Review Digital Camera World 06-05-2013

Digital Camera World

11 common lens errors and how you can avoid them Jun 4th 2013, 23:01 The step up from a compact camera to one that allows you to changes lenses can be quite daunting, but it’s also a move towards taking better images. Our head of testing, Angela Nicholson, has compiled a list of the most common lens errors photographers make and some advice about how to avoid them. Common Lens Error No. 1: Blurred image If you mount a long focal length or telephoto lens on your camera and compose an image you’ll notice that it’s harder to keep the main subject at the same point in the frame than it is with a standard lens. This is because the longer lens effectively crops in around the subject and even very small movements of the camera become significant and can result in blurred images. If your camera or lens has the option, turning on the stabilisation system will help, but as a general rule the longer the focal length of the lens that you use, the faster the shutter speed needs to be to avoid camera-shake from spoiling your shots. Use the effective focal length of your lens as a rough guide to work out the safe hand-holdable shutter speed. If your camera has an APS-C format sensor you need to multiply the actual focal length of the lens by 1.5x (or 1.6x for Canon SLRs) to find the effective focal length. Micro Four Thirds cameras from Olympus and Panasonic have a focal length multiplication factor of 2x. Once you've done the maths, set a shutter speed that is 1 second divided by the effective focal length. This means that if you mount a 50mm lens on a Nikon D5200, for example, you need to use a shutter speed of at least 1/75sec. Common Lens Error No. 1: Blurred image Common Lens Error No. 2: Too much depth of field Common Lens Error No. 3: Depth of field too shallow Common Lens Error No. 4: Distorted portraits Common Lens Error No. 5: Converging verticals Common Lens Error No. 6: Can’t focus close enough Common Lens Error No. 7: Exposure changes when zooming Common Lens Error No. 8: Flare Common Lens Error No. 9: Camera unbalanced with telephoto lens Common Lens Error No. 10: Vignetting Common Lens Error No. 11: Soft images READ MORE 10 reasons your pictures aren’t sharp (and how to fix them) Master your camera’s autofocus: which AF points to use and when to use them Famous Photographers: 225 tips to inspire you DSLR Lenses: 7 questions photographers must ask about their next piece of glass How to photograph birds in flight: practical advice for the non-tech obsessed Jun 4th 2013, 09:30 In the second-part of our short series of top bird photography tips for taking pictures of birds of prey, we serve up a simple three-step guide to taking pictures of birds in flight, which will serve you well no matter how skilled a photographer you are or what gear you are using. Once you've got some bird portraits in the bag, why not try your hand at a trickier area of bird photography: getting photos of birds in flight. Like with action photography, flight shots take practice to get right, but they're worth the effort, and captive birds which will fly on command are perfect to practise on as you you'll get more than one chance to get it right. Chat to the bird handler. They'll be able to tell you exactly what flight path your subject is going to take, and they'll know how factors like wind will affect the bird's chosen route. Start by shooting as the bird comes into land or is just taking off, as they'll be moving more slowly; this will let you check you've got your camera settings right. If you want to capture a bird face-on, stand directly in front of the handler before they call the bird to them, but watch your head! Step-by-step how to photograph birds in flight Switch to continuous mode Switch to continuous shooting mode. This will allow you to snap off a quick volley of shots as your subject glides past. You can look through your photographs properly once you're home and select the perfect shot.   Stand downwind Watching the bird's behaviour will help you figure out where to stand to get the perfect shot. Large birds like to take off into the wind, so make sure you stand downwind and you should get a decent shot of its head and wingspan as it glides towards you.   Frame in advance Composing photos of birds in flight can be tricky and takes patience. A good tip to begin with is to try framing the bird in your viewfinder so that it has space to fly into. By getting ready in advance, you're less likely to miss the moment when it fills the middle of the frame. READ MORE Free bird photography cheat sheet Wildlife photography in any environment: free photography cheat sheet Zoo photography: a fool-proof method for capturing animals through glass 9 things you need to know about using a super-telephoto lens

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