Zoom Lens

A Zoom Lens is a camera accessory that allows a photographer to take close-up shots of his subjects. Similar to a telephoto lens, the zoom lens can magnify a subject anywhere from two to up to twelve times its original size.

While a zoom lens can be used at close range for macro photography shots, it may also be used by a photographer to capture shots of subjects at a far distance from the camera. Using the zoom lens for distant subjects can allow the photographer to take pictures of subjects or scenes that he can’t access for security reasons or because the action of the scene is too dangers.

For this reason, zoom lenses are commonly used in nature photography, as well as in undercover or spy work. For instance, a photographer on safari will want to use a zoom lens to snap shots of a lion feeding. Another photographer may also use a zoom lens to capture shots of racecars driving or of the president and his entourage. In each of these examples, because the photographer can’t get close to his subject, a zoom lens is necessary to clearly capturing the image.

Digital SLR Cameras

SLR, which stands for single-lens reflex, refers to a type of camera that employs a rotating mirror (either a pentaprism or a pentamirror) that reflects the image that comes through the lens onto a focusing screen. From the mirror’s reflection, the images then appears in the camera’s eyepiece. The image only reaches the film after the focal plane shutter opens (when the photographer takes the shot).

Produced in 1935, the GOMZ sport was first version of the SLR camera to be made. Different models flourished throughout the WWII era that included improvements in the viewfinder’s orientation and the camera’s internal mirrors. Since the 1970s, amateur and professional photographers alike have been using SLR cameras.

Over the years as photographic technology improved, retailers produced SLR cameras that were equipped with LCD screens, improved lenses and microcomputers. Today, camera manufacturers such as Canon and Nikon have made digital SLR cameras available.

While digital SLR cameras give the photographer the advantage of viewing the scene without parallax distortion (apparent movement of fixed objects when the photographer changes position), they do prevent the photographer from seeing his shot at the moment the picture is taken.