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DavidVogt In reply to LonelySorceress [2013-02-06 21:07:50 +0000 UTC]

Hi Emily, thanks for your question. I'm not sure I quite understand what you mean. Maybe you can explain it differently? I'd love to help you!

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LonelySorceress In reply to DavidVogt [2013-02-07 14:01:20 +0000 UTC]

Right, lets see if I can translate my brain into words....

I can change the lenses on my camera. It also uses the four thirds system (whatever that means?)

It's a digital camera and when I go poking through all the different settings in the menu I have the option of changing the focal length, anything from 8mm to 1,000m!! ()

You know how lenses can zoom in and out - one of my lenses is a 14-42mm, so do I change the focal length setting in the camera to 14mm? To 42mm? To 35mm?

I hope that makes a little more sense. I hate it when things are perfectly logical in your head and then you put them in words and nobody understands, not even yourself!

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DavidVogt In reply to LonelySorceress [2013-02-07 16:18:05 +0000 UTC]

Ah, I understand what you mean now. The setting in the menu that you're referring to has a special purpose that probably doesn't apply to you at this time. Modern lenses are equipped with electronics that communicate with the camera body.

For example, the camera will know what lens is attached, it's focal length, aperture, etc. The camera can then use this information to perform automatic adjustments like chromatic-abberation reduction and distortion, as well as determining how much image-stabilization to perform.

However, some lenses are not equipped with these electronics (but yours definitely is). In that case, you can manually tell the camera what kind of lens it is so that it can more accurately do image stabilization.

So to put it simply, you can change this setting to whatever you want, but it won't have any effects until you put a manual lens without electronics onto the camera. This might include really old lenses, lensbaby, macro rings, etc.

I hope I've answered your question!

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LonelySorceress In reply to DavidVogt [2013-02-07 21:35:12 +0000 UTC]

Wow, that makes me feel so much better! Here I was thinking that I should have been adjusting the focal length myself all this time.....

One more question, if that's ok. Macro rings. They're not the same as macro filters are they? Because I just bought some macro filters and I don't want to be not properly using them.

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DavidVogt In reply to LonelySorceress [2013-02-07 23:29:08 +0000 UTC]

Well I'm glad I could help! I don't mind your questions at all.

You're correct, macro rings are not the same thing as macro filters. You can think of macro filters as a magnifying glass that you screw in front of the lens. Macro rings are hollow rings that go between the lens and the camera body to increase magnification.

The disadvantage of macro filters is that they degrade image quality pretty quickly. You'll start to notice softer details and chromatic aberrations at anything greater than +1 or +2 magnification. The good news is that, once you learn the limits, they are really easy to use and can yield great results.

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LonelySorceress In reply to DavidVogt [2013-02-08 23:30:57 +0000 UTC]

You explain things so simply, and so well. Thank you very much for your time.

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DavidVogt In reply to LonelySorceress [2013-02-09 23:07:14 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome! Always feel free to ask if you have any questions.

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DavidVogt In reply to catiee1301 [2012-02-10 21:21:11 +0000 UTC]

Glad to hear it.

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