Saturday, June 06, 2009

Focal Length

So, I'm trying to teach myself a little bit about photography. The amount of info online is just incredible. After reading this post, I decided to play around with using different focal lengths for the same item. Here are the results:

Focal Length: 18 (35mm equivalent: 27) Exposure: 1/8 Aperture: f/3.5 ISO:1600
Focal Length: 33 (35mm equivalent: 49) Exposure: 1/4 Aperture: f/4 ISO:1600
Focal Length: 55 (35mm equivalent: 82) Exposure: 1/8 Aperture: f/5.6 ISO:1600


I used the automatic settings, and i'm not sure why the middle shot had a longer exposure. There's no question that the closer shot has better detail and is sharper. So I guess the take away here is that you should get as close to your subject as the situation allows.
Focal Length: 55 (35mm equivalent: 82) Exposure: 1/3 Aperture: f/5.6 ISO:1600
Focal Length: 35 (35mm equivalent: 52) Exposure: 1/3 Aperture: f/4.5 ISO:1600
Focal Length: 18 (35mm equivalent: 27) Exposure: 1/4 Aperture: f/3.5 ISO:400

One interesting facet of this last photo is that if you zoom in on the cheekbone of the figurine 2nd from the left, you can see a strange bright green blotch. No idea what that is. I also find it interesting that none of these shots are worth a damn, only because the ISO is so low, that they are all too blurry, although I'd be curious to see if a tripod helps any. I've read that tripods are not useful for digital cameras, but I don't believe it.