What are the Three Major Challenges With Camera Lenses?

(Last Updated On: August 7, 2023)

What are the Three Major Challenges With Camera Lenses?

One of the main reasons that push photographers to choose a reflex or a mirrorless is the possibility of using different photographic lenses. It allows you to adapt your equipment based on the artistic style you want to create and obtain. What are the Three Major Challenges With Camera Lenses?

A standard optic enables you to shoot anything as long as the photographer moves away or approaches the subject, but this is often not recommended. Increasing the choice of optics available to us allows us to improve our creativity and ability to solve common problems of photography.

A lens can suffer from reverberation, diffraction, refraction, reflection, distortion, field curvature, aspheric aberration, chromatic aberration, front/back focus, resolving power.

We assume that the technology with which the optics are built is due to the years of accumulated experience and the continuous search for perfection in the materials that have made today’s optics seldom really “poor,” but always, on average, sound excellent. However, on the other hand, there are no perfect goals! All show a small part of the defects, and some “cuts” of optics are more subject to problems than others.

The internal optics are of various qualities, of different thicknesses and inclinations. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the quality with which they are made and the “air-lens” space that separates one from the other can cause the defects listed below.

No 1: Vignetting:

It is one of the most common problems of all lenses. Technically, it depends on the fact that any optical system crossed by the light generates, on the focal plane, a difference in brightness between the center and the edges.

This effect, called light fall at the edges, involves a darker part in the external area of the photograph than in the center. However, it becomes a defect for a photographic optic and is more present in short focal lengths such as wide angles. At their largest opening, a difference of 1-2 stops can be made between the edge and center. However, you can solve this issue quickly with any photo-editing program.

No 2: Diffraction:

It comes from a physical phenomenon of light. For example, we know that the best light from a lens is the one that passes through its center, so closing the aperture more results in a smaller hole and a more outstanding sharpness of the image.

However, when this hole becomes too small, there is a risk of the diffraction effect that makes the edges of the photos “soft” or rather the opposite of what you want.

It is not a manufacturing defect but an incorrect parameter setting. Some tips to avoid it are never to use the maximum aperture factor of your optic and be thrifty to exceed F/20 with wide-angle, standard, and telephoto (macros are the exception).

No 3: Chromatic aberration:

It is the most famous and well-known of the aberrations. It is a phenomenon that derives from the refraction of light rays following the passage through a lens. The aberration effect manifests itself as a halo around the observed object/subject. The color can be red or blue (depending on the spectrum of light that generated it). You can correct this defect quickly with most photo-editing programs.

 

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