Camera Lens

Photography has become the part and parcel of our lives. We cannot imagine our life without photography. There is nofield left which does not use photography. Weather its newspaper, advertising, fashion, medicine, industry, astronomy etc. photography is tend to stay there and with advent of Facebook, WhatsApp and other social networking media use of photography is increasing day by day. Whether we are at home or outside we tend to see so many photographs every day. The most common use of photography is to preserve memories. As memories fades away with time so we keep photographs of the special occasions or moments to preserve the memories we don’t want forget. But besides preserving memories photography is an important tool of communication. There is a very well-known saying about photography that “a picture is worth than thousand words” i.e. the message which cannot be communicated by a thousand word story can be easily communicated by a single photograph.

In simple words photography can be defined as capturing of moment with a device called camera. And in technical terms it can be defined as drawing with light or capturing light with the help of a device called camera. So photography is not possible in absence of camera. Camera is a light tight box with has a lens on one side and recording medium on the other side.

 Lens is the most important part of a camera, without a lens we cannot take a photograph. Also the type of a photograph depends upon the type of a lens. For example if u want click distant objects or want to focus on specific details of the subject then u will have a different kind of lens rather than when you want to shoot huge area. In this article we will talk about the photography lenses and their uses so that u can buy the appropriate lens for your camera.

Lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam.Camera lens is an assembly of lenses used in combination with camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically. A lens may be permanently fixed to a camera, or it may be interchangeable with lenses of different focal lengths, apertures, and other properties.

A lens is categorized by its focal length. Focal length of a lens is defined as the distance from the optical center of a lens to the focal point (sensor) when the lens is focused on an object at infinity. It's a primary physical characteristic of a lens which can be measured in an optical lab. It remains the same no matter what camera the lens is mounted on.

Focal length determines the angle of view or how much area of a scene the lens sees. Wide angle lenses have short focal lengths, while telephoto lenses have longer corresponding focal lengths.. Angle of View refers to the amount of a scene a photograph captures and can be measured vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Angle of view is also known field of view, angle of view changes given the type of lens a photographer uses to take a picture.

There are the various types of lenses one should know before buying a camera lens.

Prime lens

A prime lens, also known as a fixed lens, has a fixed focal length such as 18mm, 50mm, 105mm, or 200mm. A fixed-focal length camera lens is a permanent, non- adjustable lens. Prime lenses often have wider maximumapertures, making them faster. Wider apertures allow forbrighter images in low-light situations, as well as greatercontrol over depth of field.These lenses are primarily used by portrait photographers.

Zoom lens

A zoom lens has the mechanical capacity to change its focal length. It magnifies the subject. A zoom lens is very convenient, because many zoom lenses can change their focal lengths from wide-angle to standard and from standard to zoom. This eliminates the need to carry and change multiple lenses while shooting a subject or project.

Telephoto Lens

A telephoto lens is a long focal length. This type of lens is used for distant objects. This lens brings the subject closer. It reduces the distance between the subject and camera especially when you cannot go close to your subject. This lens is specially used in wildlife photography.

Wide-Angle Lens

A wide-angle lens is a short focal length lens and covers a wide area.  Wide-angle lenses are typically used for the subject is in the extreme foreground and the photographer wants the background in focus as well. Wide-angle lenses are thus ideal for photographing buildings, landscapes, interiors, and street photography. A photographer should not use a wide-angle lens if he wants to focus in on the details of a single, distinct subject.

Macro Lens

Macro lenses are lenses typically optimized to focus sharply on a relatively small area, usually used for close-Macro lenses or lenses with a macro mode are used for close up photography of insects or flowers. "Macro" lenses specifically designed for close-up work, with a long barrel for close focusing and optimized for high reproduction ratios, are one of the most common tools for macro photography.

Fish-Eye Lens

Fish-eye lenses are at the fringe of wide angle lenses and offer a distorted perspective of the scene so that objects are magnified in the center and diminish in size and clarity in all directions in proportion to the lens' shape. Their angle of view is typically a full 180% but some fisheye lenses produce an even greater field of view (as much as 220 degrees in some cases).

These are the various types of lenses one can buy for your camera on the basis of his/her requirement. 

Ms. Sanyogita Chaoudhary

Assistant Professor

Dept. of Communication Studies