How to protect your lens

Your camera and lens combo worths probably more than an average man in Hungary earns in two months; bearing this in mind, taking care of your equipment is vital in order to keep it as your loyal companion. It is said, however, that the lens itself is even more important than the camera itself, so there are some steps you need to take first.

Wiping off the dust from the front lens is usually not enough. You always need to be prepared for the worst that can ever happen to your precious lens, dropping it. The most significant step is to protect the front glass element. There are two ways to do so; either you buy a screw-in filter or purchase a lenshood that prevents the front elment from being exposed to sudden landings.

Screw-in filters, usually UV filters for protection, are said to decrease image quality; but it's barely noticeable with today's 18-20-megapixel sensors. One great advantage of using a filter is that it protects the front lens from smudge marks, fingerprints, dust, waterdrops. Another reason that must be considered when buying one is that it absorbs the force of the impact when the lens is dropped, and it's way more cheaper to replace a broken filter than a whole glass unit!

Some others, on the other hand, prefer using a lenshood for the sake of protection. Lenshoods also absorb the force that's generated by accidental droppings, but they don't protect the lens from fingerprints, smudge marks, and other impacts. What's more, it doesn't reduce the sharpness of the image, while it prevents your image from getting unwanted flares.

Apart from protecting it from having its front lens element crashed, there are other things to keep in mind. For instance, avoid keeping your lens in humid environment. Humidity can make fungus grow inside the lens, which may apparently destroy the coating on the glass elements. If you swap lenses, be sure to put both the front and the rear cap on the lens body to avoid dust gathered inside it.

A good spot for fashion photography in Budapest

Have you ever wondered where to do your fashion photoshoot in Budapest? I was asked to help a friend of mine, who studies to be a fashion designer, do a photoshoot for her assignment. She was given the task to have a series of photos that complies with the topic "Mixed Patterns." I instantly said yes, but I was quite nervous when I had to find a great place where we could take the photos. The weather was awful, rainy and cold, but we insisted on doing it outdoors.

I finally came up with the idea of doing the photoshoot under the arcades of an old building near Deak Ferenc ter, in Jozsef Attila utca. As it was overcast, light filtered through the clouds and gave us some nice diffused lights. As for the equipment, I wanted to make it as simple as possible, so I didn't take my strobes whatsoever; I took my Canon eos 60D and a Canon EF 50mm f1.8 lens to get some nice background blur and sharp images. 

You can check some photos below:

Quality on the budget

I've already written about how to reach shallow depth of field, background blur, and how to get those stunning bokeh lights. Well, the prime lenses that photographers use to get these effects usually cost a lot, mainly depending on the maximum aperture value of the lens. However, there is a way to get the most out of your camera, even if you don't want to spend a fortune on the lens.

Old cameras, SLRs usually had prime stock lenses, which usually meant a 50mm f1.8 or 55mm f2.0 lens. Nowadays, these lenses can be purchased for a few bucks on ebay or in local camera stores that sell second-hand photography equipment. The great news is that some old lenses can be mount on today's DSLRs, thus getting a prime lens without spending $200-$300 is now possible. All you need to do is get the proper adapter to mount on your lens to make it fit your camera. However, there are some drawbacks of this process. For instance, you'll have NO autofocus available when you use old manual lenses on your camera body.

There are certain lenses with certain lens mounts that can be mounted on DSLRs, and there are certain DSLRs that can't be used with old lenses. Let's take a look at each of the great names of the camera manufacturing industry.

1. Canon
   
   A Canon camera is probably the best choice if you have the intention of using your old or freshly purchased cheapo lenses that actually deliver great image quality. With the proper adapter you can adapt the following old lens mounts to a Canon eos camera body: M42 screw mount, Pentax K mount, Nikon, Leica R, Medium format lenses (Mamiya 645, Hasselblad). But it's important to note that old Canon FD lenses can only be attached to EOS bodies if you use an adapter with an optical element in it, so you'll have focus to infinity. However, the optical element highly ruines the lens' image quality; it becomes less sharp and color fringing becomes noticable. You must be careful when you'd like to use a high aperture lens with a full-frame body, as the mirror in your camera might hit the rear optical element of the lens! This only occurs with full-frame cameras, APS-C (1.6x crop factos) and APS-H (1.3x) cameras won't have their mirrors hit.
   
   
   

   

   A Canon EOS body with an M42 screw mount Tomioka 55/1.2

   
   
2. Nikon
   
   Nikon users don't have that great latitude that Canon users have, as Nikon cameras can only work with old manual Nikkor lenses. These are re expensive, even on the used market. However, the best thing about using an old Nikkor lens on a digital SLR is that you need no adapter to attach it to your camera. Nota bene, using other manual lenses on Nikons won't let you use the built-in light metering of the camera.
3. Pentax
   
   Pentax still uses the same mount as their '60-'70 models, thus those old Pentax K mount lenses can be mounted on any new DSLRs. Used manual Pentax lenses are usually cheap and ebay is literally inundated with these!
   
   
   According to my own experiences, using old manual lenses can be a great solution if you'd like to experiment with these lens and want to achieve great results. However, not having autofocus might set you back from capturing great moments that otherwise could've been taken with an AF lens. It's worth trying them, and if you'd like to get rid of them, you can still sell them for the same price you purchased your lens.
   
   
   
   
   Some of my photos taken with old manual focus lenses