Using a zoom lens can be fun, but it takes some practice.
Zoom lenses are cool. That’s why so many people have adopted them as their main lenses. They save time because you do not have to switch lenses in the middle of a shoot. In years past, zoom lenses were not considered as good as fixed focal length lenses, but most of the problems that made that true have been resolved. Today, many single-lens reflex cameras come standard with zoom lenses rather than the traditional "normal" 50mm lens.
Instructions
1. Get a feel for the lens and how it works before you need it for a serious photographic assignment. Take it out in the field and shoot with it. Try it at different focal lengths, but also learn manipulate the lens quickly. The idea of having a zoom lens is to be able to change focal lengths at will, and quickly.
2. Practice using the zoom lens on a static or unmoving subject first. For example, go into your backyard and select a particularly pretty flower to shoot. Stand approximately 10 feet from it. Take your first photo with the lens at its shortest focal length. For example, if you are using an 80mm to 200mm lens, start with 80mm. Then start zooming in. Watch how the focus changes. In other words, at 80mm a lot more of your scene around the flower will be in focus than at 200mm. This happens because the focus range decreases as the focal length increases.
3. Try some motion effects. Use a slow shutter speed, such as 1/30th of a second, and twist the zoom ring as you expose the image. Go slower. Put the camera on a tripod and set the shutter speed down to 1/15th of a second or 1/8th of a second. Try not to move the camera too much while you twist the lens. Zooming from 80mm to 200mm will produce apparent motion in one direction, while zooming from 200mm out to 80mm will give the opposite effect.
4. Use the focal lengths in between the normal settings. In the past, some zoom lens allowed click-stops only at preferred focal lengths, such as 80mm, 100mm, 135mm, 150mm, 175mm and 200mm. Modern zoom lens allow smooth zooms straight through. This means you might get the perfect image at 114mm or 83mm or 199mm, not with what the manufacturer might have envisioned.
5. Remember the lighting variations. Unless your zoom lens is exceptionally expensive, it will change aperture as you zoom. It might allow an open aperture of f/3.5 at 80mm, but the aperture might be f/5.6 at 200mm. This means your lens will gather less light at longer focal lengths, and that can make it more difficult to shoot in low-light situations. Also remember that camera shake will increase as the focal length increases, so you need faster shutter speeds at longer lengths.
Tags: focal lengths, zoom lens, focal length, 200mm This, 80mm 200mm, focal length increases, length increases
