Have you always been a fan of casual photography with your compact camera? Well, it is time that you upgrade the quality of those events and activities you capture. In fact, even before concerning yourself with the new technology, know that your first equipment choice when graduating from a compact to a DSLR is the camera lenses .

It is surprising that with as modern as our electronics technology is today, how old photography is. Nowhere is this more obvious than the history of the camera lenses. The lenses have been around for hundreds of years. However, the camera itself came in much later. The very first experiment with lenses is ancient. It is often attributed to an Arabian scientist named Abu Ali Hasan. These experiments led to more experiments with optics in the 1500s. However, the very first camera lens, as we know it today, was invented by Charles Chevalier in 1839. He was also the maker of the first camera. From 1839 till this date, the camera lenses steadily grew more complex. But the development that brought us lenses as we know it today was World War II. The Japanese then took over the development of camera lenses.

A guide to decoding the camera lenses jargon

Now that you know their history let’s get you to the actual crux of the camera lenses. As with most products, many DLSR enthusiasts often make a common mistake. You are quite often mesmerised by the features and capabilities of the camera. Therefore, you tend to pay less heed to choose the right camera lenses. You may be a photography student or an aspiring professional photographer. Either way, you are bound to capture different scenes and activities. And each of them requires a slightly different choice of camera lenses to obtain the best photos. The purpose of this article is to teach you the “language” of digital camera lenses. So be patient and read on.

Understanding the camera lens terminology

Most camera lenses today are named in a relatively standard way. For example, they are named as Brand name, lens type, the focal length in mm. And then the maximum aperture, other lens features and abbreviations. However, the most important terms are the maximum aperture and focal length. In other words, the “f/number” and “mm” terms. These terminologies are closely related to the types of pictures you take. Also, the abbreviations still matter, as they denote the extra features offered by each lens. For example, the VR term used in canon camera lenses stands for “vibration reduction”. This feature in the camera stabilises the lens for handheld shooting. Each company labels its lenses differently, with potentially dozens of various abbreviations.

The anatomy of camera lenses

Each part of the camera lens play a different role and serves a different purpose. One of the essential elements of the camera lens is the filter head. It lets you attach lens filters that in turn help in modifying light that reaches your camera sensor. There is a front element that collects light and bends it to the other lens elements. Furthermore, you’ll find a lens hood thread. It allows you to attach lens hoods and reduces flare while taking photos. Moreover, there are zoom and focus rings that help you zoom in and out and change the focus manually. Interestingly, the focus ring stays still when the camera is on auto-focus mode. Well, there is also an A/M mode switch. This helps you switch between auto and manual mode. However, not all lenses have all these features. Some have more than this.

Important features of camera lenses for beginners

When buying camera lenses, you do not look at the image quality first. Instead, there are other factors that matter more. The first among them is the size and weight. Of course, finding a lightweight camera can be a little deceptive. As the image quality depends on the zoom and maximum aperture, which decides the weight of the lenses. But remember that, if one heavy lens replaces three moderately heavy ones in your kit, the zoom isn’t heavy at all. But, if one goes with the lighter weight camera system, they have still got the advantage. On top of that is the auto-focus. Not all lenses have auto-focus. But if you are a sports photographer, the chances are that you need to pay for top-notch auto-focus performance. Moreover, a big one is the durability of the camera lenses along with its overall ergonomics.

The camera lenses types

Their focal length normally categorises the lenses. The kind of focal length you choose entirely depends on your subject and personal style. There’s not a clear definition of what is an ultra-wide lens. But mostly any lens shorter than 24 mm fits into this category. You need to use them carefully, as they quickly introduce significant distortion. The wide-angle camera lens fits a lot of surrounding elements in a single frame. But these lenses come with a focal length of 35 mm or less on a full-frame camera. Moreover, there are regular lenses that closely replicate what your eyes see. Camera lenses for mobile usually are such. Furthermore, any camera lens longer than 70mm is considered a telephoto lens. Also, macro lenses are made to photograph small objects while zoom lenses magnify your object while taking a photo.

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