What does “the telephoto end” of a zoom lens mean?

Question

In the Canon Rebel T3i Manual, page 59, it's mentioned that "If you have a zoom lens, use the telephoto end to fill the frame with the subject from the waist up." Same note on page 61 and another one for landscape telling to use the "wide angle end".

I have EF-S 18-55 mm IS II lens which is a zoom lens. I've googled "telephoto end or wide-angle end", but all the results were lenses not an end. I don't know if I got it wrong but I thought that "end" would mean something that can be mounted on my zoom lens itself.

Answer

'End' in this case is just referring to the end of the zoom range available. So zooming in on an 18-55 lens would take you to the 55mm end of the zoom range, which would be the telephoto end, and the 18 mm end of the zoom range would be the wide angle 'end' (although on this lens the telephoto end isn't very telephoto). So while it may sound like a physical 'end' they're referring to, it's just the ends of the zoom range of the lens they are referring to

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What's the difference between Adobe RGB and sRGB and which should I set in my camera?

Question

In my Canon 60D, there's a setting between Adobe RGB and sRGB. What's the difference and what should I prefer when shooting to RAW ?

Answer

sRGB is the most common color-space used anywhere.

AdobeRGB is a wider color-space which can represent more colors but with less precision when looking at the colors which overlap sRGB.

Neither color-space really matters when shooting RAW.

The embedded thumbnail or preview within a RAW file may be affected by the choice of color-space though, so keeping sRGB selected is usually the most sensible thing to do.

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How can a lens like a 18-55mm have more than one focal length?

Question

How can a lens have a range of focal lengths? Shouldn't it be a single number?

Isn't focal length supposed to be fixed for a lens of a particular shape and geometry?

What am I missing?

How many lenses are actually there in a "lens"?

Answer

A range of focal lengths indicates a zoom lens. There are two major classes of lenses. Primes, or primary lenses, have a single focal length. They tend to be higher quality, as there can be fewer lens elements, and fewer moving element groups. One exception to this rule is super telephoto prime lenses, particularly faster lenses (f/2.8), which are some of the most advanced optics on earth, and contain numerous element groups with special types of lens elements (i.e. ultra low dispersion glass, fluorite lenses, aspherical elements, etc.)

The other class are zoom lenses, and they have a range of focal lengths. They generally have more element groups overall, and usually have several moving groups. The length of a zoom lens can be increased or shortened, thus changing the focal length. The quality of a zoom lens depends on its construction. Some have great quality at one end of the range, and lesser quality at the other end. Some have great quality at the ends of the focal range, but lesser quality in the center of the range. Super telephoto zooms also often have special types of lens elements.

To answer the question about "how many lenses are in a lens", the question depends. Some lenses have few lens elements (individual glass or other material lenses within a camera lens body), and others have many. The number of lens elements in a given lens is usually an indication of a few things. Lower quality lenses tend to have fewer elements, and the glass used in those elements tends to be of a lower quality (less dense, greater chance of splitting light and causing things like chromatic aberration.) Lower-end lenses may have 3-5 lens elements total. Higher quality lenses tend to have more elements, and often larger elements. Many high-end lenses tend to have more lens elements, around 5-10. Higher end telephoto lenses may have 14-20 lens elements or more. More glass is generally required to produce wider apertures, and having a very wide front lens element often requires additional lens elements to focus that light down to a size that can pass through the lens mount into your camera. As focal length increases, maintaining the quality of the generated image often requires additional elements that serve different purposes. High end telephoto lenses often contain aspherical elements, ultra-low dispersion elements, fluorite elements, movable element groups, etc. These additional lens elements increase the control the lens has over light, but also increase the overall weight of the lens, and its manufacturing complexity.

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How important is it that a monopod extend to eye level?

Question

I see that most monopod are not very tall when fully extended.

How important is it to choose a monopod that is high enough??

I am six foot two (189cm) and my eye level is roughly around 175cm.

Many monopods only gets to 150cm or 160cm. Adding the height of my camera, it is still usually a few cm lower than my eye level (when I am standing straight, with shoes on)

I would like to seek some advice from experienced monopod user. Do you think it is important to get a monopod that, when everything is mounted, at least meets your eye level at a comfortable standing position?

I tried a monopod in a store today and it is about 5 cm short. Meaning that when I mount my camera on it, standing perfectly straight, the viewfinder will be at the level of my nose, not my eye.

Would that bother you?

Answer

I've found that I like my monopod tall enough so that the viewfinder is pretty much exactly at eye level. If it's much lower than that then I find that after only a short period of use, my neck starts to cramp. It should also be noted that if I'm shooting something above me (birds in flight for instance) then I'll tend to have the viewfinder above eye level, so I can look up through the camera without having to crouch, so in my case I like the monopod to be capable of extending about 5-10 cm above eye level.

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Does the order of sharpening and noise reduction matter?

Question

I have been shooting for more than three years, but I never do too much in post-processing. I tend to be strict and keep in mind that PP can only do little to save an otherwise-great photo.

I was going to enter the "Photo of the week" thing, and I was doing sharpening and noise reduction in Photoshop.

NR makes your photo blurry, while sharpening amplifies noise.

I wonder, does the order of these operations matter at all?

Should I apply noise reduction and then unsharp mask, or the other way round?

Answer

Simple answer is YES!

Noise is an undesirable artifact, and many operations can enhance its appearance, not just sharpening. Tweaking curves, adjusting contrast, working exposure, etc. can all have some impact on the noise that is present in an image...although sharpening tends to have the greatest impact. It is important to handle the bulk of your noise reduction as one of the first steps of your development workflow. You should not necessarily aim to "eliminate" all noise...rather your goal should be to reduce the effect noise has on an image as much as possible without adversely affecting detail that you wish to keep. The tool you use to remove noise can have a HUGE impact on the results as well...Photoshop in particular is not really known these days as having the best noise reduction tools. Lightroom has some fairly excellent noise reduction, and there are other tools like Noise Ninja and Neat Image that also do an excellent job.

Keep in mind your final presentation format and size...a LOT of noise that may be present in an image at 100% is going to get "absorbed" (for lack of a better term) into the final presentation format. Prints can sometimes exhibit pronounced noise, particularly when the noise contrasts well with the base image. Usually a moderate amount of noise, particularly in smooth gradients, can be beneficial to final print output as it normalizes content and eliminates harsh transitions. Presentation on a computer screen is often best done at significantly lower resolution than the original image, and downscaling is a superb mechanism for eliminating noise. If you start out with a moderate amount of noise, or an even distribution of high amounts of noise, downscaling for display on a computer screen (i.e. via a web page) can be all the noise reduction you need.

Sharpening is a facet that is closely linked to the viewing medium of an image. Generally speaking, its best to save sharpening for last. Not only that, its best to keep sharpened images saved as separate files from your primary work image (which in turn should be separate from your original master image.) The amount of sharpening done, and the type of algorithm used and its settings, should be matched to the output medium for your photos. If you intend an image to be viewed onscreen, the kind of sharpening you do will be different than if you intend to print. The size of the final image for either medium will also affect how much sharpening you do, and how that sharpening is done. It's a good best practice to save resizing, cropping and sharpening for the very last two steps of your image editing. Duplicate, crop, resize, sharpen. If sharpening greatly enhances the remaining noise in your image, you may also want to do a final "light" pass of noise reduction to minimize it as much as you can without adversely affecting sharpness.

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How do I photograph small fish in a fish tank?

Question

I have photographed different type of fish in different tanks, with or without flash, through the surface of the water or through glass.

However, I think I am missing something. There may be tips or hints that can make working with fish easier.

I photographed small fishes, inch-long fishes, and also Betta, which is a one to two inch long. I do have a macro lens with USM. (Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM) and flash.

However it is still very hard to focus on the fish. f/2.8 is not an option since almost NOTHING will be in focus. Even with USM and all cross-type focusing points, the fact that the fish is swimming almost constantly can proved to be tricky.

I have observed that certain fish at certain time of day will be more calm. However I can easily shoot 200 photos with only 3-5 satisfactory shots.

I also use flash, this so far seemed okay, the fish were never too disturbed by the flash. I do not think it would harm them either (vs cat with super light sensitive eyes)

So I would try to use f/5.6 or f/8.0 to get more DOF, flash, and use ONE fixed focus point (auto AF point selection will often mess things up as experience shows)

Shooting through glass is okay as long as the glass is flat and smooth (bowl-shaped tank is a definite NO due to uneven surface). Shooting top-down also gives high quality images as long as the water is still.

Still, success rate is pretty darn low.

Any advice from experienced pet photographer that has dealt with small fish, or just aquarium in general?

I like this shot because of how elegant they look, and how happy and free they seem, and the lines their slender bodies form:

My beloved Betta named Bubu who died to a disease after 1.5 years of keeping. [Lightened a little as suggested, didn't have time to clone out the dust yet]

Answer

• Don't use a flashgun. When shooting animals you want to keep them calm and a flash is a great way to ruin that, especially things used to a fairly constant light like fish. Use one or two lamps by the side of the tank but obviously be careful about it. You don't want to fry yourself or the fish.

• Whatever the lightsource is, make sure it's not reflecting directly back at the camera. The water will do most of the work but you might need additional materials to diffuse the light.

• Use a long focal length with a fast aperture. You want as short a DOF as you can get away with or you'll catch tank dust and grime. A short extension tube will help you get a standard lens' DOF even shorter.

• Unless you're going for that effect, don't shoot through the top water surface. The distortion is not predictable.

• Ditch AF in favour of patience. AF against mucky glass will drive you round the bend. Fish aren't that fast so you will get a few shots if you persist.

• I personally don't agree with the white=professional comment. I think for fish, the creamy, dark you'll get shooting through the tank is nicer. It will make lighting harder but that's life. Experiment and make your own mind.

• You can correct distortion from curved bowls to an extent in Photoshop just abusing the lens correction tools.

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Is there a way to make the Canon 7D warn when a lens is not in Auto Focus mode?

Question

I pretty much shoot all the time in manual focus mode. I often borrow my girlfriend's most excellent Sigma 8-16mm ultra wide angle lens. She almost always shoots in Auto Focus mode. When I return it to her, I invariably forget to reset it to Auto Focus mode.

After her first wrecked shoot I got rid of silent mode for her 7D, so it would beep when it was focused. Hear the beep, ok to shoot, don't hear it, not ok. Right?

Well, her 7D doesn't work like that. She can shoot, with the beep, in manual focus mode and lose the shots because I didn't put the lens back into Auto Focus mode.

The three options I can see are never borrowing her lens, buying my own, or get used to the couch. None is really acceptable.

Answer

Why don't you set the mode to be manual focus and put a colored tape over the AF/MF button while you are using it and so when you return the lens, the tape will be an in your face reminder to change it back to Auto Focus mode.

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