Lessons
Class Introduction
07:11 2Canon Lens Basics
14:12 3Focal Length: Angle of View
11:31 4Focal Length: Normal Lenses
09:43 5Focal Length: Wide Angle Lenses
18:15 6Focal Length: Telephoto Lens
21:27 7Focal Length Rule of Thumb
15:36 8Field of View
10:14Aperture Basics
04:41 10Aperture: Maximum Aperture
18:44 11Aperture: Equivalent Focal Length
07:48 12Aperture: Depth of Field
06:23 13Aperture: Maximum Sharpness
08:33 14Aperture: Starburst Effect
05:18 15Aperture: Flare
06:48 16Aperture: Hyperfocal Distance
19:32 17Camera Mount System
14:57 18Canon Lens Compatibility
14:26 19Canon Lens Design
12:29 20Canon Lens Composition
04:30 21Canon Lens Shape
05:50 22Canon Lens Coating
06:53 23Canon Lens Focusing
14:10 24Lens Autofocus
08:17 25Canon Lens Image Stabilization
06:57 26Canon L Lenses
10:18 27Image Quality
09:46 28Canon Zoom Lenses: Standard
17:50 29Canon Super Zooms
05:20 30Canon Wide Zooms
09:48 31Canon Telephoto Zooms
16:09 32Prime Lens: Normal Lenses
09:19 33Prime Lens: Moderate Wide
07:01 34Prime Lens: Wide Angle
05:33 35Prime Lens: Ultra-Wide
09:23 36Prime Lens: Short Telephoto
09:03 37Prime Lens: Medium Telephoto
08:59 38Prime Lens: Super Telephoto
13:59 393rd Party Lenses Overview
06:01 403rd Party Prime Lenses
15:25 413rd Party Zoom Lenses
26:28 42Lens Accessories: Filters
33:42 43Lens Accessories: Lens Hoods
09:58 44Lens Accessories: Tripod Mount
04:51 45Lens Accessories: Extension Tubes
04:30 46Lens Accessories: Extenders
13:11 47Macro Lens: Reproduction Ratio
18:59 48Macro Lens: Technique and Choices
25:59 49Fisheye: Technique and Choices
18:49 50Tilt Shift: Techniques and Choices
27:08 51Make a Lens System Choice
05:37 52Choosing A Portrait Lens
17:21 53Choosing A Sports Lens
17:31 54Choosing A Landscape Lens
10:39 55Best Lenses for You
08:46 56Lens Maintenance
11:19 57Buying and Selling Lens
11:15 58What is John Greengo's Favorite Lens?
08:37Lesson Info
3rd Party Lenses Overview
so it's kind of a strange third party. Okay, first party, maybe me second party cannon Third party is some other group, and so that's what we're talking about, somebody other than cannon making lenses. And there's a number of them out there. And so these other companies are going to compete with Canon by offering a better price for the similar product. They might offer you more features that you can't get with cannon, or they might even offer you something of better quality. It's unlikely that you're going to find something that is lower. Price has more features and is better quality could happen, but it's likely to be fairly rare, So that's how they're making a living. So just real quick overview on who these companies are Sigma. Right now they are. They are a Japanese company there with largest independent lens manufacturer, so they don't make cameras. Actually, they have made cameras, but they make cameras for Nikon and Canon and a variety amount there. They make the greatest variet...
y and the largest number of lenses out there. Tamron. They've been around for quite some time. Another Japanese company. They do a lot of work in the industrial and security area, so they have a great history in lenses. They make some very nice equipment as well. Takina is another one of the Big Three, these of the big three of my mind as far as the auto focus lenses for Canon, Nikon and so forth. So Token, another Japanese company that's been around quite a while. They do a lot with binoculars, microscopes and some other optical devices, so they're fairly well diversified. Whereas Sigma really focuses on just camera lenses, they don't do as much in the other fields of optics. His ice is a German company that has been around way longer than everyone else, but they make. Traditionally, they've been only making manual focus lenses, but they've been getting into autofocus lives lenses. But the ones for Canon are all. Yes, they're all manual focus, but they also make a number of other devices for movie making, medical industrial and they have a very, very high reputation. I when I think of Zeiss, I think of Mercedes Benz as far as quality when it comes to lenses. Ah, couple of other names. Sam Yang is a Korean company, and this is kind of interesting because they seem to be doing some test marketing. All this is a very big test marketing, and so you'll see a lens under Sam Yang broken on and Bauer and they're all the same lens. We'll talk more about them as we get to them. Schneider is another German company that has been around for a very long time, and they make some very highly specialized lenses, which are very, very spending. So there are a little like a Zeiss in some ways of smaller Zeiss, but they make a lot of custom lenses, which are kind of interesting. LENS baby Portland, Oregon just down the street from Seattle. Yea, they make a variety of creative lenses, and so there's some interesting things. We're not gonna go through their full collection. But if you're looking for something a little different just to have a completely different look, they have some interesting selections there. And then there's a variety of other small ones. I'm just gonna throw in this one new company. I'm not quite sure how to pronounce it, but I think there calling themselves Venus Optics in the United States and their specializing in macro lenses It's a Chinese company, and anything that's coming out of China is just kind of interesting these days because they're developing and perfecting what they do so quickly that it could very well be a powerhouse of optics in the future. And maybe this is a glimpse into that. So if you're gonna buy one of these third party lenses, there's a couple things to be aware of. These lenses, with maybe a few exceptions, are reverse engineer, which means they take a canon camera. They take a look at how it's built and what are these electron ICS do? And, well, they don't have the schematic plans. And the design from Canon Canon doesn't hand over the blueprints to the camera. They say, Well, let's design this. Does it work on here? OK, we think it works on here. Okay, Yes, it's good and sometimes can and will go in and they'll change something about the way that a new camera works and you take this lands and you put it on a brand new camera body and something doesn't work right. And so there is occasionally an incompatibility problem, and then Sigma says arms, Really sorry we didn't know about Canon doing that in the future, so we'll fix your lands, and so many of these companies will go back and retrofit your lenses if they don't work. And this has been a problem in the past. It's a little bit less so these days. It's not something to be overly concerned about, but it is something to be aware of. Many of these aftermarket lenses don't have the manual focus override option and the manual focus override option this particular lens does have. It means that when you're in auto focus and the lens is going to focus, you can't just grab the focusing ring and turn it, and so that if is something important to you, you want to check out to see if that lands has that ability on what you're looking at. They tend to have a lower resell value because most people don't understand them unless it's pretty specific lens that has a good reputation. And so, oh, it's a Sigma lens. It's not a cannon, Liz, and so it kind of has a lower reputation, and so they can, in some cases be very good byes use because the value that people see is lower, but their actual working value is actually quite hot, and it really can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and individual lenses, because some lenses and some manufacturers are known to be really, really high quality products. And there's no reason that Sigma Tamron, Takina Zeiss or anyone else cannot make a lens that is as good or better than Canada when it comes to the optics. Now, when it comes to the focusing system, I think Canon always maintains an edge as faras this speed of focusing. And so if you're looking for the fastest sports focusing lenses, they're probably gonna be cannon. But when it comes to other factors, there's a lot of other good options out there.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
user-b3a96c
I so appreciate what a good teacher John is. I wish I would have known this much about lenses when I first started out buying my lenses. It was hard finding information about lenses. I didn't want to spend money on a lens I wouldn't use. The better understanding we have about our gear the better photographers we will be. I have never seen a class like this. Invaluable...yes I bought the class! I am really impressed with the high quality photography classes available on Creative Live!
Tami Miller
Have loved the other John Greengo classes I've watched & purchased - and this is another winner! Having been a high school/college science teacher, it is refreshing to take a course with someone who not only is extremely experienced, seems to be a computer having stored so much knowledge, but is equally concerned about making the information truly understandable to different levels. And he shares the information using every tool he can: slides, video, interactive presentations, and great quizzes. I learned so much about my Canon lenses - and lenses in general with their many components. I am excited about testing each of mine to see what macro ratio they handle, and especially appreciated the tutorial on testing each for their specific quirk that affects super sharpness. This class is great whether you own Canon lenses or not. Thanks John Greengo!
Abbeylynne
This was a great class not just about the lenses that Canon offers but also how each lens works. As usual, John's slides are alway informative and entertaining. There is a phrase: John has a slide for that! I am not even a Canon user and found this class to have great information for the use of each specific lens. Great work John! Thank you Creative Live for another great class!
Student Work
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Fundamentals