What is “Fast Glass” and why do I need it?
What is “Fast Glass” and why do I need it?
- Bob Hubbard
Read enough discussions about photography and you’ll eventually hear the term “Fast Glass”. But what is it?
Read the list of numbers on your lens and you’ll see something like F4-5.6. To many beginner photographers, this is confusing. What does the F4-5.6 mean? This is a rating indicating how wide you can set your camera’s aperture while shooting. A wider aperture allows for more light reaching the camera’s sensor or film in a shorter time. The wider you go, the faster the light pours in, just like the wider the hole in a boat, the faster the water fills it. What does this mean for the photographer? A wider aperture, ie: faster glass, means that you can use a faster shutter setting, allowing you to better freeze motion and capture the action.
The challenge for most sports photographers is that while most venues are well lit for the average person, they tend to be dimly lit by your camera’s eye. Most consumer lenses allow for an aperture of about F3.5 at widest. This would mean setting your shutter speed to 1/30th-1/60th of a second to get a good exposure. Unfortunately, at this speed you run into the combined issues of hand shake and motion blur, resulting in a lot of ‘eh’ shots, even with today’s vibration reduction capabilities. You can of course use flash to add more light, but some places frown on that, and most on-camera flashes are too low powered to do much in bigger venues, or cause red eye, harsh shadows and under exposed backgrounds.
The solution is to look for lenses that allow you to shoot with a wider aperture, or faster. Modern camera lenses are complex sandwiches of different lenses made up of different types of glass and coatings. This complicated system lets modern lenses to offer excellent image quality and light sensitivity, allowing the photographer to capture a quality image. However, these lenses can cost some real money.
Serious sports shooters tend to shoot with fast zooms in the 70-200mm F2.8 or better range, however these lenses are outside the budgets of most casual shooters as they cost thousands of dollars. For a hobbyist on a tight budget, look for the 50mm 1.8 lens. Both Nikon and Canon sell an inexpensive version of this for about $100US. Because it is fixed at 50mm, you can’t zoom it like you can your kit lens, and will have to physically get closer or farther from your subject. But, it will allow you to shoot in low light situations without flash and capture good images.
So, remember, fast glass means lenses that can allow more light in faster, allowing for better images in low light situations. They also tend to be better built and a higher quality lens than lower prices consumer lenses, allowing for better clarity and sharper colors in your images.
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Bob Hubbard is a professional photographer specializing in martial arts event, nature and portrait photography. He is also the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc, a web design company specializing in martial arts sites, as well as an administrator on the popular martial arts communities MartialTalk.com, Kenpotalk.com and FMATalk.com. His martial arts photography can be found there as well as at his martial arts photography web site, martialphotos.com. He may be reached through these sites.
Copyright © 2010 – Bob Hubbard – All Rights Reserved
Permission is granted to reprint this article on websites, blogs and ezines provided all text, links and authors bio is left intact.
What is “Fast Glass” and why do I need it?
- Bob Hubbard
Read enough discussions about photography and you’ll eventually hear the term “Fast Glass”. But what is it?
Read the list of numbers on your lens and you’ll see something like F4-5.6. To many beginner photographers, this is confusing. What does the F4-5.6 mean? This is a rating indicating how wide you can set your camera’s aperture while shooting. A wider aperture allows for more light reaching the camera’s sensor or film in a shorter time. The wider you go, the faster the light pours in, just like the wider the hole in a boat, the faster the water fills it. What does this mean for the photographer? A wider aperture, ie: faster glass, means that you can use a faster shutter setting, allowing you to better freeze motion and capture the action.
The challenge for most sports photographers is that while most venues are well lit for the average person, they tend to be dimly lit by your camera’s eye. Most consumer lenses allow for an aperture of about F3.5 at widest. This would mean setting your shutter speed to 1/30th-1/60th of a second to get a good exposure. Unfortunately, at this speed you run into the combined issues of hand shake and motion blur, resulting in a lot of ‘eh’ shots, even with today’s vibration reduction capabilities. You can of course use flash to add more light, but some places frown on that, and most on-camera flashes are too low powered to do much in bigger venues, or cause red eye, harsh shadows and under exposed backgrounds.
The solution is to look for lenses that allow you to shoot with a wider aperture, or faster. Modern camera lenses are complex sandwiches of different lenses made up of different types of glass and coatings. This complicated system lets modern lenses to offer excellent image quality and light sensitivity, allowing the photographer to capture a quality image. However, these lenses can cost some real money.
Serious sports shooters tend to shoot with fast zooms in the 70-200mm F2.8 or better range, however these lenses are outside the budgets of most casual shooters as they cost thousands of dollars. For a hobbyist on a tight budget, look for the 50mm 1.8 lens. Both Nikon and Canon sell an inexpensive version of this for about $100US. Because it is fixed at 50mm, you can’t zoom it like you can your kit lens, and will have to physically get closer or farther from your subject. But, it will allow you to shoot in low light situations without flash and capture good images.
So, remember, fast glass means lenses that can allow more light in faster, allowing for better images in low light situations. They also tend to be better built and a higher quality lens than lower prices consumer lenses, allowing for better clarity and sharper colors in your images.
====
Bob Hubbard is a professional photographer specializing in martial arts event, nature and portrait photography. He is also the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc, a web design company specializing in martial arts sites, as well as an administrator on the popular martial arts communities MartialTalk.com, Kenpotalk.com and FMATalk.com. His martial arts photography can be found there as well as at his martial arts photography web site, martialphotos.com. He may be reached through these sites.
Copyright © 2010 – Bob Hubbard – All Rights Reserved
Permission is granted to reprint this article on websites, blogs and ezines provided all text, links and authors bio is left intact.
I'm just speaking more in general terms. 
