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Sharp focus on lenses

No matter how sophisticated today’s digital camera image sensors and processing systems, the performance of the lens is still a major factor in image quality, as Lenses Guide, the latest in Media Publishing’s series of pocket guides for enthusiast photographers, explains.

LensguideChoice of lens is arguably more important than choice of camera: While camera bodies wear out or become obsolete, lenses, well cared for, can be used on the next camera, and over time your selection of lenses will generally be a larger investment.

Choosing a lens is definitely more complex than choosing a camera body: What are the ‘pros and cons’ of choosing a zoom lens over a series of single focal length (prime) lenses? Is a long zoom lens a better choice than two shorter zooms? Is it worth paying more for a lens with a wider maximum aperture? Can third-party accessory lenses be a good choice? How about lens adaptors and teleconverters – what’s the trade off?

Lenses Guide, by Photo Review Australia’s technical editor, Margaret Brown, outlines some of the technological basics of today’s lenses – the varying mounts and formats, image stabilisation and focussing systems, image sensor size and their impact on lens performance. A generous selection of images and diagrams support the text throughout the guide.

Lenses Guide then looks at various categories of lenses in separate chapters: Standard ‘kit’ lenses; telephoto kit lenses; and ‘all-in-one’ extended zoom lenses. This is followed by a series of chapters exploring lenses and different types of photography – landscapes, portraiture, sports and wildlife and macro photography – and the best choices for photographers with a particular field of interest, along with techniques to improve picture-taking with specific focal length and aperture combinations.

The guide is rounded off with a discussion on essential and ‘nice-to-have’ lens accessories.

With accessory lenses at anything from $300 to $3000 and beyond, the $19.95 RRP for Lenses Guide represents a great investment for prospective lens buyers.

Lenses Guide
Author: Margaret Brown

Ebook Edition
RRP: $9.99 (inc GST)
Format: epub, mobi, PDF
Read on your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Kindle, tablet, smartphone, laptop, PC or Mac
ISBN (epub/mobi): 978-1-922156-21-1
Available on Apple (from 30/9), Amazon (from 15/9), and TaluBooks.com (PDF edition available now, epub and mobi available from 10/9)

Print Edition
RRP: $19.99 (inc GST)
Size: A5, 80pp, perfect bound
ISBN: 978-1-922156-20-4
Available on www.TaluBooks.com

To enquire regarding wholesale pricing contact David O’Sullivan (02) 9948 8600 dos@mediapublishing.com.au.

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