaller is a wide angle lens and anything bigger is telephoto. A zoom is just a lens with an adjustable range rather than a fixed telephoto lens. If you are using a telephoto lens then the speed at which you take the photo should always be at or greater than the focal length of the lens. So if you are using a 500mm lens the speed should be at least 1/500 of a second to freeze any action of the subject and to reduce the risk of the photo being blurred by camera shake by you as you take the picture.

Best way to photo birds is to set the camera up on a tripod focussed on a bird feeder and press the shutter when a bird lands on it! if you are trying to catch them them out in the countryside then its going to be a challenge for any good amateur photographer with amateur equipment!

It is complicated to start with but a good book can help no end. I went from being a raw beginner to being able to take wedding photos on an amateur basis but with semi-pro medium format equipment with film rather than digital. You get what you pay for with camera equipment and cheap lenses will produce poorer pictures. Prime lenses or fixed focal length lenses are better quality than zoom lenses which are a compromise and will have a lower capacity to let light into the picture i.e. you can take a better picture in low light conditions with a prime lens than with a zoom. Nikon brand lenses will be better quality than copies by other manufacturers. I hope that this helps! Ask away with any more questions.

 

[SuperMike]

If you are trying to photograph birds then you want a relatively short depth of field or depth of focus so that only the bird is in focus and everything else is out of focus. For that you need to have a large aperture which means the lowest F stop number available which will mean that you will also automatically get the fastest speed available in the given light conditions to freeze the bird's movement. Try using aperture priority with the F stop at the smallest available for the lens that you have. You can also set the film speed setting on the camera to 400 or 800 ASA or ever higher but if you want to enlarge your photos the higher the film speed then less enlargeable your photo becomes. If the camera has a spot metering function then use that to set the exposure relative to the bird only rather than the whole picture or centre weighted average. Forget about white balance let the camera do its thing. The beauty of digital cameras is that you can take lots of photos on different settings and then download them to your computer to see the different results.

As a good rule of thumb a 50mm lens is known as a standard lens which is neither wide angle nor telephoto i.e. doesn't bring the subject into closer view or enlarge the image - it is the lens closest to real life image as you see with your eyes. Anything smaller is a wide angle lens and anything bigger is telephoto. A zoom is just a lens with an adjustable range rather than a fixed telephoto lens. If you are using a telephoto lens then the speed at which you take the photo should always be at or greater than the focal length of the lens. So if you are using a 500mm lens the speed should be at least 1/500 of a second to freeze any action of the subject and to reduce the risk of the photo being blurred by camera shake by you as you take the picture.

Best way to photo birds is to set the camera up on a tripod focussed on a bird feeder and press the shutter when a bird lands on it! if you are trying to catch them them out in the countryside then its going to be a challenge for any good amateur photographer with amateur equipment!

It is complicated to start with but a good book can help no end. I went from being a raw beginner to being able to take wedding photos on an amateur basis but with semi-pro medium format equipment with film rather than digital. You get what you pay for with camera equipment and cheap lenses will produce poorer pictures. Prime lenses or fixed focal length lenses are better quality than zoom lenses which are a compromise and will have a lower capacity to let light into the picture i.e. you can take a better picture in low light conditions with a prime lens than with a zoom. Nikon brand lenses will be better quality than copies by other manufacturers. I hope that this helps! Ask away with any more questions.

I can almost hear the poor old Sod's head exploding.

 

[Abacist]

I can almost hear the poor old Sod's head exploding.

Mo can choose to be a snapper and put the camera on automatic or study the subject if he has a wish to capture good photos of birds and anything else for that matter.

If nothing else my post will hopefully show that its not a piece of cake but I did give him some good but fairly basic tips!

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[gomotorhome]

The makers of Digital cameras, including DSLRs go to enormous lengths to write software which allows them to do a pretty decent job of getting a good photograph using Program and Auto modes.

If you are even slightly unsure about the effects of aperture, shutter-speed and ISO then stick it on Auto.

Wildlife/Bird photography is probably the most specialised and technical branch of the hobby you could possible choose (My Dad spent £3,000 on his latest lens for "twitching").

Here's the little I know about Bird photography Rules...

Rule 1) Unless it's 100% tack sharp and fills most of the frame...it's useless
Rule 2) See rule 1.

You get the idea?

So, how do you get "tack sharp"?

It's a combination of focus & Shutter speed.

Modern DSLRs are good at getting focus but you still need to help hem understand what you want to focus on.

1) Find out how to select just ONE focus point in your view-finder (The centre one only). That is ALWAYS the most accurate.
2) place that single point on the subject and take the photo.

OK, it's in focus BUT....

..If the bird moves it may have motion blur. You need to set the shutter speed higher than for most other applications. I'd say 1/250th is a minimum.

3) To do this put your camera in Shutter Priority mode and set it to 1/500th.

4) Final part. Now your camera will focus on the subject and freeze it with a fast shutter. That only works if the ISO (sensor sensitivity) is high.
Set ISO to AUTO. (Yes, people will tell you it's better to have a low ISO but trust me, it's better to have a sharp image with "grain" than a blurred image with no "grain". Let the camera sort it out or the bird will have flown).

Summary

- ISO = AUTO
- Shutter Speed = 1/500, or 1/1000..or 1/2000 (but start with 1/500)
- Mode = Shutter Priority
- Focus points = Centre one only.
- AUTO Focus (preferably the mode that continuously tracks the subject)

If your camera has a "Sports" Auto mode you could use that, it will most likely give you similar settings.

I've been taking photographs with SLRS and DSLRs for 38 years and I still miss opportunities by trying to obtain the perfect shot using Manual settings.
Sometimes it's better to swallow your pride and hand over control to modern software.

When you get more familiar with the camera then you can start to change settings to suit the situation perfectly.

Bird photography doesn't interest me at all (much to the dismay of my "Twitcher" parents )but here's one of very few I have taken.

Like I said.. it's it's not 100% tack-sharp...

Canon EOS 100D. Canon EF-S 18-135mm IS STM lens. (I won't tell you the camera settings because they contradict everything I said above... but I sort of knew exactly what I was doing and it was hardly moving, I was lucky to get it this sharp to be honest).

Best of all.... Contact your local camera club and/or Bird-Watching club. They WILL know and they WILL help.

Even better.. forget about those pesky Birds and do landscape instead..it's not going anywhere. Much easier (and cheaper lenses required).

 

[pappajohn]

And by the time I have done that and taken the photo.... the bird is half a mile away..

As it will be by the time you've manually focused Mo.

It takes a second or two to truly focus manually.

 

[aldhp21]

View attachment 105225


Get the birds to stay still while you focus Mo

Who's the bloke with the bald head?

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