Photography Stack Exchange
Photography Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [lens]

A photographic lens is used to focus the light onto film or a digital sensor. Many cameras have interchangeable lens systems, allowing the photographer to choose the type of lens to use.

A photographic lens is used to focus the light onto film or a digital sensor. Many cameras have interchangeable lens systems, allowing the photographer to choose the type of lens to use.

There are many types of lenses, but they generally fall into two main types:

FAQ

Using this tag

The lens tag should be used for questions whose content is directly related to a camera lens.

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(Why) do lenses increase in value over time?

Neocameras lens buying guide claims: Lenses most often increase in value over time until a significant change in technology. Is this accurate? Why would value increase?
gerrit
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What's this little sign on the focal length ring of zoom lenses?

Looking at pictures of zoom lenses I've noticed there's sometimes a little sign between the two widest focal lengths: What is the meaning of that sign?
JonathanReez
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Can anyone identify the manufacturer of this golden lens?

On a recent photo tour, a lens another photographer used caught my attention because of its golden color and no manufacturer name I know being visible. Unfortunately, I was busy taking some shots myself and only took this quick picture. When I had…
helm
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What are these clusters of branching structures on/in my lens?

I packed a Tamron 28-75 lens away for over a year. When I took it out of storage examined it, I found clusters of branching structures on or in the front element. I Took it to a camera store and they said it wasn't fungus, but they didn't tell me…
Mindcontrol
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EF-S 18-55mm kit vs 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 for nature photography

I moved from a point and shoot to a DSLR last year and I love to photograph nature in general. I have a T2i/550D with the 18-55mm kit lens and was wondering if I would benefit from the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 beside the obvious better lens quality…
CSharpRocks
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What does "usable number" mean in lens specification?

I just got a new Canon EF50/1.8 II lens. Looking at the specs included with the camera there is a line that says Filter Diameter / Usable Number 52 mm / 1 What does "Usable Number" mean?
dwj
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Can we do a refractograph with a lens on?

I just saw this tutorial on how to do refractograph. The tutorial specify that you have to remove the lens to make this work. Do you think it would be possible to do something similar with a lens on? If the answer is yes, then which type of lens?
EtienneT
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Lenses for fast-paced environment

What two lenses should you carry to be able to take a majority of shots in a fast paced environment? Or more specifically: I just watched a documentary on PBS about Pete Souza, the current White House Photographer. He's always running and having to…
Erik W
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Why is aspheric glass expensive?

When one makes a piece of glass for a lens, they start with a hunk of glass and grind it into the desired shape. When a lens is aspheric, this doesn't change; merely the shape the lens is ground into is an aspheric (typically parabolic) shape. It…
Billy ONeal
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What is a "4P" Lens?

I am a noob in photography and don't have any idea of lenses and optics... Recently though I was looking out for some camera modules and couldn't understand some of the specifications mentioned in the data-sheet. One of them stated that the Lens…
Kevin Boyd
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K800i 5.2 mm lens equivalent

I really like the pictures my Sony K800i with its 5.2mm lens takes and I use its lofi quality to creative effect and woud like to know the 35 mm lens equivalent to this little piece of plastic. I looked at pictures from the Ricoh GR Digital with its…
Roland
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Why is the front element of a telephoto lens larger than a wide angle lens?

A wide angle lens has a wide angle of view, therefore it would make sense that the front of the lens would also be wide. A telephoto lens has a narrow angle of view, so it would make sense that the angle would be smaller. However, this is the…
Billy ONeal
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Does the same focal length on the same camera always result in the same FOV?

I'm confused about whether the same focus length across different lenses on the same camera always produces the same Field of View. Some lenses are advertised as wide-angle and some are not. Is there a difference in the FOV?
user48257
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Are lenses like this actually available?

Is a lens like the one below actually available? This is a screenshot from a movie. The photographer in the movie uses this lens to covertly photograph the scene happening to his right using this lens. So I was curious to know whether this type of…
vivek_jonam
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What do the characters on this CCTV lens mean?

There are 3 controllable rings on the CCTV lens. Each ring has 2 characters on them with the ring farthest from the sensor being F and N. Next is O and C. The last ring is T and W. What does each of these characters represent? The O and C controls…
Neoprism
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