These older cameras require the user to master f-stop, shutter speed, light and focusing. Yet picture quality doesn t suffer, and can even surpass that of newer, fancier cameras. Eventually you may want to invest in a more intricate camera. Don t be fooled by flashy features or all-star ad campaigns. You may also want a camera that can be adapted with various lenses.
Photographic lenses vary in quality and size.
A 50mm lens produces pictures with a 47-degree angle of view, about the same angle as what the human eye picks up. But lenses can vary, all the way from an 8mm fish eye lens, which picks up an 180-degree panoramic view, to a 1,000mm telephoto lens, which gives a very narrow field of view but can pick up objects far away. Again, ask yourself how much you really need a particular lens before purchasing a new one. Once you have your equipment, you ll soon start to learn photographic basics. Like the human eye, camera lenses can be adjusted to let in more or less light under certain conditions.