More technical stuff: Camera lenses.

Crash course on lenses.

After collecting all the information, this is a short example of lens abbreviations:

50mm - the focal length.  50mm is the average length - the field of vision the naked eye can see. If you see a single number describing a lens, it is a fixed lens and cannot zoom to other focal lengths.  (Meaning you have to physically move closer or farther to fit in groups of people or to get closer to a far-away boat in the ocean).

f/1.8 - the focal ratio.  A ratio of the focal length and the aperture.  The smaller this number, the better.

IS - Canon's abbreviation for anti-shake.

USM - Canon's abbreviation for a quiet, fast zoom.


 My notes:

50mm lenses are the standard for all photographs.  It's the closest match to what the naked eye sees.

Below 50mm is wide-angle...

28mm is common for wide-angle (groups of people, landscapes).

Anything below 20mm is ultra-wide-angle.  A fish-eye lens falls into this category.

Larger than 50mm are telephoto lenses.  Good for close-up, details, and are more flattering for pics of people.  (note: blurs the background, which can be ideal for close shots)

85mm-135mm are good for portraits.

200mm and more is good for wildlife and sports.  Sports photographers typically use lenses over 600mm.

* You can buy zoom lenses where the focal length is adjustable.  The quality is not quite as good as a fixed focal length lens.
*Fixed focal lenses also take better pics in lower light.

Zoom lenses:

General purpose lenses usually go from 28mm-80mm.

Super zoom lenses: 28mm-300mm.

Wide angle zoom lenses: 16mm-35mm

Telephoto zoom lenses: 70mm-300mm



**** DSLR cameras have smaller sensors, so the focal length of any lens changes (multiplies by 1.6x for Canon).

So...

"This means if you want 50mm standard coverage on a Nikon cropped DSLR, you’ll actually need to use a lens with a 33mm focal length (35mm models are closest). If you want 28mm wide angle coverage, you’ll need to use a lens with an 18mm focal length, and so on. So always remember to multiply the actual lens focal length by the crop factor of your particular DSLR – that way, you’ll know what you’re getting."

Standard 50mm lenses on most DSLRs act like a short telephoto of 75mm to 100mm.

LENS APERTURE:

The bigger the lens aperture, the more light gets let in, so the better they work in dim environments.

The aperture in a DSLR camera is called the focal ratio or "f-number".  (This is the ratio between the focal length of the lens over the diameter of the opening in the lens.)  You can usually adjust the aperture (the iris opening), but the important figure is the largest aperture (smallest f-number). 

AUTO-FOCUS and ANTI-SHAKE:

All of Canon have auto-focus.  The "USM" (ultra-sonic motor) is quicker and quieter.

Shaking:
Sometimes while following a subject and taking pics in quick succession, an anti-wobble camera will mistake it for wobble and try to correct it.  Some cameras can correct only vertical wobble.  You can usually switch the anti-shaking off.

Canon calls this anti-shake "IS".

Getting technical: Gathering camera info.

Ok, future self.  This is wordy.  But I needed a place to put all my research notes!...

The first entry-level camera that this site recommends:  Canon EOS Rebel T3i (online body only: $536)
The second is: Canon EOS Rebel T2i (online, body only: $470)
(The third is $1200, the fourth is another Canon, same price as #2).


dSLR buying guide from Cnet

DSLR vs. Mirrorless.

What I gathered...  Mirrorless gets rid of a mirror system that makes it possible for you to see the image in the viewfinder.  And so, without this, the camera can be smaller.  And then you can get "pancake" lenses that are super thin.  This is best for travel photographers who don't want people to see their big, expensive cameras.  But, these cameras usually don't have a viewfinder - just a screen.  And they're not as fast (is that the word?) because the sensor is usually smaller , so not as good for action shots (fast-moving children, sports...).

So, since I don't care about size.  I think the DSLR is better for me with its faster speeds with my quick children.

What about the "Sensor" size/type?

One friend told me that a larger sensor size is more important than pixels.  I had to know more...

Cnet seems to have a pretty unbiased evaluation:

Basically, there are super high-end sensors.  These are just out of my price-range.  Even the sensors on the next levels down are pretty expensive.

The answer to what sensor I need is....

 any DSLR camera will have a large enough sensor for most photography.  "Four-thirds" is the one used by Olympus and Kodak.  "APS" is the one commonly used by Canon, Nikon, Sony.   The other one used is the "35mm" size (largest), and is more expensive as it captures a "full-frame".  This is also used by Canon & Nikon.

After choosing the  DSLR, then choose Megapixels.  Any DSLR is good enough for newspaper print or internet.  For magazines or large prints (16x20 and up), 8 megapixels is good.  For fine art/landscapes, 10 megapixels is best.

(Scaling a picture up usually works fine/looks fine if using a program like Photoshop.)


Lenses - see new post.