Lesson Info
44. Buying Lenses
Lessons
Buttons, Dials and Switches: What This Course is All About
03:37 2Setting Up Your Camera
05:25 3JPEG or RAW
03:11 4Compression
01:38 5Menu Settings for JPEG Shooting
05:19 6Module 1 Summary
01:42 7Applying White Balance
03:41 8Using White Balance Creatively
01:19Auto White Balance
03:07 10Module 2 Summary
01:31 11Controlling Exposure
01:23 12F Numbers
03:06 13Lens, Aperture, and Shutter Speed
03:32 14Exposure Modes
01:48 15Too Little or Too Much Light
02:34 16Manual Exposure Mode
01:37 17Aperture Priority Exposure Mode
02:23 18Module 3 Summary
01:40 19ISO in Practice
01:16 20ISO and Noise
05:03 21An Acceptable ISO
01:23 22Module 4 Summary
01:29 23Metering Modes
03:06 24The Light Meter
02:11 25The Bucket Test
02:12 26How To Read Tonality
02:32 27Being Creative With Tone
01:14 28Exposure Compensation
01:35 29High Contrast Lighting
03:39 30Histogram
02:06 31Highlights Alert
01:32 32Never Underexpose
04:16 33Digital Exposure Mantra
01:25 34Module 5 Summary
02:57 35Focus Modes
01:23 36Autofocus
02:59 37Point of Focus
02:35 38Depth of Field
02:41 39Hyper-Focal Distance Focusing
02:51 40Focus Tracking
04:19 41Manual Focus
01:57 42Predictive Focus
01:03 43Summary
02:32 44Buying Lenses
05:00 45Summary
01:45 46Quality of Light
01:32 47Direction of Light
01:52 48No Such Thing as Good Light
02:00 49Final Word
02:52 50BONUS - In Conversation with Art Wolfe
07:11 51BONUS - The Source of Creativity
06:34Lesson Info
Buying Lenses
when it comes to lenses, you have a huge choice now. I cannot tell you what is the best lens to buy. But what I can tell you is this. The best lens to buy is the highest quality lens. You can afford to get the job done. But I also say is there is no one type of lens that suits a particular genre photography. Now what I mean by this is if you take me as an example, I photograph wildlife, and I use wide focal lengths just as much as telly photos. In fact, my favorite lens for wildlife photography is a 50 mil standard lens because it gives what I think is a really powerful perspective, Always for flexibility. I encourage you to have a set of lenses that cover a wide focal range, and that's what I work with. I work primarily resumes, and my main set includes four lenses that between them cover everything from super wide angle too long telephoto. Each has a short zoom range, for example, standard to short telly, medium telling for long. On, although this means carrying more lenses as oppose...
d to one lens that does all the quality of each lenses superior because optically is having to do less work. But that's May. And, as I said, I cannot tell you definitively, which is the best lens for you. That decision depends on a multitude of factors, of which only you know the answer. Once you have decided on a type of lens, I strongly advise you go to your local dealer and try out the options physically, pick up each lens and see how they feel in your hands. Their size, weight, ergonomics. Often it's more about a feeling than test charts and technical reviews. The first question is, Do I buy a prime lens or do I zooms well in the old days? These be quite a distinction between the quality of prime lenses and zoom lenses. Zoom lenses require more elements, and that means there's more glass for the light to pass through before it gets to the sensor. And that means there's more chance of distortion, so prime lenses typically were sharper. But technology being what it is that gap isn't quite so distinct anymore. So now to the naked eye, often it's very hard to tell the difference. Some other factors important to me when choosing a lens are its speed. That is his maximum veil. Aperture is auto focus performance and its robustness or build quality. Now speed is important because in working terms it means more light. For example, a lens of the maximum aperture of 2.8 gives me two stops more life in the lens with a maximum aperture of F 5.6. The extra light gives me more flexibility in exposure settings. That is, it allows me to use lower esos or to set a faster shutter speed or a combination of the two. Why the apertures also create more background blur because of reduced depth of field, which is especially useful in portrait photography, whether that be a portrait of a person or an animal When shooting fast action subjects, Auto focus critical lens has much to do with that is the camera Auto Focus. Performance is dependent on two things. How quickly the camera works out the focus distance and how far so lens focuses on that point. Now most manufacturers produce a professional range of lenses Onda consumer range. On one of the main differences between the two is the pro lenses have better, faster F motors. Another difference. Dream pro and consumer lenses build quality, generally speaking, more expensive lenses used better quality glass harder wearing a more robust materials and better seals to prevent water penetration and dust. Getting in Now This is important to me because I'm often shooting in camera hostile environments such as humid jungles or arid and dusty savannas. If you're shooting in more benign environments, may be less of a priority for you in all cases. And with all of these considerations, it comes down to deciding which factors are important to your style of photography. Yeah, that's your lens. Final deciding factor, which may trump all others, is budget. Thanks out. Just like you, I have to buy my lenses. And so when I'm considering budget, I put lens quality at the very top of the list. And that's because the quality of the image that comes off the sensor is only as good as the quality of light that passes through the lens on the way. That's even more important when we're thinking about super high resolution cameras 24 36 50 megapixels from your manufacturer. You have the choice between their consumer and professional range, with the former generally being less expensive. We do have another choice, which is between branded lenses and third party or non branded lenses. Now, in the past, non branded lenses used to be thought of as far inferior to branded ones. But just as technology has closed the gap between zooms and primes, so too is it massively improved the quality both in build and optics of non branded lenses. To the extent now, they really off an option. I cannot make this point strongly enough. If you're going to spend money on equipment and investing good quality glass, I don't know.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
mark jacobson
What a marvelous course! What a marvelous teacher! When I went to college, my father would always ask me about my professors, more than the courses themselves. He was passionate about learning and although too busy with earning an income to go beyond an undergrad degree, continued to read 50 books a year. I still remember how he'd get almost visibly excited when I'd tell him about some special professor who taught with such enthusiasm and, more than just passion, evident delight and joy in the subject. 'Ah they're the best, son. How wonderful you have such a teacher." Well, he passed away decades ago but if he were still around I'd get a kick out of telling him about Chris Weston, the 'Prof' of this course. He's one of the very special ones: a teacher who's loved and lived his vocation--his avocation--since he was a boy--and still is as excited about it now as he was then. The result: a course that seems to be more a labor of love--of pouring far more energy and thought into the details then one typically finds in these courses--than anything else. Bravo Chris! I'm already on to your next one.
user-6402bf
Chris is an amazing instructor who dissects theory giving amazing analogies that bring concepts to life. I have rarely been able to sit through most video course for more than a half-hour but watched this one from beginning to end. A good refresher course if you've been away from the camera for awhile or there are some concepts that still illude you. I highly recommend this course and look forward to watching his others. Thank you for the clarity and great explanations.
Sky Bergman
This was an amazing class. I have looked at a number of basic photography classes. This one was by far the best I have seen. Chris is an exceptional teacher. He breaks things down into digestible information and then inspires you to be creative. Thank you!
Student Work
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Fundamentals