Lessons
Class Introduction
05:06 2Lens Basics
10:55 3Focal Length
04:43 4Normal Lenses
10:14 5Wide Angle Lenses
09:24 6Telephoto Lenses
11:43 7Lens Comparisons
08:33 8Aperture
11:26Equivalent Aperture
04:07 10Depth of Field
05:25 11Maximum Sharpness
02:58 12Hyperfocal Distance
09:33 13Mount System & Lens Grade
04:03 14Lens Design
11:36 15Compatibility
17:29 16Lens Technology
05:21 17Focusing & Stabilization
06:39 18Image Quality
04:46 19Standard & Super Zoom
04:52 20Wide & Telephoto & Super Telephoto Zoom
07:48 21Prime Lenses
06:06 22Short, Medium & Super Telephoto Lenses
05:35 23The Macro Lens
07:14 24The Fisheye Lens
10:24 25The Tilt & Shift Lens
10:59 26Filters
06:34 27Lens Hoods
04:02 28Tripod Mount
02:42 29Extension Tubes
03:26 30Teleconverters
03:11 31Making a Lens Choice
04:15 32The Portrait Lens
08:44 33The Action Lens
11:23 34The Landscape Lens
06:51 35Lens Maintenance
09:40Lesson Info
Standard & Super Zoom
Category 1, your standard zoom. This is really good place to be if you don't know what you're gonna be shooting and you just wanna be practical and have something that's available for a lot of different things to shoot. And so, for your basic zoom lens, we're talking about things that give you a bit of wide angle and a better telephoto. Canon's 24-105 has been a favorite for Canon shooters for a long time. The new version is a little bit better than the old version and it's quite nice. The Canon 18-55 is a very basic lens but you know what? It gets the job done and it's fine. Nikon's 24-120, not known as the sharpest, best lens out there but a lot of travel photographers swear by it because it's such a practical zoom range to have. Nikon 18-55, kind of very similar to the Canon 18-55. Very simple and basic, small and lightweight. Does a great job for people getting into photography. Sony just brought out their 24-105 which looks like it's gonna be a nice general purpose lens. The Sony ...
16-50 might be one of the worst lenses optically out there that you can get but the camera optically or electronically corrects for this and you actually get a pretty good result in the camera. It's gonna be the smallest camera out, smallest general purpose lens in this entire category but that's a bit of the trade off is if you want a really small lens, optically it's gonna be little bit more compromised but it is very nice for those people who are really wanting something small and lightweight. The Fuji 18-55 is probably one of the best kit lenses you will find anywhere out there. And so we have a reasonably fast aperture that's well built and the Olympus and Panasonics are simple but nice, basic, lightweight lenses. Now, if you wanna go premium in this same category of a basic zoom, you're gonna see a lot of maximum apertures of f/2.8. This is the standard in the industry. Having a lens that does basically a 24-72. or whatever the equivalent is and all of these are really, really good lenses. There is a big difference is size, though, as you get from full-frame to crop-frame in here. So, one of my favorite is the 12-40 Olympus lens, which is a relatively small lens. I wanna do a quick little demo here for you. Let me see if I can find it amongst all my lenses. And so, here we have the Olympus 12-40 lens and this is the Micro Four Thirds system. Now, the Nikon 24-70 is the equivalent lens for a full-frame camera. And you can see the size difference. Now, there is a bit of extra size difference here because we do have a hood on this but we also have a hood on this one as well. Now, these two lenses let in the same amount of white as far as an aperture. They both have a maximum aperture of 2.8. The Olympus actually has a bit more range 'cause it is a 12-40, which means it's the equivalent of 24-80, this is a 24-70. But this is the advantage of going with the Micro Four Thirds system 'cause that the whole system is really small. Yes, you are going to get better overall image quality with a full-frame sensor, especially better under very low light conditiions but there is a price to be paid in size and weight. So, we have different tools for different people with different needs. Get these back to their respective spots. Alrighty. So, that's our premium in this category. Now, the Super Zooms are ones that range with a really wide range. Generally, they're going from somewhere around 24 all the way up to 200. And these we don't necessarily have a premium category in general. Now, the exception is the Canon 28-300, which is a premium option and if you were strapped into a helicopter, not allowed to change lenses, shooting out the open door, that would be the most versatile one you could get to. The rest of these are generally some of the lower quality lenses in the entire lens lineup and that's because you're asking so much of a lens, to shoot wide angle and telephoto at the same time. And so, this is for people who don't like to switch lenses. It comes at a little bit of a price. There are always gonna be one of these in all the different categories. One of the best ones out there is the Olympus 12-100 millimeter. It's the only one of this entire group that has a fixed maximum aperture of F-4. You can stop it down, 5, 6, F8 and so forth but it has that nice fixed aperture which I think makes that one a bit more of a premium option in there. These are not my first recommendations and this is a recommendation for people who really, really don't like to change lenses 'cause you are a little bit compromised in your optical quality as well as your aperture as well.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
E.L. Bl/Du
John is one of the best instructors Ive watched. he's clear, concise, and gets right to the point. His display's and diagrams are so great, he makes very complicated subjects easy to understand, and fun. He holds your attention and interest b/c everything he says is valuable. This really helped me understand the vast complicated world of lenses. I would highly recommend this class to anyone who doesnt know what hyperfocal distance is.
Boris Dimitrov
Excellent class packed with incredibly useful knowledge. John is an amazing lecturer. He has also developed really great materials to help explain all the concepts and technologies that are explored in the class. Looking forward to my next class with him!
Lettie Turner
Another great JG class, my 4th. He gives a lot of individual attention to several popular lens brands. I really think after seeing this video series you could pick out three lenses that would fit your needs and your pocketbook. The class handout is spot on for what is covered in the video. Great job!! Thank you
Student Work
Related Classes
Fundamentals