Lenses

More important than the camera, even, lenses are at the center of any photographic system. The cheapest camera you can buy will make as sharp an image as the top of the line model if both are equipped with the same lens. If you have to, save money and buy a less expensive camera, but always buy the best lens you can afford.

Normally, when discussing lenses, we divide them according to focal length. Shorter focal lengths (from 12 to 35mm) are termed wide-angle; lengths from 35 to 60mm are normal; and lengths over 60mm are considered telephoto (some people will make further distinctions between short, medium, and ultra telephoto lenses). In addition, there are fixed-length or prime lenses and zoom lenses; the latter can vary their focal length. There are also specialized lenses such as macro lenses and tilt/shift lenses.

Wide-angle Lenses

Wide-angle lenses are very useful for the biological imager. In the field, they are sued primarily to document habitats; with their wide angle of view you see the forest, not the tree. In the lab, wide-angles are great where you need to photograph a piece of equipment in cramped quarters. And, of course, a short extension tube turns the wide-angle lens into a macro lens with a unique perspective. Wide-angles range from "fisheye" lenses which view 180^oat a time (with considerable distortion) to lenses in the 28mm range. Some wide-angle lenses are rectilinear, which means that they are designed to minimize the circular distortion one often associates with wide-angle lenses. Getting away from the extreme wide-angles are lenses from 19 to 35mm which are often more affordable. These will have angles of view ranging from around 90^o to 75^o. Wide-angle lenses are often compact and light. One thing you do need to watch, however, is lens flare, the tendency of the lens to pick up internal reflections of the sun or other light sources. This is prevented by care in composing the image and by use of a lens hood (which also increases image sharpness by eliminating stray beams of light). Another potential problem with wide-angle lenses is the inclusion of unwanted objects (such as your feet) in the frame. If you are just starting out, you may want to purchase a wide-angle zoom instead of a wide-angle fixed lens.

Normal Lenses

It used to be that every camera sold came with a "normal" 50 mm lens. Not so anymore, as "normal zooms" in the 35-80mm range have become the most popular lens to include in a camera "kit". This makes sense, since the zooms are more flexible, fast film is of better quality, and the new zooms have better optical quality than zooms 30 years ago did. Still, most manufacturers still make and sell a lot of 50mm lenses. These lenses have an angle of view of about 46^o, and produce a view that roughly corresponds to what a human sees in clear focus. For this reason, the pictures produced seem "normal". In addition, many of these lenses are fast (large maximum aperture), of high quality (and reasonable cost), and are compact and light. While these lenses have their uses, they are not as useful for the biological imager as they are for the average photographer. Sure, you need to have this focal range covered, but you don't need a 50mm prime lens.

Telephoto Lenses

These are the big guns of photography. Telephoto lenses have narrow angles of view, and thus make distant objects appear larger. Angles of view range from about 30^o for a 85mm lens to 4^o for a 600mm lens.

Eventually, most biological imagers will need a good telephoto lens of at least 400mm. Most bird photographers routinely use 500mm and 600mm lens, often with extenders or multipliers to decrease minimum focusing distance or increase magnification. The table below breaks down some of the the common focal lengths and the subjects:

Focal Length	Angle of View	Subjects	Comments
85-200mm	30^o to 12^o	People, horses, cows, pigs, frogs, ducks, geese etc.	Often called "portrait" lenses.
300mm	8^o	Woodpeckers, groundhogs, snakes, etc.	Use a multiplier to increase magnification.
400mm	6^o	Deer, crows, hawks, etc.	Use a multiplier to increase magnification.
600mm	4^o	Songbirds, other birds at a distance, squirrels, chipmunks, etc.	Use extension tubes up close. Must use a tripod.

I should mention mirror or catadioptric lenses. These are telephoto lenses that are much cheaper than "regular" lenses of the same focal length; you can buy a 500 or 600mm lens for about $100. These lenses are built like a mirror telescope; the image is formed with the aid of a series of mirrors. These lenses are light, compact, and obviously cheap to produce. This seems to be to good to be true, and often it is. The image quality is not as good as that of "conventional" lenses, and the mirror lenses are often slow - f8 or slower. Bright objects that are not in focus form rings in the picture that some find distracting. If you are on a tight budget, these lenses are worth a try, but don't expect great results. Of course, at a fraction of the size and weight of a conventional lens, you might carry them to places your big lens wouldn't go.

Zoom Lenses

19-35mm Zoom	To some extent, zoom lenses offer the best of all worlds. With a range of focal lengths, the zoom lens replaces several lenses in the camera bag. Although a zoom lens might weigh more than a prime lens, you are carrying one lens instead of two or 3. Also, it is much faster to zoom in or out to frame a subject with a zoom lens than it is to change lenses; with moving subjects this can save a shot. Plus, you aren't limited to the extremes of the zoom range; you have all the intermediate angles of view as well. Finally, many zoom lenses have a "macro" capability. Not life size, but often a magnification ratio of 1:3 or even 1:2 (1/2 life size), this is a decent range for larger insects and many flowers.	28-138mm Zoom
		Zoom lenses do have some disadvantages, however. As mentioned, they are somewhat heavier than comparable fixed lenses. Further, even though the quality of zoom lenses has increased greatly in the past decade or so, the sharpness of a zoom lens isn't quite as good as that of a prime lens.
Zoom lenses are usually a bit slower than prime lenses as well.	100-300mm Zoom

Still, despite the disadvantages, zoom lenses have a place in the biological imager's photo bag. For instance, by carrying the 3 lenses above (+ a multiplier), a photographer could cover from 19 to 600 mm with 3 lenses (and there are 35-350mm zooms available that would cover from 35mm to 700mm with just 1 lens and a multiplier)! I find, however, that with longer zoom lenses I am constantly using the longest focal setting and rarely the intermediate ones. For that reason, my personal recommendation is to start out buying a "normal" zoom (35-80, 35-105, 35-135mm) and two prime lenses, a macro and a 300 or 400mm telephoto. as time goes but, add a wide-angle zoom as well.

Macro Lenses

You just can't substitute for a good macro lens. Some zoom lenses, as mentioned above, have a "macro" setting that gives 1:3 or 1:2 resolution, but this is insufficient for many insects, fungi and flowers. You can add extenders to any lens to get closer, but you lose light and camera shake looms as a problem. You can buy diopter or close-up lenses which screw into the filter mount on the front of a lens. Like reading glasses or a magnifying glass, these will also magnify close-up objects, but they never seem to produce as clear an image as a macro lens will. For information on what close-up lenses and extension tubes can do with a variety of lenses of different focal lengths, click here.

A true macro lens will produce a 1:1 (life size) image on the film without any extenders or special lenses, and can be used as a normal or telephoto lens out to infinity. Some manufacturers, Canon included, will sell lenses that do require such accessories as macro lenses. Be aware when you buy such lenses that they will be more difficult to use. When trying out an accessory in a store, remember that in the field you will have to do the same thing standing in a swamp swatting mosquitoes.

Macro lenses seem to cluster at a few focal lengths. 50mm macros are common, as are 100 and 200mm models. The longer focal lengths will give you a greater working distance - the distance between the front of the lens and the subject. This makes lighting easier, and gives you a better chance with wary subjects. Depth of field is normally less at longer focal lengths - but depth of field is a function of magnification, not focal length per se. Therefore, a 50mm, a 100mm and a 200mm macro lens working at a magnification ratio of 1:1 will all have the same depth of field. Of course, the disadvantage of the longer lenses is that they are bigger and heavier, and for the same money a shorter lens will have a larger maximum aperture.

If you need to go to greater magnifications than 1:1, there are several options available. There are "macrophoto" lenses that will go to 5x (but aren't good at distances over a few feet). Alternately, you can add multipliers and/or extenders to your macro lens. Even better is to use a bellows unit, which is a sort of variable extension tube that can give you any amount of extension you need. Bellows units are tricky to use in the field, however.

My secret macro trick:

To get greater magnification, just use a multiplier (extender) with your macro lens. The trick? The multiplier will not fit onto the macro lens because of an extension on the multiplier. To solve this problem, you can insert an extension tube (red arrow) between the macro lens and the multiplier. Of course, you can use other extension tubes or extension tubes stacked on top of each other as well. The table below shows how extensions of various lengths work with a 100mm macro lens and a 1.4x multiplier. Working distance is the approximate distance from the front of the lens to the subject. For more tables, click here.
Extension	Magnification Ratio	Working Distance
12mm	1.75:1	6"
20mm	2:1	5"
36mm	2.5:1	4"
68mm	3.2:1	4"

Other Lenses

I've already mentioned the special macrophoto lenses; other lenses that biological imagers might consider include tilt and shift (TS) lenses and special mounts. TS lenses try to recapture some of the flexibility of the zoom cameras. Knobs on the side of the lens allow the photographer to bend light inside the lens; done with care this can correct for distortion or provide incredible depth of field. They do tend to be costly, however.

Another option is to use an existing optical system, such as a microscope or a telescope. Special adapters, usually T-mounts, can allow you to mount your camera on the instrument. The advantages are obvious; you could easily wind up using a $25,000 microscope as a lens and you can get magnifications up to 1,000x on a microscope. The main disadvantage is light. Most telescopes and microscopes just don't deliver enough light to the camera to allow for reasonable shutter speeds. With microscopes (particularly dissecting 'scopes) you can sometimes add flash to help with this problem, and some microscopes even come with flash built in. Modern cameras retain a high degree of automation when perched on a microscope or a telescope (astrophotography, however, requires exposure times in minutes, something your camera just isn't programmed for). Mirror telescopes will suffer from the same problems that mirror telephoto lenses face (see above). And, anytime you work at high magnification, camera shake is a real problem.

Most Useful Lenses for Biological Imaging

So you are just starting out - what lenses should you get? As I said before, personally I like to make sure I have a good macro lens, a good telephoto, and wide-angle and "normal" zoom lenses. Then, build from there depending on your interests. I have put together a buying program for the typical, money-limited college student just getting serious about photography. You can go to that link from here:

Buying Plan

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