New Camera!

[BigV]

Originally Posted by bbro

I went out on the same trail today with the zoom lens. It's much harder to take pictures with it since you have to plan being so far back. I still got a lot of good pictures of squirrels. It also seemed like there were a lot more leaves on the ground.

Originally Posted by bbro

Any critiques are welcome

Since you asked...

I think you're thinking of the zoom function "wrong". The zoom function is not an impediment to taking the picture you want because the subject is "too close". For the subjects that are "too close" to easily use the zoom function, ... just don't zoom. Really. Just take the picture with the wider lens setting (less or no zoom), and voila', your picture.

Now, what I think is probably happening is that you're just enjoying playing around with your new camera, exploring all the features and functions of the toy machine. And the zoom is a cool part of that. So you see something interesting to photograph, you think you'll try the zoom feature, and unfortunately, it's "too close" to easily use the zoom for *that* subject. In this case, pffft, let the "rules" go out the window. Zoom in on something close up, knock yourself out. It's your camera, it's your artistic vision, if the plebs don't like it, tough. Your muse, your pictures.

Anyhow, you're doing great, the pictures are nice and you look like you're having a lot of fun. *THAT'S* the main point, and you're totally getting that one. Well done.

[bbro]

Originally Posted by BigV

Since you asked...

I think you're thinking of the zoom function "wrong". The zoom function is not an impediment to taking the picture you want because the subject is "too close". For the subjects that are "too close" to easily use the zoom function, ... just don't zoom. Really. Just take the picture with the wider lens setting (less or no zoom), and voila', your picture.

Now, what I think is probably happening is that you're just enjoying playing around with your new camera, exploring all the features and functions of the toy machine. And the zoom is a cool part of that. So you see something interesting to photograph, you think you'll try the zoom feature, and unfortunately, it's "too close" to easily use the zoom for *that* subject. In this case, pffft, let the "rules" go out the window. Zoom in on something close up, knock yourself out. It's your camera, it's your artistic vision, if the plebs don't like it, tough. Your muse, your pictures.

Anyhow, you're doing great, the pictures are nice and you look like you're having a lot of fun. *THAT'S* the main point, and you're totally getting that one. Well done.

V - thanks for the advice. The issue isn't the zoom function, it's a zoom lens. The normal lens stops at 55mm and the zoom lens starts at 70mm. Because it starts there, it just takes a bit of planning since I can't pull the lens in any further than 70mm

Thanks for the compliment I am very proud of my pictures. I wish I could post them all here - lol!

[xoxoxoBruce]

A 70mm lens is the preferred "portrait lens", which seem counter intuitive. But if you think about it, a portrait is usually head and shoulders, think school pictures, without the camera being right in the subjects face. Try it with your friend, seeing how close you have to be to get the same school picture with the 50mm and 70mm.

Now if you apply that same reasoning, you can take a sort of fearless squirrel, or cowardly flower, filling the frame without being on top of it. Then you can take same wider shots as the 50mm, without walking way over there, 'cause walking is so 20th century, plus really hard walking up a tree trunk.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

A 70mm lens is the preferred "portrait lens", which seem counter intuitive. But if you think about it, a portrait is usually head and shoulders, think school pictures, without the camera being right in the subjects face. Try it with your friend, seeing how close you have to be to get the same school picture with the 50mm and 70mm.

maybe weighing in late, but another reason for a longer focal length lens for portraits is less distortion. A 135 is also a nice portrait lens.

The ideal (in my opinion) beginner's phalanx of lenses would be a 35mm, roughly equivalent to our field of vision when scanning a scene, a 70 to 135 zoom which somewhat replicates what we see when we focus on things that are distant. This has to do more with what we edit out in our brains and not what our eyes actually see:
Normal lens

[bbro]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

maybe weighing in late, but another reason for a longer focal length lens for portraits is less distortion. A 135 is also a nice portrait lens.

The ideal (in my opinion) beginner's phalanx of lenses would be a 35mm, roughly equivalent to our field of vision when scanning a scene, a 70 to 135 zoom which somewhat replicates what we see when we focus on things that are distant. This has to do more with what we edit out in our brains and not what our eyes actually see:
Normal lens

I have a 15-55mm lens as my "regular" lens. I don't do many portraits. I've been doing mostly nature photos and food

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by bbro

I have a 15-55mm lens as my "regular" lens. I don't do many portraits. I've been doing mostly nature photos and food

Perfect for nature and landscape stuff. Also good for food depending on what you are shooting and the style you are looking for.