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| Most amateur photographers whose cameras
accept interchangeable lenses find the temptations of
wide-angle/telephoto photography almost impossible to resist,
especially after reaching the inevitable point where they feel that
they've exhausted the potential of the so-called standard or normal
lens provided with their camera body. While exactly what constitutes
a normal lens continues to provide a topic for debate among
photographers, the generally accepted definition is that it is the
lens attached to the camera body at the factory. This lens is
usually designed to provide an angle of view and perspective similar
to that of the human eye, allowing pictures taken with it to appear
more or less as the eye saw the scene. While the truly creative
photographer can work with a single focal length lens for a lifetime
without ever really exhausting its potential, most of us do not fit
into that category and so we succumb to the siren call of additional
lenses.
Sooner or later, the many temptations of that wide
angle/telephoto/macro/etc. piece of glass bring us face-to-face with
a decision few of us are adequately equipped to make at the time-how
much to spend and for what? Although wide-angle and telephoto
photography have been with us for many years, a veritable explosion
in the kinds, types and prices of glass currently available has
taken place only recently; and with the successful application of
modern computer technology to the field of lens design, it appears
that the mushrooming growth in alternative lenses will continue for
some time to come. |
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