The University of Oregon cooperatively operates its camera network our collaborators, the University of Nevada, Reno; and the University of California, San Diego. We have contracted the private technology platform ALERTWest to host our cameras. We also collaborate with diverse federal, state, and county agencies; utilities; and local stakeholders in leveraging funding and installing cameras. Our Oregon sponsors and partners include the State of Oregon, the Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon Department of Transportation, Eugene Water and Electric Board, Rogue Valley Council of Governments, Lane Council of Governments, Lane County Educational Service District, Lane County Sheriff’s Office, Klamath Falls Community College, KATU2, Elevate Technology Group, Rogue Broadband, and Illinois Valley Data Center.

Taking the time to learn important information like how your camera works, how to properly expose your photos, how to frame an image, etc. will be the key to launching your photography hobby into a photography career. Be sure to stop by the beginner photography course to learn more.

I think it’s so important to learn how to use manual mode! It helps us be more creative with our shots! I hope to experiment some more with it! Thanks for sharing 🙂

You need to familiarize yourself with are the various types of lenses available for your camera and the various definitions. Before we go any further, we’re assuming you have or plan to purchase a digital camera the accommodates removable interchangeable lenses. There are five general categories of camera lenses;

Any member of the public can visit ALERTWest.live to watch live camera live feeds from over 1,200 cameras in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, and Nevada. In addition to viewing live imagery, users can review timelapse videos and archived panoramic images that are taken every two minutes. The ALERTWest website also provides a map with additional situational awareness tools, including GIS layers for current wildfire perimeters, new fire starts, and thermal activity.

Prime don’t zoom in and out due to their fixed focal length. But they produce sharper high quality images than zoom lenses.

Another factor to take into consideration is the aperture. There are several different types of camera lens available for a wide range of uses. Lenses are identified by two primary parameters; the maximum aperture and focal length. Shorter focal length prime lenses have maximum apertures ranging from approximately f/1.2 to f/2.8. Telephoto lenses often have a maximum aperture of f/2.8 to f/5.6.

Costlier high-end zoom lenses maintain the same maximum aperture setting throughout their focal length range, while less expensive zoom lenses use a variable aperture range. For example, a lens with an aperture range of “f/3.5 – f/5.6” will be noted on the actual lens barrel as “1:3.5-5.6”. Lens kits sold with many consumer DSLR and compact system cameras often have a maximum aperture of f/3.5-5.6.

Camera lens componentsand functions

Thanks in advance for your free courses on different photography issues. I`ve just gone over the whole explanation in connection with the different sorts of lenses; I found it quite practical and useful. It has dawned on me, in a clear way, the different technical concepts of photography lenses. Quite grateful.

If you plan on focusing on sports or close-up nature photography, for example, then you should consider purchasing a telephoto zoom lens. These lenses fall in the range of 70-200mm f/2.8, depending on the brand, and can be extremely helpful when you are trying to capture your child on the soccer field, or take a photo of a far away animal in the woods.

The OWDCIC is chaired by Leland O’Driscoll, Associate Director of the Oregon Hazards Lab, and Jamie Paul of the Oregon Department of Forestry. Other members include the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator, representatives from the Governor’s Office, public safety agencies, structural fire agencies, utilities, emergency managers, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and tribal governments.

Once you know what kind of sensor you have (full-frame or cropped), you can start shopping for the correct lens. Most lenses fall into two categories;

A prime lens has a single focal length. They are smaller and lighter than other lens. The most popular focal length is 50mm, which is supposed to be a close match to the magnification of the human eye.

Additionally, there are many options out there for renting lenses to try out before you make a final purchase decision. Try Borrow Lenses or Adorama Rental Company.

Both an unwanted artifact and a creative technique, lens flare occurs when light enters the lens, reflects, and scatters. The resulting bright spots or streaks may distract from the main subject. However, photographers often embrace lens flare as a creative element.

Camera lens componentsdiagram

Automated wildfire detection is another tool firefighters can use to detect and suppress new fire starts before they become resource-intensive conflagrations.

A macro lens is for extremely close focusing distances and are capable of taking highly detailed images of tiny microscopic sized subjects like flowers, insects, products, jewellery, coins, and wildlife.

If you are wanting to step up your image quality, you’ll want to find a faster lens (a lens with a faster aperture, i.e. f/2.8). Both Canon and Nikon offer a 24-70mm f/2.8. This wider aperture will give you the ability to shoot with a smaller depth of field. For more information on depth of field, click here. While this lens does have a similar focal range to the kit lens, the aperture advantage will greatly increase the quality of your photos.

These lenses can be either zoom or prime lenses. Telephoto lenses make your subject appear closer to your camera and they help emphasize a blurred background.

In the end, your decision to purchase your second or third lens can have an amazingly positive impact on the quality of your photos. However, just by purchasing an expensive DSLR with a high-end lens alone won’t be enough to rocket you into the league of Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz.

The focal length of a camera lens, usually represented in millimeters or mm, is a description of the lens, but is not a measurement of the actual length of the lens. Focal length is a calculation of the optical distance from the point where light rays converge to form an in-focus image of the subject to the digital sensor in the camera.

The pictures you take, or the pictures you plan on taking, will determine which lens is right for you. So first decide if you need a lens for photographing picturesque landscapes, travel, sports, close-up shots, capturing wildlife, a lens for wedding photography, or even for a traditional portrait.

For those who aren’t familiar with what a prime lens is, it is any lens with a fixed focal length. This category includes lenses such as the 50mm f/1.8, 35mm f/1.8, and the 85mm f/1.8.

Lens compression is the visual effect that occurs when using telephoto lenses, making distant objects appear closer than they actually are.

One problem that may arise at the longer focal lengths is that it can become difficult to hold the camera steady enough to get a clear and sharp shot. Many of these lenses have built in optical image stabilization (sometimes referred to as vibration reduction) to help alleviate this problem. While it may cost a little more to purchase a lens with this feature, it will greatly increase the quality of your photos in the end.

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Similar to a Prime lens, a Wide Angle lens has a fixed focal length. These lenses have a short focal length (usually around 35mm) and a wide field of view. Ultra-wide angle lens are about 24mm or wider.

Wildfire detection cameras have been in use in Oregon for over sixteen years. In addition to the camera network operated by the Oregon Hazards Lab, the Oregon Department of Forestry and multiple utilities operate other networks, although ours is the only network with publicly accessible footage. In 2022, the Governor’s office and federal agencies requested that agencies form the Oregon Wildfire Detection Camera Interoperability Committee (OWDCIC) to establish cooperation across the state in detection camera efforts.

In addition to the tools available to the public, credentialed users have access to additional features on the ALERTWest platform. They can manually rotate, tilt, and zoom cameras, as well as view timelapse videos that are older than 24 hours. Credentialed users can also receive automated alerts when a new fire start is detected in their self-selected region. Every two minutes, ALERTWest software takes a panoramic image from each camera and scans the images for new ignitions using wildfire detection algorithms. Operations technicians at ALERTWest, our software provider, immediately review new detections to remove false detections, and then generate alerts for confirmed positive detections. Alerts are only delivered to credentialed users, not to the general public. Fire managers in Oregon began receiving automated alerts during the 2024 fire season.

Image stabilization is available in a wide range of different lenses, but it’s particularly effective with longer focal length lenses because images taken with longer lenses require faster shutter speeds to keep them sharp.

The Oregon Hazards Lab operates a high-speed camera network that gives firefighters a new way to spot and track wildfires. Cameras are typically installed on top of tall mountains or high-rise buildings with 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape, enabling fire managers to watch the landscape, fire behavior, and weather in real-time or later through time-lapse footage. Our camera network is integrated with those operated by our collaborators: the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of California, San Diego. With dozens of cameras in Oregon and thousands in the Western United States, this is the largest wildfire camera network in the world.

Camera lensparts and functions

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or would like a copy of our logo for media use, please contact us by email at ohaz@uoregon.edu.

A telephoto lens has a long reach, which allows you to shoot a subject that is far away. A lens is considered telephoto if it has a focal length of at least 60mm. Telephoto lenses come in a number of focal lengths from medium telephoto (70-200mm) to super telephoto (longer than 300mm).

Wide-angle lenses allow your camera to capture more of the scene than a normal lens can and are ideal for landscape, nature, architecture, real estate, and interior photography.

Yet another critical factor you need to consider when shopping for a lens is the camera sensor size. Most of the consumer DSLR cameras costing under $1,200 use what is known as a cropped or APS-C sensor measuring approximately 22x15mm. Higher end professional DSLR cameras use a full-frame sensor that is the same size as 35mm film measuring 36x24mm. Before you go shopping for a new lens, check the specifications of your camera to determine whether you have an APS-C or full-frame sensor.

The OWDCIC’s mission is to build relationships and communication between agencies, increase technological interoperability and resilience, and to identify and implement best practices to achieve interoperable fire tools that support response agencies at a statewide scale. Committee work has resulted in accomplishments such as development of a statewide combined detection map GIS layer, annual efficacy reporting, and elimination of conflicts in siting and permitting between agencies.  Technologies explored include remote deployable temporary camera towers and the use of alternate data backhaul providers such as Starlink.

Lens distortion refers to the warping or bending of images caused by imperfections in the lens, resulting in straight lines appearing curved or stretched in photos.

Parts of alensPhysics

Lenses are made specifically for full-frame sensors or crop sensor cameras. Crop frame sensor lenses are designed specifically to match the smaller sensor size inside the camera. If your camera has a cropped sensor, you can use both full-frame and cropped frame lenses. However, if you have a full-frame sensor camera, you don’t want to use a lens for crop-frame cameras. Full-frame cameras should only use lenses designed for full-frame cameras.

Some cameras have image stabilization built-in, while others use IS in the lens. Image Stabilization in the lens works by using electromagnets to move internal glass elements. When you turn on image stabilization, those electromagnets are activated to create a floating spring-like suspension system so the glass can absorb camera shake and make your images sharper. Each manufacturer has its own definition for image stabilization;

Nothing ruins an image more than a blurry image resulting from camera shake. Camera shake is particularly problematic at slower shutter speeds or with longer focal length lenses (telephoto or zoom). Image stabilisation (abbreviated ‘IS’) compensates for camera or lens movement and will help you to achieve sharper images at slower shutter speeds.

So how do you tell the difference between a full-frame sensor camera and a camera with a cropped sensor? Lens manufacturers label their APS-C format SLR lenses as follows:

Another use for macro lenses is portraits (especially headshots and studio portraits). It is hard to beat the stunning sharpness of a macro lens.

Camera lens componentsexplained

Some lens manufacturers offer different qualities of camera lenses. When we talk about a higher quality lens, we usually mean the glass elements used in the construction of the lens are of a higher grade, resulting superior quality images.

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The focal length of a lens is determined when the lens is focused at infinity. It basically tells us the angle of view, or how much of a scene will be captured, and the magnification (how large elements will be in the image). Longer focal lengths have a narrower angle of view and higher magnification. Shorter the focal lengths offer a wider angle of view and the lower or smaller the magnification.

Camera lenses will be a good investment because lenses usually last longer than camera bodies and are less likely to become obsolete. So don’t be afraid to spend a little extra for a quality lens. Those of you who are just starting your journey in capturing photography with professional-level cameras – moving away from the phones or point and shoots.

With so many options, choosing the ideal camera lens for your style and type of photography may leave you feeling overwhelmed. How do you find the right one?

Higher quality lenses are usually weather sealed and as you might have guessed, more expensive. Canon “L” lenses (Canon Luxury Lenses) can be easily identified by a red ring or white body. Nikkor lenses have “ED” on the lens barrel to signify the “Extra Low Dispersion” glass used in the lens.

Night photography can seem like a very difficult skill for amateur photographers to master. But with the help of the right lenses, learning the art

The Oregon Hazards Lab is increasingly co-locating wildfire detection cameras and Pacific Northwest Seismic Network seismic monitoring stations. The high-speed telemetry backbone needed to transmit images and videos in real-time can be leveraged to deliver real-time, state-wide monitoring for a multi-hazard system. Because wildfire cameras already require high bandwidth, this network is easily expandable to other low-bandwidth sensors like seismometers for the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System. Co-locating sites provides mutual benefits. Communities face a multitude of hazards, which cannot be addressed by a single-hazard detection system. Because monitoring networks are expensive and difficult to maintain, co-locating sites is both cost-effective and improves statewide resiliency for a variety of natural hazards. Seismic stations can take advantage of the cameras’ solar panels and high-bandwidth telemetry, whereas fire cameras benefit from seismic sites’ high standards for constant up-time, automatic failover, and redundancy. As of August 2024, there are 16 sites which host both a wildfire camera and seismic site.

Digitalcamera lens components

Keep in mind that depending on your needs, your lens selection can vary greatly. For example, a landscape photographer will need a different lens than a portrait photographer, and a photojournalist may need a different lens than a wedding photographer. Each section below will break down which lens is best for which style of photography.

Next, check for lens mounting compatibility and compatibility with the sensor in your camera. Decide whether you need a fast lens and what maximum aperture you desire. Decide whether you need a higher quality lens and what extra features you need (image stabilization, autofocus, weatherproof, etc.).

Camera lensparts diagram

Over 200 individuals from more than 50 different agencies have log-in credentials to control cameras in Oregon. These users include the American Red Cross, the Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon State Police, Oregon State Fire Marshall, local fire departments, local governments, and utilities.

In this article on Camera Lenses Explained, our goal is to arm you with the information you’ll need to choose the most suitable lens for your needs. At some point in time, you may find yourself shopping for a new lens for either practical or creative reasons. The first step in the process is to determine the variables you need to take into account when selecting your new lens.

UO prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, citizenship status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by UO policy. Questions may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance, or to the Office for Civil Rights. Contact information, related policies, and complaint procedures are listed on the statement of non-discrimination.

The Oregon Hazards Lab has partnered with the Rogue Valley Council of Governments to apply for a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This funding would enable us to install twelve additional wildfire cameras in the Rogue Valley in starting in the summer of 2024. These cameras will complement existing wildfire cameras in the region. Together, they will provide a comprehensive viewshed of this high-risk corridor, including Medford, Grants Pass, Cave Junction, and Eagle Point.

Log-in credentials are available to firefighters, dispatchers, emergency managers, and others who demonstrate a public safety need. To receive credentials, email the Oregon Hazards Lab at wildfirehelp@uoregon.edu. You can also learn more about using the ALERTWest platform through these video tutorials:

To learn more about our wildfire camera network or to receive camera control credentials, please email us at wildfirehelp@uoregon.edu.

Nikoncamera lens components

There are currently 54 wildfire cameras in Oregon, and we plan to operate 75 cameras across the state by late 2025. Each camera can rotate 360 degrees, tilt 220 degrees, and zoom up to 40 times. With near-infrared capabilities, they have a range of up to 30 miles in the daytime and 40 miles at night. These provide multiple benefits to firefighters and the general public, including:

Unlike a prime lens with a fixed focal length, zoom lenses have a variable focal length that can be adjusted. Some of the most popular zoom lens focal length ranges are 24-70mm and 24-85mm.

Next to the camera body, your camera lenses are the second most important part of your camera. Selecting the right lens (or lenses) is essential for getting the shots you want. Selecting a new camera lens requires time and research because you have to consider several factors; desired focal length, lens speed, compatibility with your camera, and budget.

Each camera manufacturer uses its own proprietary lens mount that we refer to as first-party lenses.  This means camera lenses cannot be swapped with different brands; a Nikon lens won’t fit on a Canon body. Other manufactures, referred to as third-party, make lenses to fit different mounts on multiple brands.

These faster lenses contain higher quality internal components to produce much sharper images, bringing your photos from amateur to professional in no time. Having this versatile lens in your collection will allow you to capture a large variety of images from fairly wide landscape shots, down to close up macro-type photos.

Live and timelapse footage from the Oregon Hazards Lab’s wildfire detection cameras are available for public use with credit.

Third party lens manufacturers include Zeiss, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Meyer-Optik Gorlitz, Rokinon, IRIX, Lensbaby, Samyang, Venus Optics, and Voigtlander Nokton.

Lens vignetting is a gradual darkening of an image at the edges; it is often an issue to be corrected but sometimes used as a creative touch.

Very useful information on the categories of lenses. I only thought that no matter what kind of photography I wish, it’s always matter expensive lenses should be used for better photography but now I knew even the lens with low price can get the better picture if we know the subject well and the type of lens to be used. Thanks once again.