Lens types

Focal length size guide

Focal Length Type of Lens What is it used for?

4mm - 14mm Fisheye Abstract, creative

14mm - 35mm Wide angle Landscape, architecture

35mm - 85mm Standard Street, travel, portrait

85mm - 135mm Short telephoto Street photography and portraits

135mm+ Medium telephoto Sports, wildlife, action

300mm+ Super telephoto Sports from a distance, nature and astronomy

35mm - 200mm Macro Close-up shots

 camera lenses
Two types: Prime lenses & Zoom lenses

• Prime lenses (fixed focal length lens)

―fixed focal range
―can't zoom in or out
―Advantage: specialise in just one focal length
(finely tuned to deliver on one specific type of
photography)
―much higher quality images than a zoom lens
―Must know in which situation to choose
― the 50mm prime lens (Nifty Fifty), is perfect for
portraits.
―A 35 mm prime lens (landscape photographers))
 • most common types
Zoom lenses • a great range for photographing
(variable focal lengths) • a 70-200mm lens, (zoom from 70mm
all the way up to 200mm).
Parts of a Camera
• Most important parts of a camera. VIEWFINDER
• Rectangular-shaped part at the back of
camera, that lets you see and frame your
subject.
• Two types:
• optical viewfinders (OVF) and
• electronic viewfinders (EVF).
• OVF decades-old technology (directly seeing
image)
• Series of mirrors and prisms used to show
the image directly from the lens.
• OVFs are commonly found in DSLRS, while
EVFs are more common in mirrorless
cameras.
• Tiny, high-resolution screen that you hold less than an inch from your eye, which shows
data captured by the camera sensor.
• EVFs are entirely digital, shows a wealth of information and data – in addition to a
representation of the scene you’re photographing.
• EVFs show exactly what your scene will look like when photographed, not what the world
in front of the lens looks like.
• In contrast to OVF, electronic viewfinders display a digital image captured by the
camera's sensor on an LCD or OLED screen.
• Some viewfinders are fully digital, which shows you various details like your shutter
speed, aperture, and ISO before you take the shot.

Electronic viewfinder
(EVF)
Pentaprism
A mirror placed at a 45-degree angle behind the
camera lens.
The mirror projects the light captured from the lens
to the viewfinder.

Built-in Flash
A built-in flash produces a burst of light (a flash of light) when
triggered.
Fixed position on the front or top of the camera to allow it to
illuminate the subject.
The built-in flash fires only when the camera takes a picture.
Flash Button
• Present on cameras with a built-in pop-up flash.
• Main functionality is to force the flash to open before
triggered.
• At the same time, on some cameras, if you hold press
the flash button, you can adjust the intensity of the
flash by setting the flash exposure compensation.

Lens Mount
Mechanical fitting that allows the lens to attach to the
camera.
You can only use lenses that match your camera’s lens
mounting system.
Some camera manufacturers use proprietary lens
mounting systems to ensure clients will use their
lenses.
• DIGITAL SENSOR
• most delicate parts.
• captures the light coming
from the lens to create an
image.
• Modern cameras use either
a charged-coupled device
(CCD) or a complementary
metal-oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) imager for capturing
images.
Grip
• special curved design to allow
you to comfortably handhold
the camera.
• It usually provides space to
place your fingers and securely
hold the camera.
• The grip usually has a different
texture than the rest of the
camera.
Shutter
• An opaque piece of metal or plastic that
controls the amount of light that
reaches the camera sensor.
• Additionally, the length of which your
shutter stays open will determine how
your exposure will look like.
• activated by using the shutter release
button and adjust it accordingly using
camera’s shutter speed setting.
 Display
• shows helpful information about the
photos and the camera.
• View the different camera settings you
can tweak to alter your exposure, ISO,
shutter speed, and more.
• Also access other menus using this
display to change the settings on your
camera.
• Most camera displays nowadays let you
see how your image will appear before
you press the shutter release button.
(This feature revolutionized digital
cameras as it helps photographers in
creating consistent shots).
Electronics
• Camera’s electronic components
are divided into three separate
categories:
• Photo capture components
(recording of images)
• Camera controller (The
controller elements control all
the electronic components of
the camera)
• User interface components
(Letting the user interact with
and control the camera.
Remote Control Sensor
• An electronic device (usually an infrared device) that allows you
to connect the camera to remote controls.
• Once you make the connection, you can use the remote control
to trigger the shutter from a distance or at a predetermined
moment.
 Aperture: the opening in your lens through which light
passes through. (determines the DoF of your camera)

Main Dial
cogwheel situated on the front part of the camera,
allows to adjust aperture, shutter speed, exposure
compensation, and other parameters.
Hot Shoe
• U-shaped metal bracket situated on top of the camera,
• The basic parts of a camera.
• A mechanical fitting that allows you to connect an external
flash unit and other accessories such as radio triggers,
external microphones, and light meters.
Processing Engine (image processor)
• Turns the raw data captured by the camera’s sensor into a viewable
image.
• This includes tasks like noise reduction and color correction.
• The buffer in a camera is temporary storage used when taking multiple
photos quickly, such as in burst mode.
• Images are stored in the buffer before being written to the memory card.
• The size and speed of the buffer can affect the number of images that
can be captured in quick succession.
 Memory Card Slot

• The memory card slot is

where the camera’s
memory card is inserted.
• The memory card stores
all the photographs taken
by the camera.
• Some cameras have
multiple card slots, such as
SDXC and Cfexpress.
Zoom Elements
Zoom lenses allow you to shift
between focal lengths, from
wide to telephoto, depending
on your lens’ focal range, by
turning the lens rings.

Batteries
ISO ISO refers to the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light.
Higher ISO values increase sensitivity, improving low-light performance
and increasing image noise.
Conversely, lower ISO values provide cleaner images but require more
light.