“Glass”, as photographers call lenses (we all like to use jargon) is more important than the camera itself. That’s why I have many thousands of dollars’ worth of them:

The red lines mean “L-lens”, or “luxury lens”, i.e. a pro quality lens.

So why spend so much on lenses?

Because they make the photo. The camera does hardly anything. Also, lenses retain their value much better than cameras. The value of as lens is in part due to the intrinsic value of the optical glass. And that remains. So a lens keeps value and functionlity for 20 years or more.

And that is why it is sensible to spend on lenses. Your pictures will be noticeably better. A good lens is $2,000 in many cases; but offset that against he 20 +years use you will get out of it and it’s not so bad.

I have, there:

• 35 mm f/1.4
• 45 mm f/2.8 tilt-shift
• 85mm f/1.2
• 16-35 f/2.8 zoom
• 24-70 f/2.8 zoom
• 70-200 f/2.8 zoom

Question: why do I have so many prime (=fixed, non-adjustable) lenses (over half)?

Bonus Question: Those are six of my seven lenses. So where’s number 7?

Back yard at night: 1.3 seconds, f/1.4, at ISO 100.

In your DSLR, the mirror flaps up and down every time you take a photo. This shakes the camera, ever so slightly, even when you are using a tripod. When you shoot at 1/500th of a second, you will never notice this. Also, if you shoot 10 second exposures, the slight vibration for a fraction of a second at the start will not likely show. But if you take photos with a shutter speed between, say, 1/15 sec and 1 sec, you may well notice this, since the “shake time” is significant with respect to the “shoot time”.

To avoid this, many cameras offer a “mirror lockup” function. This allows you to make the picture in two pushes: one to put the mirror in the “up” position; and the second, to actually release the shutter. You may want to try this if you want very, very sharp pictures. Here’s my street, just now:

It works like this: Activate it; then, when you press the shutter (or better, iuse the wire release) the mirror flaps up; now you need a second press to actually open the shutter.

Use this in combination with wire release and your photos will be steadier.

Tip: focus on infinity manually, and during the day, verify that the “infinity” marker on your lens actually means infinity, i.e. that it is well calibrated.

Reader Ray asks:

Quick questions, I have 7D and a 50D as my backup, what would be a suitable full frame up from the 7D? Are full frame slower then say my 7D?

Good questions about Canon gear.

Upgrading to full frame makes sense for people who like bright viewfinders, low noise/high ISO, good quality, and wide angles. So good for you.

If I were in your shoes, I’d go with a 6D, the economical full frame option.

The Canon 6D, which I have reviewed briefly here, is a great camera. Canon left very few functions off. The focus system is old, and the flash sync speed is limited to 1/160th second. Both of those are relatively small limitations if you know what you are doing. (And if you do not, go here). And the shutter lasts 100,000 exposures, vs the 5D’s 150,000 or more. There’s some more small things of course.

And the 6D also has neat new features like GPS and WiFi, so it’s not all “less”.

So if you want to splurge, then go to the 5D MkIII (or even the 1Dx, if you win the lottery), but I think the benefit for many is doubtful, and the 6D is a great camera.

Yes, the full frame cameras have lower frame rates. The 7D can shoot 10 fps if I recall correctly; on the 6D, it’s 4.5. The larger mirror means slower movement. But how often do you really shoot at 10 fps? That’s a good way to wear out your shutter.

___

Do you have questions too? Ask away, and I shall answer… in most cases, quite quickly.