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20 questions linked to/from What is a normal lens?
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35 votes
10 answers
137k views

What is the difference between a telephoto lens and a zoom lens?

Looking at the product page for Nikon lenses, I notice a distinction between telephoto lens and zoom lens. What is the difference between the two? Why would I want one over the other? I wiki'd ...
Kirk Woll's user avatar
Kirk Woll
  • 557
52 votes
8 answers
14k views

Why is the 50mm prime lens the most standard?

Seems that most photographers choose the 50mm as their prime lens (at least from what I've read). I'm looking at getting a prime lens for my Nikon D3000 and the cost difference between the 35mm 1.8 ...
Sarah Haren's user avatar
Sarah Haren
  • 1,136
38 votes
8 answers
11k views

Why do people recommend 50mm or other prime lenses as starting lenses for learning photography?

I've seen quite a few people recommend the 50mm prime lenses, in particular the sub-$100 50mm/f1.8, as a starting lens for photographers (especially because they're likely to be using cameras with ...
ab.aditya's user avatar
ab.aditya
  • 4,645
26 votes
7 answers
10k views

Is it worth it to have the 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens?

Is it really useful to have a fast prime lens for portrait photography, considering a low budget? If it is, what about the Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II? I have an entry level 18-55mm lens and a Canon 20D.
Ifi's user avatar
Ifi
  • 959
20 votes
5 answers
22k views

What focal length gives a "normal" field-of-view on APS-C cameras?

I wish to purchase a "standard angle-of-view" prime lens for my Canon Rebel, which has an APS-C sized sensor. Various articles note that the popular "nifty 50mm" lenses are a little too much of a ...
Adam Franco's user avatar
Adam Franco
  • 765
14 votes
9 answers
19k views

Nikkor f/1.8G 35mm or 50mm?

I'm new to photography. I got a Nikon D3100 with the 18-55 kit lens. I was looking to buy a f/1.8 prime lens, and I found two options: AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G How ...
ChamingaD's user avatar
ChamingaD
  • 317
19 votes
5 answers
18k views

How to test actual focal length?

From Matt Grum's comment to my previous question, I learned that manufacturers may casually "round" actual focal length of a lens to some nice number that gets printed on the box and stored into EXIF. ...
Imre's user avatar
Imre
  • 31.8k
15 votes
3 answers
22k views

Is a Pentax K1000 relevant today, and how can I get the best use of it?

I wanted to know what is the relevance of a pentax K 1000, a 35mm SLR in the present date. The one I have is almost 20 years old and I want to how can I make the most of it with respect to the film ...
Pratyush Shukla's user avatar
Pratyush Shukla
  • 151
6 votes
3 answers
2k views

Are prime lenses sharper than normal or telephoto zoom lenses?

Example: The prime lens Nikon 1.4F G is said to be very sharp at F3.5. So, if I compare that with the normal or telephoto zoom lens's F3.5, will the level of sharpness be same? If no, then will the ...
Aquarius_Girl's user avatar
Aquarius_Girl
  • 5,602
7 votes
5 answers
6k views

How do you take a self-portrait similar to what you see in the mirror?

To take a good self-portrait, I'd look in the mirror, see the expression/angle/light I like, and... fail to capture it. Any tips on exposure, positioning of the camera (e.g. relative to the eyes), ...
Alex V.'s user avatar
Alex V.
  • 71
8 votes
4 answers
1k views

Does sensor size dictate lens size with all other things equal?

Background I'm considering switching from DSLR to mirrorless and have been researching the micro four thirds (M43/MFT) and Sony's new Alpha 7 (A7). While Sony hasn't released many lenses for this new ...
AndyML's user avatar
AndyML
  • 3,185
2 votes
3 answers
1k views

Do medium format lenses have a crop factor?

When having a 50mm lens made for a APS-C camera its often the case that the lens has a focal length of 50mm on fullframe. However this means that you are getting something like a 75mm due to the crop ...
Arji's user avatar
Arji
  • 1,623
6 votes
1 answer
3k views

Which Lensbaby Sweet 35 or Edge 80 effects are harder to reproduce post-processing?

I want some suggestions from Lensbaby users. I have the plastic optic, double glass and fisheye optic. I use the composer. The recent new optics: Sweet 35 and Edge 80 seem very intriguing and I ...
apertur's user avatar
apertur
  • 585
1 vote
5 answers
7k views

How to work out the base "zoom magnification" of a lens? [duplicate]

I've come from 3x Zoom magnification land and am having a hard time adapting to all these complex "mm" systems. I'm thinking about buying some lenses to enhance the range of zoom of my Sony A5000 ...
Crinkle's user avatar
Crinkle
  • 11
0 votes
3 answers
2k views

Below which focal length are lenses considered to be wide angle?

Focal length is the only factor that decides whether a lens is described as being normal or wide angle. Below which focal length are lenses considered to be wide angle? Is this focal length the same ...
vivek_jonam's user avatar
vivek_jonam
  • 3,496

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