ok still working on getting a good HDR panorama and other shots but grad 12 has been crazy lately and I haven't been on DA all that much but that's about to change


umm.. buying lenses 101 "from a n00b for the n00bs!"

1. focal length: when you see 18-270mm you might think that's a good deal but chances are that is runs at a small aperture plus once it covers a wide focal length it more likely to make you images soft and add lens vignetting or worst chromatic aberration (don't worry it not that hard to understand what chromatic aberration is, chromatic aberration is a red, blue purple and very rarely green fringe or lines between areas of high contrast like black and white [link] that is an example of what chromatic aberration are)

ex. my $100 50mm f/1.8 is sharper then some canon L lenses because it has less elements for light to pass through

2. aperture: I'm assuming you know what this is already so I'll move on to what it means to buy a lens, when getting a lens you have to think about that lenses aperture, the wider it is the faster it is. most lenses have a non consistent aperture (ex. 70-200 f/2.8 VS. 80-200 f/3.5-6.5 meaning it will start "80mm" at f/3.5 and end "200mm" at f/6.5 while the the other lens will have an app of 2.8 start to end of the focal length)a lens with an consistent aperture is usually far better

and this is not as important but it's something to know. how many aperture blades a lens has will change the bokeh (blur) of the photo, the more blades the smoother the bokeh will be

3. image stabilization: IS, VR, MegaOIS, SSS, OS, VC, SR, there all image stabilization acronyms and all have the same result I have used lenses with and with out image stabilization and I must say that it does make quite a difference in the amount of shake at low shutter speeds but will not help you much if your shooting something moving for that you need a faster lens. I do agree that image stabilization is worth the price.


Tip Of The Week: like the fist one it's pretty simple, SHOOT IN RAW!!!