Lenses for Success

Better lenses mean better photographs!

Wow.. I never thought the lens would make that much difference! It does. Photographic lenses are our eyes to the world; as humans we have two eyes, but one lens for each picture! We must use our lenses to see and capture our photographic vision.

The focal length (measured in millimeters) controls the angle of view. A normal lens (50mm for 35mm camera) sees ~ 45 degree angle of view and offers a perspective similar to the human eye. A wide angle lens (28, 24 or 20mm for 35mm camera) sees a greater angle of view. A 28mm lens "sees" ~65 degree field while a 24mm lens sees nearly a 90 degree angle while a 20mm lens has a vision over 100 degrees. Wide lenses also shift the perspective making the foreground larger and background smaller. Telephoto lenses (100, 200, 300mm for 35mm cameras) bring distant object closer. A 100 mm lens brings distant objects twice as close while a 200 mm lens offers a 4-times enlargement and a 300mm lens is equivalent to a 6 power pair of binoculars! Telephoto lenses change the perspective by squeezing the foreground and background together. The best way to learn to use your lenses is to practice, practice, practice so your eyes will match your lenses vision.

High quality optics see the world and focus the information on our film (or imaging sensor). Today's digital cameras are requiring higher optical quality to produce the superb images our customers and students desire. Optical quality in photography is quantified in resolution, contrast and color. Resolution is the quantity of fine details recorded. Great lenses see every detail and record every "nook and cranny" in the scene. Contrast is the quantity of shades of gray seen and recorded. Lenses with "good contrast" see a limitless gray scale while optics with too high contrast limit your highlight and shadow detail while low contrast lenses have no differentiation between shades. Finally, color is an extremely critical component! Great lenses see and record colors accurately and with a spectacular brilliance. We have all seen photos from "good" lenses and "bad" lenses. Make sure your photos are created with the best quality lenses available. you will not be disappointed!

Paul's Photo takes pride in selling and recommending only lenses that meet our stringent quality standards. Be sure to see if your lenses measure up! Yes, great lenses cost more money. but the value of quality is appreciates long after the extra cost is forgotten.