nikon lenses from a

7/26/2019 Nikon Lenses From A

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Nikon lenses from A-Z: the ultimate

photographers guidebyJeff MeyerDecember 14, 20130 Comments

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Your lenses are the eyes of your camera. In this tutorial, the experts at the Nikon magazine N-

Photoexplain everything you need to know aout Nikon lenses and show you how to use them to

change the way you see and capture the world around you!
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Nikon lenses from Angle of view to Effective focal length


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Image: Marsel van osten

Angle of view

!"#s #s t"e s#ngle most #m$ortant c"aracter#st#c of a lens. n a s#m$le level, t"e angle of v#e%

controls "o% m&c" of a scene yo& can s'&ee(e #nto a $"otogra$".

!"#s )ramat#c lan)sca$e %as taken %#t" a s&$er*%#)e*angle lens, %"#c" enable) t"e

$"otogra$"er to ca$t&re bot" t"e )ramat#c rock format#ons an) t"e "ot a#r balloons float#ngover"ea) #n a tr&ly b#(arre +&ta$os#t#on.

-#)e*angle lenses are very goo) at ca$t&r#ng t"e b#(arre an) t"e s&rreal beca&se t"ey also

eaggerate $ers$ect#ves an) t"e )#fference #n s#(e bet%een ob+ects close to t"e camera an) t"ose

#n t"e )#stance.

ngle of v#e% #s connecte) %#t" focal lengt" / t"e s"orter t"e focal lengt" of a lens, t"e %#)ert"e angle of v#e% %#ll be. !ele$"oto lenses "ave longer focal lengt"s an) a corres$on)#ngly

narro%er angle of v#e%.

!"eyre goo) for s"ots %"ere yo& %ant to f#ll t"e frame %#t" ob+ects #n t"e )#stance, or for

$#ck#ng o&t #n)#v#)&al )eta#ls.

SEE MORE:100 #kon D t#$s yo& really nee) to kno%
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/12/29/100-nikon-dslr-tips-you-need-to-know-right-now/http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/12/29/100-nikon-dslr-tips-you-need-to-know-right-now/


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Bokeh

!"#s #s a Ja$anese %or) &se) to )escr#be t"e $rec#se '&al#ty or a$$earance of o&t*of*foc&s areas#n a $#ct&re. Its somet#mes &se) to )escr#be bl&r #n general, b&t t"ats an over*s#m$l#f#cat#on /

t"eres m&c" more to bl&r t"an t"at5

!"e a$$earance of bl&r can vary cons#)erably, an) $"otogra$"y af#c#ona)os %#ll be 'ck to

cla#m t"at some lenses 6#nvar#ably e$ens#ve $rest#ge lenses$ro)&ce better 8boke" t"an ot"ers.

9oke" #s #nfl&ence) by br#g"t "#g"l#g"ts or l#g"t so&rces #n t"e backgro&n), or by t"e s"a$e oft"e )#a$"ragm 6#r#s #n t"e lens.

D#g#tal s "ave larger sensors t"an reg&lar )#g#tal com$acts, %"#c" lea)s to s"allo%er )e$t" of

f#el) an) more $rono&nce) an) controllable 8boke" effects.
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/04/03/make-the-ultimate-bokeh-portrait/http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/04/03/make-the-ultimate-bokeh-portrait/


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Image: Jon 9a&er

Converging lines

!"ese are somet#mes calle) 8lea)#ng l#nes beca&se of t"e %ay t"ey lea) yo&r eyes #nto t"e

$#ct&re.Converg#ng l#nes are a $o%erf&l com$os#t#onal tool, an) a s#)e*effect of &s#ng %#)e*

angle lenses an) s"oot#ng at an obl#'&e angle to yo&r s&b+ect.

!"eyre most effect#ve %"en t"e convergence #s "or#(ontal, s&c" as a roa), tra#n tracks lea)#ng#nto t"e )#stance, or t"e slats an) ra#l#ngs of t"#s br#)ge.

!"#s s"ot %orks beca&se t"e camera "as been ke$t $erfectly level an) $lace) #n t"e m#))le of t"e

br#)ge to $reserve #ts $erfect symmetry.

o& also get converg#ng l#nes #f yo& t#lt t"e camera &$%ar)s to ca$t&re a tall bl)#ng, b&t t"#s

effect #s less effect#ve an) can look l#ke a m#stake.
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Image: #an e%#s

Depth of field

De$t" of f#el) #s t"e (one of s"ar$ foc&s #n front of t"e camera. !ele$"oto lenses an) large lensa$ert&res g#ve t"e s"allo%est )e$t" of f#el), so t"at t"eres only one $lane of s"ar$ foc&s #n t"e

$#ct&re.

;o%ever, lan)sca$e $"otogra$"ers often %ant as m&c" )e$t" of f#el) as $oss#ble, so t"at bot"

nearby ob+ects an) t"e )#stant "or#(on are s"ar$. o& can ac"#eve t"#s %#t" small lens a$ert&resan) %#)e*angle lenses.

9&t t"e foc&s )#stance #s also a factor / t"e closer yo& foc&s, t"e less )e$t" of f#el) t"ere #s, an)

yo& can see t"at #n t"#s $#ct&re, %"ere t"e s&b+ects knees "ave gone o&t of foc&s.

SEE MORE:11 common lens errors 6an) "o% to avo#) t"em
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Effective focal length

!"e focal lengt" of a lens#s &se) to %ork o&t #ts angle of v#e% an) %"at k#n) of $"otogra$"y #ts

ste) for, b&tt"e s#(e of t"e camera sensor makes a )#fference.

!"e smaller sensors #n #kon D< Ds means t"at t"ey ca$t&re a smaller angle of v#e% t"an af&ll*frame =< camera &s#ng t"e same lens, %"#c" #s %"y lens makers often '&ote an 8effect#ve

focal lengt" too.

=or eam$le, %"en f#tte) to a D0mm lens "as an 8effect#ve focal lengt" of

7>mm. n an =


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They produce strong circular distortion thats usually employed as a special effect, but if theyre used

with care, fisheyes can be really effective for everyday photography too.

This terrific portrait shot uses the wide angle of view to emphasis the shape of the guitar and capture

the sitters surroundings.

Image: Bruce Levick

Ground-level shooting

Its really tempting to shoot everything from a standing position with the camera at head height, but

you canintroduce much more variety into your pictures by changing your shooting position. If you get

right down to ground level, the world starts to look very different.

You can capture great natural history shots from an insects perspective, for example, or you can use

your viewpoint to exaggerate perspective effects.

Normally in architectural photography youd try to correct converging verticals, but here the

photographer has turned them into a feature.
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Converging verticals happen when you tilt the camera upwards to take the picture, and by shooting

from ground level you tilt the camera further still.

A bean bagor a mini tripod is the ideal support, especially if the ground is uneven.

SEE MORE:DO or Di? Your lens markings explained

Image: Bhuminan Kiama

Hyperfocal distance

In landscape photography you usually want everything in the picture to be sharp, right fromrocks and

plants in the foregroundto distant details on the horizon.
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This means you need maximum depth of field, which can mean some complicated calculations,

because it depends on the lens focal length, the focus distance and the lens aperture.

Butlandscape photographers have found a clever solution the hyperfocal distance. For any given

focal length and lens aperture, this tells you the distance you need to focus at to put the horizon right

at the far limit of the depth of field, and bring the near limit of depth of field as close to the camera ispossible.

You can use a smartphone app to do the calculations for you, or justlook up hyperfocal distances on

a table. Heres an example for a DX-format Nikon DSLR using a focal length of 18mm.

Image: Chris George

Iris

The iris is the mechanism inside the lens that produces the variable lens apertures used for

exposure and depth of field control its also called the diaphragm.

It consists of a series of thin, overlapping blades that slide across each other as the aperture is

adjusted, producing a smaller or a larger hole for the light to pass through.
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The shape of this hole has an impact on the appearance of out-of-focus highlights in your pictures,

and defocused areas in general.

Older iris mechanisms use a smaller number of blades, and these produce an iris shape which is not

completely circular it may be hexagonal, for example.

These days, the fashion is for circular highlights, and so lens makers have increased the number of

iris blades to produce a more circular aperture.

SEE MORE:7 questions photographers must ask about their next piece of glass

Image: Rod Lawton

Joiner

A joiner is a picture stitched together from two or more separate frames, and its a great way of

getting a super-wide-angle shot when you dont have a super-wide-angle lens.

You need to set the camera to manual exposure and focus, so that the settings dont change

between shots, then take a series of pictures which overlap by around one-third.

Dont take too many, because the wider the joiner becomes, the more unwieldy it is to view and print.

This joiner was made from two overlapping pictures using Photoshop Elements.

We only had a regular wide-angle lens, but its given us a picture which otherwise would have

needed an expensive super-wide lens.

Nikon lenses from Kit lens to Open wide
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Kit lens

This the standard zoom lens that came with your camera (though some pro models are sold body-

only).

Its much cheaper to buy your camera and lens as a kit rather than separately, which is where the

term kit lens comes from.

Kit lenses are designed to be versatile, inexpensive accompaniments to your camera to help you get

started.


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The build quality may not be quite up to the standard of Nikons other lenses, but Nikons kit lenses

do actually perform very well, and while you can replace them with better-specified standard zooms,

many people are perfectly satisfied with the quality and dont bother.

Current Nikon DX DSLRs come with one of two kit lenses: the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6V found on

the entry-level D3000 and D5000-series cameras, and the slightly longer range 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6VR that comes with enthusiast models like the D90, D7000 and D7100.

The 18-55mm kit lens has a 3x zoom range, going from a wide-angle view (18mm) to a short

telephoto setting (55mm). The 18-105mm kit lens offers a longer telephoto setting, which makes it

just a little more versatile.

One limitation of these kit lenses is that they have a variable maximum aperture which drops to f/5.6

at their longest zoom settings.

Live ViewNikon DSLRs now offer you two ways to view and compose your pictures. You canuse the

viewfinder in the conventional way,or you canswitch to Live View and compose the shotusing the

LCD screen on the back of the camera.

This means you can take pictures without having to put your eye to the camera you can still see the

picture and the main camera settings from a couple of feet away so its easier to use the camera

on a tripod with a remote release, and theres much more scope for exploring different shooting

angles.

The Nikon D5100 and D5200 are especially interesting because they have a fold-out articulating

LCD display.

SEE MORE:Nikon D5300 vs D5200 vs D5100 13 key differences you need to know

You can angle the LCD in almost any direction, and this is ideal if you want to place the camera on

the ground for dramatic low-level shots like this one, or if youre shooting in a cramped environment

where theres no room to get behind the camera.

With Nikons latest DSLRs and Wi-Fi accessories, you can even compose and shoot using a smart

device.
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Image: Tim Mulcahy

Macro lens

Most lenses have a minimum focus distance of 0.2-0.5m, which means its difficult to get right upclose and fill the frame with smaller subjects. The solution is a dedicated macro lens, which has a

fixed focal length and can focus much closer than ordinary lenses.

With a macro lens you can discover a whole new world of patterns, shapes and textures in nature

that you dont normally see.


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Even with a macro lens, though, you need careful technique to get super-sharp close-ups. You

should always use a tripod where possible, not just to prevent camera shake but to keep the camera

locked precisely in position.

The depth of field available at close focusing distances is tiny, and any slight camera movement can

send your subject out of focus.

You can solve depth of field issues by shooting your subjects head on so that theyre on a single

plane of focus rather than being angled away from the camera. This is the technique used for this

shot of an autumn leaf encased in ice.

SEE MORE:9 things you need to know about using macro lenses

Nano Crystal Coat

Lens makers add special coatings to their lenses. A coating minimises internal reflections within a

lens, and maximises light transmission through it so that the image is as bright as possible.
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This is why modern lenses have such clarity and contrast. Each lens maker has its own formula for

lens coating, and Nikons latest invention is its Nano Crystal Coat.

This is a unique granular coating using microscopic particles too small to interfere with the image,

but with the ability to reduce the amount by which the light is refracted as it enters the lens.

Lenses with the Nano Crystal Coat have an N badge on the barrel, and Nikons groundbreaking 14-

24mm f/2.8 super-wide-angle lens for FX-format cameras was one of the first to use it.

Open wide!

At one time photographers were preoccupied with depth of field, using small apertures to make as

much of the image sharp as possible.

In part, this was in response to the difficulty of focusing accurately and the poor performance of most

lenses of the time when used wide open.

But times have changed! Todays digital zoom and prime lenses are often razor sharp at or near their

maximum apertures, and modern AF systems can focus with an accuracy that the human eye would

find hard to match.

This makes it possible to explore the magical world of bokeh and wonderfully evocative shallow

depth of field effects.

So, next time you go out shooting, dont let your camera default to a boring lens aperture. Switch to

P mode, open that lens up as wide as it will go and see the difference it makes to your shots!

Nikon lenses from Pinhole to Tilt/shift


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Pinhole photography

To take pictures, you dont actually need a lens at all! The lens is simply there to focus the rays of

light to a single point, and you can achieve the same effect with a tiny hole drilled through a body cap

fitted to your DSLR, or through the end of a can attached where the lens would be.

You can even get ready-made pinhole lenses. The distance between the pinhole and the sensor

determines its focal length. A body cap pinhole will be a wide-angle lens, while a tin can pinhole will

be a telephoto.

The smaller the hole, the sharper the image, but the exposure time will go up too. Theres no

focusing because the depth of field is infinite, though the definition is limited by diffraction effects, soalthough you can shoot detailed subjects, dreamy shots can be just as effective.


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Image: Philippe Sainte-Laudy

Quality control

Its not just what youve got, but how you use it. The more expensive the lens, the better the quality,

but the differences between the results you get from a pro lens and a consumer kit lens are oftensmaller than you might think.

Its much more important tomount your camera on a tripod, focus carefully, and use your lenss

sweet spot the aperture range where it delivers its best sharpness, generally around f/8.

This breathtaking scene was shot using a Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 superzoom, but with perfect

camera technique. It shows the quality you can achieve with an everyday lens.

Rounded diaphragm

The shape of the diaphragm in your lens will affect the shape of out-of-focus highlights in your

picture, and the effect can be quite prominent.

An older lens with a six-bladed diaphragm, for example, might produce hexagonal highlights.

These days, though, photographers prefer a more natural, circular look, so lens makers are now

making rounded diaphragm shapes, either by increasing the number of blades or by making the

inner edge of the blade more rounded.
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The effect is most obvious in portrait shots with blurred light sources or highlights in the background,

but can be seen with any backlit shots taken with a wide lens aperture and shallow depth of field.

Its all tied in with the concept of bokeh, and the visual quality of out-of-focus areas in your picture.

Blur isnt just blur any more it has to be the right kind of blur!

Image: Ming G

Super-telephoto

A super-telephoto is a lens with a focal length greater than 300mm. These lenses are heavy,

expensive and deliver high levels of magnification for sports or wildlife photography. But thats not all

they do.

Super-telephoto lenses flatten perspective, so that distance objects appear much larger relative to

those closer to the camera.


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Image: Marc Haegeman

Tilt/shift lens

This is the general term for lenses which offer in-built perspective adjustments Nikon calls them

PC-E, or perspective control lenses.

The name comes from the two key movements these lenses provide. The tilt movement swivels the

lens sideways, up or down, which has the effect of changing the plane of focus.

You can use it to keep the whole of an object or a scene sharp, even when its at an oblique angle to

the camera, and when stopping the lens down to its minimum aperture still doesnt provide enough

depth of field.

SEE MORE:Your tilt-shift lens more than just a miniature effect maker

This striking architectural shot, though, was taken using a shift movement. When shifted, the angle

of the lens to the camera stays the same, but its moved from side to side or, more likely up or down.

This gets round the problem of converging verticals because the movement lets you capture the full

height of the building without having to tilt the camera.

Nikon lenses from U/V filters to Zoom burst

UV filters

UV, or ultra-violet, filters were developed to counter the blue haze effect you sometimes used to get

in distant landscape shots.

Digital sensors are less sensitive to this UV haze than film, but UV filters remain a very useful

accessory because they act as inexpensive protection for your lenses.
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Its much cheaper to replace a scratched UV filter than it is to buy a new lens. Apart from cutting UV

light, UV filters dont have any other effect, so as long as you stick to good-quality coated glass filters

like those made by Hoya, for example, they wont have any impact on the image quality.

Vignetting

Lenses dont always produce perfectly even illumination, and your pictures may be darker in thecorners than in the centre.

This called vignetting, or corner shading. Its not always a bad thing, though, since it can help

concentrate the viewers attention on the main subject, acting as a kind of subtle framing device.

You can get software tools which remove vignetting, but you can also get tools which add a creative

vignetting effect.

SEE MORE:Vignetting quick fixes and how to avoid it entirely

Image: Gael Trijasson

Wide-angle lens

A wide-angle lens doesnt just get more of the scene in the frame, it changes the way objects look

and relate to each other.
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With a wide-angle lens you get closer to objects in the foreground, which makes them look larger; at

the same time the wider angle of view means that distant objects look smaller.

This produces stronger perspective effects, as you can see from this shot, where the building

appears to lean inwards to the centre of the frame.

Wide-angle lenses are often used to tell a story, bringing subjects forward or creating surreal

distortions or juxtapositions.

Any lens with an effective focal length of 28mm or less is classed as a wide-angle. The equivalent

on a DX-format Nikon is about 18mm.

Image: Philip Klinger

X-factor

Teleconverters have long been seen as a kind of magic bullet for telephoto lenses. They fit between

the lens and the camera body, and the x-factor refers to their magnification.

Nikon currently makes three teleconverters: the TC-14E II (x1.4 magnification), the TC-17E II (x1.7

magnification) and the TC-20E III (x2 magnification).


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A Nikon x1.4 teleconverter was used to crop in tightly on this mist-shrouded landscape. The

magnification comes at a price, though, because the maximum aperture of the lens is reduced in

proportion to the magnification.

The x1.4 converter means a loss of 1 f-stop, so an f/2.8 lens becomes an f/4 lens. The x1.7

converter reduces the aperture by 1.5 stops, and the x2 converter brings a two-stop penalty. Thereare other limitations.

Nikons teleconverters can only be fitted to its fast aperture, professional telephoto lenses, and if you

use Sigma lenses, say, youll need a Sigma teleconverter instead.

Image: Andrei Lanchu

Yellow filter

A yellow filter used to be standard issue for black and white photographers in the past, especially for

landscape work, where the yellow colour blocks some of the light from blue skies, which gives them

a darker tone, but doesnt affect the appearance of leaves and grass.


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Theyre not used so much these days because digital sensors work in a different way theres no

advantage in filtering the colours before the image is recorded, and its easier to shoot in colour and

apply the filter effect on the computer later on.

But why limit the good old yellow filter to black and white work? Here, its been used to add a warm,

retro tone to this Instagram-style colour picture. Its given the colours a faded, old-style look withoutthe need for software filters.

The right kind of subject helps, too: look for quirky, offbeat compositions, and try deliberately skewing

the camera as you shoot.

If youre going to use coloured filters, its best to use one of the cameras White Balance presets if

you leave it set to auto White Balance, it may attempt to correct what it sees as an unwanted colour

cast.


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Zoom burst

Heres another special effect that doesnt need a computer! What it does need, however, is a steady

hand and a willingness to experiment.

The idea is that you quickly zoom the lens from its shortest to its longest focal length while the

exposure is being made.

This means youll need shutter speeds of half a second or longer to give yourself time to zoom in, soyou cant expect all your shots to come out sharp.

But what you will get is a striking zoom effect from the centre of the frame, with lines of colour

radiating out from the centre. You can try this out on a range of subjects, from portraits to flower

shots.


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It can work especially well with sports and action, though it can be difficult to get the timing right. If

youre having trouble keeping the camera steady you could try putting it on a tripod.

For an added twist (literally!), try turning the camera as you zoom. This is a tricky technique to

master, but if you get it right you produce a spiral zoom burst which is even more intriguing.

Of course, the great thing about digital SLRs is that you can keep practising until you get it right, and

it wont cost you a penny!

nikon lenses from a

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