Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-08)

20 8 June 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Technique MYTHS BUSTED

24

Kit
lenses
justaren’t
worthusing
Thebasickitzooms
suppliedwithDSLRs
andmirrorless
camerasaredesigned
togettheuser
startedforthe
minimumextracost.
Asa result,they’re
nevergoingtobeas
well-correctedand
sharpasmore
expensivelenses
orallowasmuch
creativityasthose
withlongerrangesor
fasterapertures.But
don’tthinkthismeans
youcan’tgetgood
resultswiththem
because,ultimately,
that’sallaboutthe
photographer’s vision. 30

Superzoom

lensesare

opticallypoor

Puristphotographerssometimes

deridebroad-range‘superzoom’

lensesthatcovereverythingfrom

wideangletotelephotoasbeinga

jackof alltrades– implyingthey

aretooopticallycompromised

tobeuseful.Suchlensesare

certainlyweakerat thelongend

thanstandalonetelezooms,while

oftenshowingconsiderable

distortion.However,theyletyou

geta muchwiderrangeof shotsin

situationswhereyoudon’twantto

bechanginglenses.Soit depends

onwhetheryou’drathergetan

imperfect shot or nothing at all.

25

EVFsarenotas

goodasoptical

v i e w fin d e r s

Electronicviewfinders(EVFs)used

tobeawful,withtiny,low-resolution

panelsandobviouslag.Butthey’ve

developedmassivelyoverthepast

fewyearsandthelatestaresimply

stunning.They’relarge,bright

anddetailed,andbringtheirown

considerableadvantagesover

opticalviewfinders.Theycan

accuratelypreviewexposure,colour

anddepthof field,whileenabling

precisemanualfocusanddisplaying

far more shooting information.

27

Vignettingisan

opticalflaw

Somephotographerstreatanysign

of vignettingasanundesirableflaw.

Butalllensessufferfromit tosome

extent,withtheamountbeinga

trade-offagainstsizeandweight.

Reallyit’sjusta lenscharacteristic

thatcanbepictoriallydesirable–

indeedwithfastprimes,vignetting

complementsshallowDoFin

makingthesubjectstandout.I’m

farmorelikelytoadda touchof

cornerdarkeningbackintomy

images, than I am to remove it.

29

Alwaysturnoffthe

camerawhen

changingthelenses

It mightbegoodpracticetoturnoff

yourcamerawhenswappingtoa

differentlens,butit’sfarfromessential.

I’vechangedlenseswithcamerasof all

brandspowered-up,withnoill effects.

Thebiggestargumentin favourof the

practiceis thatmanycamerasruna

dust-removal cycle on start-up.

28

Lensesthatemploy

softwaredistortion

correctionarepoorquality

Bynecessity,lensesdesignedforfilm

hadtouseoptical-distortioncorrection

togiveusableimages.Butdigitalis

a differentmedium,especiallywith

compactandmirrorlesscamerasthat

usefullyelectronicviewingandimage

reproduction.Soit’snowstandard

practiceforlensdesignerstotolerate

muchhigherlevelsof curvilinear

distortionandcorrectit in software.

Thisisn’tshoddylensdesign;in fact

it oftengivessharperresultsin the

cornersof theimage,whileallowing

longer zoom ranges with higher quality.

26

100%cropsare

bestforjudging

imagequality

Whendigitalcamerasfirst

appearedtheydidn’thaveenough

pixels,meaningweoftenviewed

andprintedtheimagesat rather

marginaloutputresolutions.This

meantthatzooming-inonscreen

toexaminetheimageat 100%

madesenseforjudgingimage

quality.Butformostpurposes,

wenowhavemorepixelsthanwe

need.Atthispoint100%viewing

becomesmisleading,asgeneral-

purposecomputerscreensare

ratherlowin resolution.For

instancea 24inFullHDdisplay

hasaround 94 pixelsperinch,

whichis wayshortof the300ppi

resolutionwe’dusuallyconsider

idealforprinting.Asa result,any

flawsareamplifiedunreasonably,

andtakenwelloutof thecontext

of the image as a whole.

100% crop

Thisimagelookssofton

screenat 100%,butit

doesn’tmatterin print

SonyAlpha7 II,Samyang50mm f/1.4,

1/640sec at f/1.4, IS0 100

Vignettingcan

addatmosphere

SonyAlpha7 II,50mmf/1.7,

1/250sec at f/1.7, IS0 100

Superzooms

letyouget

longshots

without

changing

lenses

OlympusE-M5,

14-150mm,

1/400secatf/8,

ISO 200

ThelatestEVFs

are stunning