10 Things You Should Keep in Your Camera Bag

There are always a few things every photographer should keep in their camera bag. Check our list to make sure you're not forgetting something important!

1. Spare memory card 
There's nothing worse than having the perfect shot, going to take your picture, and your camera telling you your memory card is full, to avoid going through all your pictures on the spot and deleting the bad ones which is incredibly frustrating, keep a few spare memory cards in your bag at all times, they take up zero space, so there's no excuses!

2. Microfiber cloth
One of the most useful and cheapest accessories a photographer can have in their bag. Primarily used for cleaning dirt and dust of a camera lens, but is also extremely useful for wrapping up other accessories in your camera bag (SD cards, lenses, flashes), to avoid them being scratched or damaged.

3. Plastic bag 
It happens to all us photographers, we all get stuck in the rain. Make sure you have a grocery bag tucked away in your camera bag, for those unexpected downpours. All you need is a hole in the bag for the lens, and you have an inexpensive way to keep your camera dry and still get your perfect shot in the wet.

4. Mini tripod 
Carrying a full size tripod isn't always practical, keep a mini tripod in your camera bag so you are never caught without a camera support again. They can be folded very small for storage, and although they are obviously not as sturdy as full size tripods they are still very versatile. They can be rested in places a full size tripod would struggle with (in trees, on walls, very uneven surfaces) and are perfect for low-light photography.

5. Flash 
A flash is excellent for adding additional light to your shot. If you haven't tried before it will add a whole new depth and dimension to your photography. A must for every serious photographer.

6. Battery 
A full day of shooting will eat away at your battery life, especially if you overuse the LCD screen which drains the battery quickly. I always like to keep a spare battery in my bag, and also find turning your camera OFF and ON repeatedly will use a lot of battery power. Hopefully keeping a spare battery is obvious, as if your battery runs flat, there's nothing else to do but pack up and go home!

7. Lens 
If your using a camera with a changeable lens, it is vital to have at least 1 extra lens. This is there to give you greater choice with your focal length and will also be a backup lens if anything happens to your primary lens.

8. Manual 
Keeping your manual in your bag, might just save you one day. Can be used to sort out a camera problem or a setting you are struggling with. It can be difficult to remember the variety of settings on your camera so always keep it handy!

Find this information interesting? Find much more information and tips at http://PhotoCamerasOnline.com

Article Source: James_Cottis

All About The Right Zoom Lens

If you've been taking pictures for any amount of time you're more than likely familiar with zoom lenses. To be more specific if you use a DSLR as your camera you're most certainly aware of zooms.

Canon EF 75-300mm

A zoom lens helps you to focus on the subject. They are somewhat similar to filters. They are add-ons that can help enhance the look and feel of the image that you're looking to capture. Years ago photographers would tote around all of the equipment consisting of different lenses for different shots. They would have at least 6-10 lenses to carry around. These lenses had a fixed focal point and were very shot specific.

If you wanted a different angle you needed to change your lens. You're wasting valuable time and maybe even your good view. Toting around 6-10 lenses will ware you down fast and having to buy all of those lenses can add up fairly quick.

Thanks to advancements in technology, the introduction of the zoom lens was introduced. With the zoom lens comes multiple lenses in one. Now you can have all of your 6 lenses combined into one or two lenses. This makes for a cheaper, better and efficient option. This gives you the ability to change your focus instantly without having to lose your view.

You have 3 types of lenses: Telephoto zoom, Mid-range zoom and Long zoom.

Telephotos are good for candid shots and travel. Mid-ranges are great for normal and wide angle shots and Long zooms are good for wildlife and sports.

One thing about lenses is, the bigger and heavier the lens is the faster it is. A lens with a wide zoom range can be larger. Be sure to take the lens speed into consideration, especially if you're intending to use the lens indoors. A lens that is fast allows you more light.

If you decide to use a variety of filters, please consider the zoom size that way you can support as much filter as possible.

The more and better the features available on a zoom lens, the more it's going to cost. If you want to make photography a career, buying a zoom lens is a wise purchase. You'll find yourself only needing to carry 1 or 2 lenses as opposed to years ago when you need a half a dozen to get your perfect shot.

If you're looking for places to buy a reasonably priced zoom lens, I would suggest you searching online at one of the discount camera shops or my favorite places like eBay or Amazon.com. They usually have the lowest and best prices be it online or offline.

About The Author

Keith S. Black has many different photography methods. He is a successful photographer and makes a full time living as a photographer. To find out about one of the best cameras to use for your photography you can visit: http://reviewdslrcameras.com/nikon-reviews/ to read one of Keith's Nikon Reviews and get more information.

Article Source: Keith_S._Black

Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Pros and Cons of Shooting With Prime Lenses

Lens types:

Standard Zoom: These are the most common type of lenses and practically all the kit lenses bundled with cameras fall in this category. The most popular being 18mm-55mm lens, which is good for general purpose photography and is commonly used by amateurs and first time photographers. A few years ago, the quality of these lenses was not good enough and earned a bad name for their manufacturers, realizing this the camera makers started bundling much better versions that gave very decent results.

Zoom: These are long-range lenses, which have longer focal lengths as compared with the standard zoom lenses. The popular lenses are 55mm-250mm, 70mm-300mm and 75mm-300mm. These lens are used by semi professionals and serious photography enthusiasts to shoot animals and birds.

Wide Angle: These lenses are most popular with landscape and nature photographers. The common wide-angle lenses are 10mm-20mm, 12-24mm and 11mm-16mm. Another variant of wide-angle lenses are called fish-eye lenses, that give maximum angle of view and in that process distort the view in a circular fashion.

All the above lens types are used by amateurs, serious hobbyists and semi-professionals. Then what is the choice of professionals? The answer is: Prime Lenses.

Prime lenses are the most coveted and preferred lenses, not without reason. With fixed local lengths these lenses provide the best possible results and truly complement a professional camera's raw power combined with the photographer's honed skills.

The following Canon prime lenses are most popular: Canon EF 14mm, Canon EF 50mm, Canon EF 85mm, Canon EF 100mm and Canon EF 200mm. Similar range of lenses are available from other popular camera and lenses manufacturers like Nikon, Sigma, Tamron and Tokina etc.

Advantages:
The most obvious advantage is image quality. All prime lenses are bought by professionals to obtain the best quality photographs from their camera gear. The general parameters on which the image quality is tested are: sharpness, distortion, vignetting & chromatic aberration. In all prime lenses, the test results show the highest ranking for the sharpness and lowest values for the other three parameters viz. distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration.

As professional requirements demand the best images that can be used by clients, it is always prudent to invest in a prime lens as per the photographic assignments and budget.

Disadvantages:
The biggest disadvantage of using a prime lens is the fixed focal length. You will experience the limitations during the very time you start shooting with a prime lens. There is no zoom, which implies that you will have to compose the frame by moving farther or by going near to the subject and then take your shot. With practice and patience, you will soon be able to overcome this handicap and fall in love with your prime lens and discover the joy of photography all over again.

Another drawback of the prime lens is the price factor. All prime lenses, barring the very basic models, are much more expensive than their zoom counterparts.

In conclusion, it is always wise to invest and explore the possibilities of shooting with a prime lens. The resulting images are nothing short of awesome with razor sharpness that is the hallmark of a professional photographer.

Home page Corporate Films website.

Visit: Industrial Photographer for many commercial photographs

Article Source: Pashminu_Mansukhani

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Tokina AT-X116PRDXN AT-X PRO DX 11-16mm 

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