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For example, a 24mm lens will let you take a sweeping wide-angle photo of a landscape, while a 135mm lens can snap a sneaky close-up of a distant bird. Some lenses have adjustable focal lengths, giving you a range of options for different types of photography. Aperture The aperture is the mechanism that opens and closes inside the lens to control how much light it lets in, like the pupil in your eye. It’s described with an “f-number” that’s written as a fraction, so the smaller the f-number the larger the aperture (eg, f/2 is larger than f/4). This has two main effects on your photos: first, exposure. If you’re shooting in bright daylight, you might want a smaller aperture so the image doesn’t get washed out. At night, a larger aperture will let you capture more detail in the dark because it lets more light in. The other effect is depth of field, which is how much of your image is in focus. Larger apertures will give a shallower depth of field, making for a blurred background. This creates an effect called ‘bokeh’ that can make the subject really pop, bringing life to portraits of people or other objects shot close-up. If you’re shooting landscapes though, a smaller aperture can help keep the whole image in focus, from little details in the foreground right out to the horizon. Other factors Focal length and aperture are the main features to mull over when shopping for a lens, but there are a few other considerations too. How well and fast the autofocus works can be important if you’re shooting fast-moving subjects like sports. Elements in the lens can be designed to help smooth out image distortions for sharper clarity. And, of course, size and weight matter if you’re going to be carrying it around with a bunch of other camera equipment!

If you want to boost your photography game, a lens is one of the most important bits of equipment you need. But there are a lot of numbers and terms thrown around to describe them, so picking the right one can be daunting for a budding shutterbug. Here’s what you need to know to help choose the right lens for the right shot. Words Michael Irving

Why buy a lens? A good lens will elevate your art, no matter what kind of camera you’re using. You’ll get greater control over lighting, exposure, focus, depth of field, and other factors, resulting in much more professional-looking photos and videos. Some cameras will come with an included lens, and the advantage there is that you know right out of the box that it’ll pair well with the camera’s capabilities. On the other hand, buying just the camera body and picking a lens separately lets you mix and match the right tool for the job. What’s in a name? Camera lenses are usually named quite literally, putting the two most important terms right up front. For example, the Sony FE PZ 16-35mm f/4 G Lens – first up is the brand (Sony), followed by the model (FE PZ). The numbers

marked with mm denote the focal length, while the f/4 is the maximum aperture. The letters at the end usually refer to a certain series from the brand. For example, Sony’s Gold (G) and Gold Master (GM) are the company’s highest quality lenses, while Nikon marks its premium line with S. Focal length Technically speaking, the focal

length is the distance between the point where the light converges in a lens and the camera’s sensor, measured in millimetres. In practice, it basically tells you how wide an angle the resulting images will be: a shorter focal length will capture a wider view of the scene before you, while shots taken with a longer focal length will look more zoomed in.

14 APRIL 2024

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