For some more information about which lens to use when, especially for portraits and lifestyle photography, be sure to check out the free download that goes along with this post - my “which lens kickstarter guide”. floating elements) – Multiplied by number of lens elements • Energy/merit function – MTF, etc. Prime lenses have a fixed focal length and zoom lenses have variable focal lengths. For a 35mm film camera or a full-frame DSLR, the 50mm lens is considered standard. Zoom Lens Benefits The advantage of a zoom lens is versatility. The standard lens has a fixed focal length (50mm, 85mm, 100mm), and reproduces fairly accurately what the human eye sees – in terms of perspective and angle of view. They are ideal when you are photographing a variety of subjects such as landscapes and portraits, and you just want one lens for both situations. Normal lens • This lens is called “normal” because it has little if any magnification compared to your eye • This is the cheapest, and most often used lens • It offers a very wide aperture (ie.- f1.8, f1.7, or even f1.4 • This is the lens we have used up until this point on the cameras in this class • Has a focal length of 50mm Types of Lenses . Lens Aperture: The lens aperture is the part of the camera lens that determines how much light is allowed reach the image sensor. Take a look at the aperture diagram for examples of how changing the F Stop affects the size of the aperture opening. The different aperture settings are called F Stops. The lens aperture opening can be adjusted to make it smaller or larger. There are two types of lenses-prime and zoom. – Black art of massaging the merit function • Optimize for – … 50 mm lenses are normal for a 35 mm SLR camera, while for a medium format 6x6 camera an 80 mm lens would give you a natural perspective. A basic standard lens which sees the way our eyes see is different for different formats. – Lens curvature, width, position, type of glass – Some can be fixed, other vary with focal length, focus (e.g. Variations of these factors in lenses should determine the type and quality of lens and pictures you get.