Moon

The new digital cameras have all sorts of capabilities that are not immediately obvious so, to those of you who are as backward as myself, I suggest you start experimenting with all those buttons and controls you normally don't touch. Although I've been using my latest camera almost daily for over six months I just discovered that it has an interesting and useful function I hadn't even imagined. It's a built in digital 2X teleconverter. This is like being able to double the magnifying power of whatever lens you're using. Above is a photo that is a first experiment with this function using the 300mm telephoto lens times 2 to yield a whopping 600mm. Lenses with this power typically sell for thousands so this is a very nice feature. It also means that I can carry fewer lenses around with me since I can, if necessary, extend the focal length of the lenses in my bag through the use of the built-in teleconverter. I write "if necessary" because, although Sony says,"The system reproduces pixels on a 1:1 basis so there's no degradation in picture quality," it seems to me that there is a bit of image degradation. But if one needs that magnification it's nice to have the option without always carrying around a heavy telephoto lens.

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What's normally on my camera or in my camera bag?

1. The Sony kit lens - an 18-55mm zoom, or some other mid-range zoom


2. 90mm macro lens for closeups


3. 10-20mm wide angle


4. 75-300 or 500mm prime telephoto

I usually have some idea what I'll be shooting before I leave the house so the telephoto or the macro may get left behind. I get a little choosy now because this stuff is heavy and if you spend all day lugging around two or three lenses that never come out of the bag you start to try to think ahead a bit. The flip side, of course, is missing a great shot because you don't have the right lens with you. The teleconverter mentioned above probably means I won't carry around a telephoto lens unless I know I'm likely to encounter some wildlife or some other special situation requiring telephoto or I'll carry a shorter-range, lighter telephoto like an 80-200mm.