BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Lens for Canon 300D-please help!

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December 02, 2005

Walrath Photographic Imaging
http://home.comcast.net/~flash19901/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html

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December 03, 2005

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December 05, 2005

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December 05, 2005

First, the difference between zoom and telephoto lenses: a telephoto lens is any lens longer than so-called "normal", which is effectively a lens that provides approximately the same angle of view as you naked eyes. In a 35MM film camera, "normal" is 50MM. For your digital camera, where the chip is smaller than the full 35MM frame, a "normal" lens would be about 35MM focal length.

So, pretty much any lens with a focal length greater than 35MM on your camera would technically be a telephoto.

Now, a zoom lens is one that allows you to vary the focal length. There are telephoto zooms, and wide-angle zooms, and telephoto-to-wide-angle zooms (like the 28-200 mentioned already).

Those are the definitions. So, what lens would make sense for you to take surfing shots? Well, let me put it this way - if you think of that 35MM as a "normal" lens, then a 70MM lens is like a 2X telescope, a 350MM lens is like a 10x scope, etc. ROughtly speaking, you can calculate the magnification effect of a given telephoto lens by simply dividing the lens' focal length by the "normal" focal length.

So think of what power binoculars you would use to just view the surfers. If a 10X binocular is enough, then you should get a telephoto lens of around 350MM (give or take). But frankly, that might be a bit too short - it depends on how far away you are from the action. No doubt you've seen the photographers on the beach with their foot-long+, 5 pound+ ginormous monster lenses - those are typically 500MM or maybe longer, and of course are hugely expensive ($5K+). Not a real option.

Meanwhile, there is another factor to consider; lens speed. The more light-gathering ability a lens has, the faster it is said to be. You can get a 300MM f4 lens, or a 300MM f2.8 lens - the latter will be 4 times as big and expensive. But the faster speed means that you can shoot at higher shutter speeds (to freeze action) - which is why the pros use those big honkers.

So, as with many things in life, you must deal with compromise. You can get a 300MM lens (or a zoom that goes out to 300MM) - unless 200MM is enough magnificaiton for you. But anything affordable will not be as fast a lens as the big'uns, so to freeze the action with a fast shutter speed and still get a decent exposure you will have to use a fairly high ISO setting.

This is not to dissuade you - just know that it may be that you will not be able to get a lens ideally suited for surfing shots. I mean, you can get pictures, but you will undoubtably see a difference between the shots you take and what the folks with the big glass can do.

Here in SoCal, there are pros who go to kids soccer games on weekends - and while many parents have their DSLRs and 70-300MM zoom lenses trained on their kids, they still buy the shots from the pros because, thanks to that fast glass, the pro shots make thier kids "pop" in the picture.

The point is, there are still some limitations - beware of setting expectations too high. You can certainly get a lot of practice on timing, etc., with a slower telephoto (or zoom), but don't expect magazine quality shots.

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December 05, 2005