119 PHOTOGRAPHY TOOLS To capture great photos, you need a few key pieces of equipment. Cameras Cameras (mostly digital nowadays) come in several types; the following are the most common. What does DSLR stand for? Compact cameras are declining in popularity, since many people use the cameras in their smartphones instead. The focal length of a lens is the optical distance from the point where the light meets inside the lens to the camera s sensor. It defines a lens s magnification (how close you get to the subject of an image) and angle of view (how much of the scene your lens will capture from side to side). For example, a fisheye lens can take in a full 180-degree radius around it and distorts the image s field of view, whereas a tilt shift lens distorts perspective and makes things look smaller than they really are, almost as if they were toys. barrel: corpo shutter: otturatore swapping: cambio 270 DSLR cameras are extremely versatile, though the heaviest and biggest. They consist of a body (the part of the camera that records the image) and a removable lens, which allows for a lot of flexibility. They let you see the image exactly as the camera itself will record and are very responsive. Mirrorless cameras are similar to DLSR cameras but are smaller and lighter. Not all of them allow for lens swapping and they may not be as responsive as DSLR, but the image quality is as excellent. Compact cameras are the smallest and lightest but sacrifice some functionality and features in favour of their design. Lenses cannot be changed, and they may only come with pre-programmed, fully-automatic modes. Lenses Lenses are made up of a series of glass plates that direct light to a digital sensor. There are two basic categories of camera lenses: Prime lenses, which have a fixed focal length ; Zoom lenses, which allow for different focal lengths. Among them, there are a variety of lenses, all with different focal lengths: Macro lenses are used to create very sharp images at extremely close range; Telephoto lenses are used for zooming in on distant objects; Wide angle lenses are used to fit a large area into the frame; Standard lenses are in-between wide angle and macro lenses; Speciality lenses have features that give a unique look and feel to images. Extra equipment To obtain the perfect photo, some other equipment may be necessary: a tripod keeps the camera steady especially during long exposures or when using zoom lenses; adequate lighting tools allow for the correct shaping of the final image; activation and control devices start image capture by pressing the shutter button following certain conditions or control natural light to adjust shooting parameters; memory cards and batteries provide more storage and extra life to digital cameras.