Sorry I know I am boring (another lens ?)
- Thread starter garyi
- Start date
matthewr
spɹɐʍʞɔɐq spɹoɔǝɹ ɹnoʎ sʎɐld
"I'll be the first to admit the limitations in my knowledge, but isn't this complete bollocks?"
It's just an example of how people get overly fixated on lens speed.
f1.4 is one stop lower than f2.0 and so at f1.4 you get exactly twice as much light at a given shutter speed.
f1.8 is about 1/3rd of a stop (actually less as it's logarthmic of something) less than f2.0. 1/3rd of a stop is a small amout of exposure it would only make a real difference in a tiny number of cases.
f2.0 is still acceptably fast for most people and given an f1.8 lens and an f2.0 lens other differences are likely to be more significant. i.e. it's possibly to have a great f2.0 lens and a stinker of an f1.8 lens.
The one caveat is that as a general rule of thumb many lenses get better as they are stopped down. Hence, a f1.4 lens at f1.8 might well be better than an f1.8 lens wide open (i.e. also 1.8) all other things being equal.
Matthew
PS If you get cool German or Russian lenses they often have aperture settings like f1.9 or f2.5. This just makes them sound even more exotic and uber.
PPS Lots abotu f-stops at http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm
It's just an example of how people get overly fixated on lens speed.
f1.4 is one stop lower than f2.0 and so at f1.4 you get exactly twice as much light at a given shutter speed.
f1.8 is about 1/3rd of a stop (actually less as it's logarthmic of something) less than f2.0. 1/3rd of a stop is a small amout of exposure it would only make a real difference in a tiny number of cases.
f2.0 is still acceptably fast for most people and given an f1.8 lens and an f2.0 lens other differences are likely to be more significant. i.e. it's possibly to have a great f2.0 lens and a stinker of an f1.8 lens.
The one caveat is that as a general rule of thumb many lenses get better as they are stopped down. Hence, a f1.4 lens at f1.8 might well be better than an f1.8 lens wide open (i.e. also 1.8) all other things being equal.
Matthew
PS If you get cool German or Russian lenses they often have aperture settings like f1.9 or f2.5. This just makes them sound even more exotic and uber.
PPS Lots abotu f-stops at http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
Full-stop differences do matter, all things being equal. But as Matthew said, third-of-a-stop differences are rather trivial.
For Gary... take a boo at the circles representing the full-stop aperture sequence between f/1.4 and f/8. See how, say, a 50mm f/1.4 lets in much more light than, say, a zoom set to 50mm with a minimum aperture of f/4.
Night and day, really.
Joe
For Gary... take a boo at the circles representing the full-stop aperture sequence between f/1.4 and f/8. See how, say, a 50mm f/1.4 lets in much more light than, say, a zoom set to 50mm with a minimum aperture of f/4.
Night and day, really.
Joe
Artioneer
tripath walker
Way back I used a Super Canon Lens 'R' 58mm f1.2 on a Flex RM and the difference in viewfinder brightness and the ability to fine focus between the 1.2 and a std. 1.8 was quite substantial.vuk said:
This camera has no bragging rights,owned for decades and old fashioned but in use just requires a little more leg work and imagination but still mechanically and optically excellent.
The additional lenses I used were a bronze Hektor 73mm f1.9 and Ross Xtralux 90mm 3.5,'orrible eh ?
I wonder where the current Dslr's will be in near 60 years time ?
garyi
leave blank
Well I have ordered it now so will sit tight and see what happens!
I have enjoyed using the two primes I have very much with the limitation of not being able to focus manually too well through the view finder. Not such an issue with infinity shots obviously but more disspointing with pretty much every thing else.
And some quick learning regarding infinity focusing with fully open apertures, i.e. doesn't happen.
It really is quite amazing how much knowledge people like me have given away to that auto and P setting on the camera.
Incidentally I have finished reading the Andy Rouse book I got if anyone wants me to pass it on, its yours gratis or if you have a book on basic photography for people who are thick that would be great.
The book I have here is more for the film user considering going to digital.
I have enjoyed using the two primes I have very much with the limitation of not being able to focus manually too well through the view finder. Not such an issue with infinity shots obviously but more disspointing with pretty much every thing else.
And some quick learning regarding infinity focusing with fully open apertures, i.e. doesn't happen.
It really is quite amazing how much knowledge people like me have given away to that auto and P setting on the camera.
Incidentally I have finished reading the Andy Rouse book I got if anyone wants me to pass it on, its yours gratis or if you have a book on basic photography for people who are thick that would be great.
The book I have here is more for the film user considering going to digital.
Artioneer
tripath walker
Joe,Joe Petrik said:Probably something blingy, with a glowing blue ring around the lens to show off to the easily impressed that the camera has a 6mm to 2000mm f/8 to f/32 zoom lens.
Joe
Very nice,I'm sure,but my days of spending money on expensive cameras are long gone and so is my lens changing,well below is a photo of my last digi-cam bought off ebay last fall - new and unused for less than £65.
10 X optical zoom
4 x digital zoom
3.2 mp
ccd sensor
2.5" monitor
diopter adjustable view finder
5volt mains input
and it takes decent photographs too
including close-ups of my Derek_Shek dac and mono PEC pot
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
Artioneer,
But you have to admit that too much attention is being paid to marketing departments and MBAs instead of to engineers and photographers. Is there any reason why, for instance, Alex G needs to spend £2600 on a D200 (one for himself and one which he'll kindly send to me as a gift) to get a decent finder and compatibility with older lenses other than some clown at Nikon in a pinstripe suit said this is the way things will be?
(I also understand the reality of today's digital market, where coming late to the game or listening to engineers and photographers alone will likely result in a company filling for bankruptcy. Leica certainly would benefit from having at least one clown in a pinstripe suit on its payroll.)
Joe
I'm not a camera snob -- a great picture is a great picture, whether it's taken with a disposable, Lomo, point-n-shoot, Olympus OM-1, Digital Rebel, Leica MP, or $23k 22MP Hasselblad H2D.
But you have to admit that too much attention is being paid to marketing departments and MBAs instead of to engineers and photographers. Is there any reason why, for instance, Alex G needs to spend £2600 on a D200 (one for himself and one which he'll kindly send to me as a gift) to get a decent finder and compatibility with older lenses other than some clown at Nikon in a pinstripe suit said this is the way things will be?
(I also understand the reality of today's digital market, where coming late to the game or listening to engineers and photographers alone will likely result in a company filling for bankruptcy. Leica certainly would benefit from having at least one clown in a pinstripe suit on its payroll.)
Joe
Artioneer
tripath walker
I completely agree,but the one thing I really appreciate about digital photography is it's ability to cut out the middle man ie the darkroom ~ printing expert eg Fred Picker,Ansel Adams and Gene Nocon.Joe Petrik said:
I must confess that post 1980 that I have never taken a color photo but always used yellow,orange and red filters with Pan F,FP 4/5,Tri-X,Infra-Red and TechPan (usually without filters).I mostly bought in bulk 100' and 150' TechPan rolls and could manage scratch free 36 x 20 exps. or 20 x 36 exps from a 100' and of course x1.5 for TechPan (resolves about 280 lines/mm - brilliant)
My usual knock abouts were Asahi Pentax's,including SP2's and Spotmatics,a brace of SPF's and ES and chrome ES 11 and of course a bunch of SMC Takumars from 24mm f3.5 upto 500mm f5.6 including two Macros and of course manual and auto bellows with slide copying attachment with scales.
I still say that almost everyone is capable of taking a masterpiece photo,even more so now that the real expertise - darkroom printer has been eliminated.
Joe P
Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
Artioneer,
Joe
I wouldn't want to downplay the importance of good darkroom technique, or the modern equivalent -- Photoshopping and digital printing -- but surely the rare talent is in taking the masterpiece in the first place, like this French bloke had done so often:
Joe