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
Prime Lens: Medium Telephoto
medium telephoto lenses. So we're gonna be talking about 203 100 millimeter lenses. And as I mentioned previously in the class, I think everyone would be wise to have a lens that gets up to 200. That's a good general range, and I think most cases it's probably best to start with something like a 72 200 or 72 300. But if you shoot a lot of sports, you're gonna find that every stop of light is critical to getting a faster shutter speed. And so having in F four lens vs of 56 could make a huge difference. Or having a to eight lands versus in F four could be could make the difference of the job happening and not happening. So they have four lenses in here to to hundreds to 300. So let's get in and talk about these guys. The 200 to 8 is a really nice, very small 200 millimeter lens. If you know you need a 200 to 8, this is the smallest way you can get it, and it is so much smaller. I don't know. I think I actually have one. Let me take a look over here. Another little live example here, and ...
I do have a 200 I want to compare it against this. This offer here. So if you know you want a 202.8 lens, these do exactly the same time. The 72 200 to 8 very versatile lens. But its limit is 202.8. Here's a 202.8. If you know you need exactly a 200 that is a much smaller, yes, much lighter package, and it's actually see how much money this is about 1/3 the price of this. Optically speaking, I would say that they are about the same. There's going to settle differences, but is the overall quality. This is a much newer technology. This is an older lands, and they kind of balance out because once the prime ones of zoom. And so if you said, you know I have 100 millimeter lens and I just want something that's double that focal length, I don't see many people shooting with this because there are so many people who want the versatility of that. 72 200. But if you need a 200 you wanted to play date, it's relatively cheap, and it's small, and it's light for for what it ISS. And so that could work out for certain types of sports photography. Now it's in L lens, which means that you get a lens with it. Hey, nice job, cannon. You forgot the lens collar. And so we're gonna talk a little bit more about thes in the accessory section. And so you gotta buy this extra, and this is gonna cost you about bucks if you want to use this on a tripod. And you like that tripod collar on there. And so I think it's kind of one of those hidden gems that would be very good for portrait or sports photography. All right, so we're getting into some pretty serious cash territory now, the 200 f two, and I think we got one of these over here somewhere. Is it possible that we have too many lenses on this table? No, it's not possible. Okay, so this is one of our loaners from our can and wrapped. Thank you, Mike, for loneliness. These lenses. And so the F two is a special beast. In a lot of times, they'll have straps on the lands because that's where the center of gravity's. You don't want to put it on the camera cause that's putting a lot of weight on the mountain. And so you'll see sports photographer sometimes hanging one of these off their side while they're shooting with another camera. And this is It's a heavy lads. We've got a pretty big hood on here. Take this out here for a second. This is it's kind of an awkward. It's a very short lens, and it is very densely packed. And so it's. It's a very solid, heavy item here. Let me bring up mile talking points on this one. It's kind of hard figuring out who this is. Four, because the 200 millimeter focal wake is not really long enough for most sports. And so this is a lens that would be good for sports, where you're relatively close up, and I would think of maybe volleyball, whether indoor or beach volleyball, Let's see what else could use, maybe like wrestling or something in a very small arena where you're not too far away from your subjects, but you do need that faster aperture on this. Also, as I was mentioning before, I think very popular for Sports Illustrated swimsuit photographers when they're on the beach and they want to get a little bit further away and they really want to blow the background out. That F two is really gonna be able to blow the background out now, just kind of curious. E note. Factor. The previous version of this was a 1.8 lance, and that is a very coveted lens. It's been discontinued, and so it is fairly expensive. This is This is getting into very high end territory here, but it is a very fast autofocus system, so it is very good for sports photography. But it's very awkward because it's just not long enough for most type of sports. All right, a very popular lands for many regular consumers. Regular users with normal cash flow, the 300 F four, the lens that I've had and used outdoors for a lot of types of photography. It's a good general purpose. Outdoor focal length F four is a pretty reasonable aperture on it. This could be used for sports. It could be used for wildlife, a wide variety of things. It's a very comfortable, fairly easy camera or lens to hand hold. It is a little bit older design, so it only has two stops of stabilization. And I don't know. Do I have a 300? I think I have a 300 over here. See, that is 400 and this is the 300 here just so that you can get a hands on. How big is this lens? So this one does come with a tripod color, nice job cannon and a lens hood double. Good job cannon. That says one of the unusual ones where it has a lens hood built in. And so it's really nice to just kind of flip it out and lock it into place like that. And so good simple design. And for anyone who wants to get out to 300 b f f four, this is a pretty reasonable way to get out there. As far as price goes, it would be nice to have a little bit newer stabilization system because the new ones will go to four stops of stabilization, and this one is just a two. But it's It's a good solid lens for a variety of purposes, all right. Oh, this is a beauty fear, folks. This is a really beauty. This this is the lands that maybe I coveted more than anything when I was working at the newspapers, because this is what all the other photojournalists have been in the business for years. Hat and they had one of these slung over their shoulder. It's like this is the one that you want to go shoot baseball and you gonna shoot basketball with it. And when there's a police incident and they're holding you a block away, it's long. It's pretty fast. 2.8. It's handhold herbal, and it's so sharp this leads. It's so sharp, and the newest versions from Canada are incredibly fast. And focusing this, you could argue in many cases is the best lens that Canon makes when it comes to optics focusing construction, weather ceiling, everything in regard. This would likely win that contest if you took everything in regards to what a lens canoe highest quality. Uh, the only downsides is okay. It's kind of expensive, big for some people, depending on what they're doing way got one right here and so beautiful construction on it. Everything works like it has this rotating tripod collar that just can you listen to it? It clicks right in and has just the smoothest movements. Everything is just built to the absolute highest standards, and this is something that you will see if you watch basketball and the players air on the near side of the court, the photographers air sitting down and they're shooting with probably an 85 millimeter lands. And then, as the players run to the other side of the court, they put that camera. Now they pick up their 300 millimeter lands. There's a few folks that are using 400 but most of them are shooting three hundreds, and they're shooting players at the other end of the basketball court with the 300. And then they come in the running this way and they dropped. This lands down to pick up the 85 go back and forth. It's not quite long enough for big field sports like soccer and football in baseball, unless the players that you're shooting are pretty close to you, but for a lot of sports, it's a good general purpose sport. And that 2.8 aperture is really helpful for shooting under low light. Whether it's indoor, just very fast. Action. So wonderful lens. Very expensive, very pricey. And so our collection of 203 100 millimeter lenses you are going to pay a premium for the 200 F two and the 300 to 8, and if you were shooting low light or action, that's that's absolutely critical, but you are getting lenses that are built on the very highest level that cannon makes.
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