Photography is to record the ambient light through the combination of the lens and the camera into images, so photography is also an art of using light. Therefore, if you want to learn photography, you must have suitable equipment to record light. Therefore, in the first lesson of learning photography, we must first understand photography equipment.
The core equipment of photography is imaging equipment. At present, there are many equipment that can take pictures: mobile phones, film cameras, digital cameras, video cameras, and so on. But now the most common ones are digital cameras and mobile phones.
First of all, let me talk about the classification of digital cameras. From the broad categories, digital cameras can be divided into: interchangeable lens cameras (SLR and Mirrorless), non-changeable lens cameras (card camera, telephoto camera, rugged camera, etc.). According to the classification that everyone is used to, the current digital cameras can be roughly divided into: SLR cameras, mirrorless cameras and card cameras.
Why do we say that photographic equipment is important, because the equipment determines your shooting content. Although photography is a very skillful thing, if the equipment is not good enough, many subjects cannot be photographed. For example, many friends nowadays say that taking pictures with mobile phones is already very good, why do we still use cameras to take pictures? Here we will talk about the three core components of camera imaging.
The camera has three core components: lens, imaging sensor and processor.
We choose the camera to shoot because the camera has a larger sensor size and the camera has a better optical lens. Use the camera to take pictures, the picture details are clearer, especially at night, the picture is cleaner. And the camera can use better optical lenses, not only has a richer focal length, such as telephoto lenses, such as large aperture blur, mobile phones can not do it.
When we choose a camera, the most important parameter is not the pixels, but the sensor size. The current camera sensor size can be divided into: small bottom under 1 inch (for example, 1/1.7 inch, 1/2.3 inch), 1 inch, M43 format, APS-C format, full frame, and medium format. Among them, the medium format of digital cameras is the largest format, but most of them are professional cameras and are not cameras used by ordinary consumers. Therefore, full frame is the largest format among the cameras that everyone often comes into contact with.
The larger the sensor, the higher the positioning of the camera and the better the image quality of the camera. Therefore, if you are buying a camera for the first time, if you have a lot of money, I suggest you buy a full-frame model in one step. Many entry-level full-frame cameras, such as the Canon 6D Mark II and the entry-level full-frame mirrorless EOS RP, are very suitable for users who are new to photography but want to study photography in depth.
Another advantage of full-frame is the lens. With a full-frame camera, the lens does not have to worry about focal length conversion. The focal length used is the focal length. And our common entry cameras, mostly APS-C format, have a focal length conversion factor, such as 18-135mm, which is actually 29-216mm on 80D, and the wide-angle is no longer wide. On the other hand, many APS-C dedicated lenses cannot be used for full-frame cameras, while full-frame lenses can be used for APS-C lenses.
Speaking of lenses, there are many factors that affect the lens, such as optical design, coating, focus motor, etc. If you want to distinguish the positioning of the lens, the easiest way is to pass the maximum aperture.
For lenses with the same focal length, the larger the aperture, the higher the positioning, which means that the image quality will be better and the price will be higher. For example, it is also 24-70mm, the price of f/2.8 is 2.5 times that of f/4, and the price of 50mm f/1.2 is several times more expensive than 50mm f/1.4.
Lenses can be classified into zoom lenses and fixed focus lenses. The zoom lens is our most commonly used lens. The focal length can be adjusted, but the image quality is worse than that of the fixed focus lens, and the aperture is smaller. The biggest advantage of a prime lens is its large aperture, which will also have better picture quality. However, the use of fixed focus is not as convenient as zooming. When you first choose a lens, you should start with a zoom lens, usually equivalent to 24mm to 100mm, which is the most commonly used lens focal length.
If we classify the lens according to its purpose, it can also be divided into: wide-angle lens, telephoto lens, fisheye lens, macro lens, shift lens and so on.
Wide-angle lens: Anything below 35mm can be called a wide-angle lens, which is more suitable for landscape shooting.
Telephoto lens: usually above 100mm can be called telephoto, and above 400mm can be called super telephoto. The telephoto lens is suitable for shooting portrait subjects, or the scenery of vast landforms, while the super telephoto lens is suitable for shooting sports or animals.
Fisheye lens: As the name suggests, it has a 180-degree viewing angle.
Macro lens: It can shoot fine objects, usually used for macro photography, such as shooting close-up details, insects, etc.
Tilt-shift lens: it can correct distortion, usually used in architectural photography.
In addition to the body and lens, photography also requires many accessories, the most common accessories include: memory card, flash, tripod, filter, camera bag, shutter release and so on.
Flash, as well as various lamps, reflectors, soft light equipment, etc., are generally used for portrait photography to fill light.
Tripods, filters and shutter releases are essential for landscape photography. Tripods can provide stable support, while filters are the key props to control the light in landscape shooting. The shutter releases can help us achieve slow shooting and accurately control long exposures. time.
