Lens Operations and Controls

Summary

For this project we needed to take photos and create a video that demonstrated use and control of different lenses. For this project I took three pictures, demonstrating shots using a wide angle lens, a zoom lens and a macro lens.

Timeline

March 27th – Begin early research, looking at Flickr Photos for inspiration

March 30th – Write blog post and plan for video

March 31st – Finish writing for video

April 1st – Utilize extra class time for writing screenplays

April 2nd – Utilize extra class time for writing screenplays

April 3rd – Utilize extra class time for writing screenplays

Spring Break – Film/Edit Video, take pictures during break

April 13th – Finish Voiceover work for commentary part of video

April 14th – Finish editing video

April 16th – Present

Terms and Concepts

Focal Length – Focal length is the distance in millimeters from the sensor of a camera to the optical centre of a lens, which directly affects the field of view you can achieve with that lens and what the lens is capable of focusing on.

Type of Lenses – There are many different types of lenses, and often those lenses are classified by focal length. Keep in mind that 50mm is what is commonly referred to as a baseline view as if you were looking at something. Macro lenses are designed to take photos of small objects at very close distances. Wide angle lenses provide a large field of view (50mm or under). Zoom lenses are lenses that are designed to capture objects a good distance away from the camera (Above 50mm).

F Stops/Lens Speed/Iris – A lenses speed is determined by how much light a lens can let into the sensor by the opening of the lenses iris. This is commonly referred to as the lenses F-Stop. The wider the lens can open, the more light is allowed into the sensor and the lower the F-Stop number will be.

Depth of Field – Depth of field is the range of what’s in focus in an image as affected by the F-Stop. If objects fall out of focus easier it’s referred to as having a shallow depth of field. Shallower depths of field allow for bokeh and more focus on the main subject of an image, while wider depths of field allow for more of an image to fall into focus.

Angle of View – Angle of View is simply the direction a camera looks at an object and where that camera is in relation to it. Angles of View can help push emotions and feelings to the viewer.

Zoom Ratio – Zoom ratio refers to the longest and shortest focal lengths you can achieve with a given lens.

Filters – Filters are attachments to lenses that affect the light before it reaches the sensor. A common filter used is called an ND filter or Neutral Density. Often filters help push or sharpen colors and can be used to affect the amount of light a lens is receiving. With a ND filter you can still obtain shallow depths of field without overexposing an image, because it controls how much light gets to the lens.

Image Stabilization – Image Stabilization is a feature on some lenses that use gyroscopic sensors to help stabilize shaky camera movement in both video and photography. Some lenses also us IS to allow faster shutter speeds.

 Photos

ZOOM PHOTO EXAMPLE

Camera	Olympus C2040Z
SHUTTER	1/400
Aperture	f/6.3
ISO	100

 

ZOOM PHOTO

CAMERA	Canon EOS Rebel T3i
SHUTTER	1/60
APERTURE	~
ISO	100

 

MACRO PHOTO EXAMPLE

 

CAMERA	Nikon D5000
SHUTTER	30
APERTURE	ƒ/36.0
ISO	~

 

MACRO PHOTO

CAMERA	Canon EOS Rebel T3i
SHUTTER	1/80
APERTURE	ƒ/2.5
ISO	400

 

WIDE ANGLE EXAMPLE

 

CAMERA	Canon EOS 550D
SHUTTER	1/250
APERTURE	ƒ/13
ISO	100

 

WIDE ANGLE PHOTO

CAMERA	Canon EOS Rebel T3i
SHUTTER	1/30
APERTURE	ƒ/13
ISO	200

Video

What I Learned

Through this project I gained a better understanding of operation and control of lenses and different focal lengths. I think the biggest thing I learned from this project however was how to utilize all my time. I knew I wanted to do most of my project over spring break so I had a little more freedom to do what I wanted to do with the project, but that meant a lot of my class time wouldn’t be utilized. Instead of wasting this time I decided to use this time to work on scripts and screenplays and challenged myself to really think about what lens choices I’d be making, so that I could relate this back to the actual project.

I used this tutorial as a refresher during the creation of my projects.