Understanding lens' for DSLR

• 

  CyberMurning on 05/06/2014 - 17:32

  well you change lens depending on what you want to shoot.
  smaller number means wide angle ie for landscape
  bigger number means zoom ie for taking wild animals

  obviously you can try yourself?
  oh, when using zoom you need stable hand or use tripod
  when changing lens becareful dont let any small particles goes into

• 

  achandrasiri on 05/06/2014 - 18:58

  Not a pro but I'll give it a go. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, don't mind learning my self.

  I'm mostly sharing my experience in starting photography as a hobby here, which may not agree with everyone else's point of view.

  First of all, Nikon 1 J1 is not a DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) camera. Its actually from a category called Mirror-less Interchangeable Lens Camera.

  Figure out what you like to shoot first. Only way to do this is by shooting everything and seeing what you like. I don't mean to say that you go around clicking everything you see, think about what you want in the picture and how you want it organised before you shoot. I ended up liking landscapes and portrait photography. Don't worry about what lens to use at first, just use any of the kit lenses that come with the camera (i'd go with the 30-110 from your kit first because it gives a larger range)

  Once you realize the type of photography you like, you will start to see that one of the lenses suite it more than the other. As a guide, you would use the larger numbers to get close ups of objects in the distance (zoom in) and smaller number to capture a wider angle (zoom out). Technical term for what i refer to here as the "number" is focal length.

  Start on Auto or Programmed Auto setting on the camera (not sure what these are called in the j1, never had the chance to use one, but should be fairly standard), once you get more experience and gain knowledge, you will want to go to other settings. I wouldn't confuse my self with these just yet, instead I'd worry about something called "composition". To me, this is what separates a great picture from a mediocre one. Also, composition has next to nothing to do with the camera or the lens you are using.

  I don't think I'm qualified or experienced enough to explain what composition is, so I wouldn't try. But there are great articles and books explaining this on the 'net. Google is your friend here. Or anyone else could pitch in.

  Main thing that I learned is not to forget that it is a hobby. A hobby is only a hobby so as long as you enjoy and have fun doing it.

  Hope this helped. It is a great hobby to get in to, really rewarding. Good luck, get out there and start making pictures!!

• 

  p1 ama on 05/06/2014 - 20:28

  There are two pieces of advice that I'd offer, I'm a hobby photographer myself.

  1) The law of diminishing returns

  Anything you buy that's expensive will give you very marginal gains over something that's not so expensive. This is especially true in photography where VERY expensive lenses will give you marginal gains over a much cheaper lens.

  2) Know what you want to do

  This is what I think is most important. If you want to shoot nice pictures of your family and stuff that's eye-distance away (i.e. if you want a POV that's not too different to what your eye will see) then you will be looking at what are called mid-zoom lenses. Mid-zoom lenses tend to be expensive, so my suggestion in the middle would be to go for a prime, something like 35mm. Most people like to tell you that you can't zoom with a prime, well that's sort of true, but there's a way to cheat…it's called stepping forward and stepping backwards.

  If you're into landscape photography, portraits, interior…etc. you get the correct lens for what you want to do. From there, you just figure out what lenses you need and you can add them to your kit.

  Nobody will need more than a couple of lenses. I would say that if you own more than four lenses, then you are doubling up somewhere.

  I have a 35mm prime which is my daily driver, my 85mm prime for portraits and my 55-300mm tele-zoom for when I need to shoot things far away. I don't shoot any wide-angle shots, e.g. indoor shots, so I don't really need a wide-angle. But if I did, then I'd add one and there wouldn't be a need for any further lenses.

  Of course, when taking photos, always remember that what is most important is your own artistic view. Taking photos is a set of skills to some degree, but it's not like drawing, anybody can pick up a camera and take pictures. Most people can read and become very good photographers within a week.

  When I first picked up my DSLR, I could take pictures on Auto without even reading the manual. After about two weeks of reading, I was adept at all of my controls and can use all the different modes. I purchased several lenses and off I went. So it's not difficult to "learn how to take photos", the difficult part is getting out there, taking photos and being able to frame your shots in such a way that makes things look good.

  That's the difference between someone who can take really good photos and someone who can't. Hope I've helped.

• 

  tonyjzx on 07/06/2014 - 10:18

  whats the crop factor on this?

  2x?

  • 

    aim54x on 12/06/2014 - 12:26

    2.7x on the Nikon 1 (CX or 1" sensor). This makes the 10-30mm lens similar to the 18-55mm lenses you get on your Nikon/Canon/Sony DSLRs.

    I am not too sure how to approach the question here, but the lens that came with the camera is a general purpose lens, more for you to get a feel for what works for you, and I often recommend to friends to let is be a guide to what you want to buy next (ie if you use the wide end maybe go wider). Most importantly get out there and have fun, storage is cheap (and ozBargain is good for helping us find it cheaper) so the only thing you need to worry about is battery life. Take heaps of photos and get to know what this camera can do…that is the best way to learn in my opinion.