Lens question? Can you tell me?

Question

I have a Canon EOS Rebel (older one - film only) that I have inherited and it came with two lenses.

The first is a Canon Zoom Lens EF (35-80mm 1:4 - 5:6)

The second is a Promaster Spectrum 7 (70 to about 210mm 1:4 - 5:6)

What is the difference between the two? What are they best used for? Any information is helpful, thanks...

Answer 1

different focal lengths, you can zoom much more on the Promaster lens then on the canon brand one

I kept my answer sweet and simple?

Answer 2

For a 35mm film camera, 50mm was the "standard" lens, covering a field of view similar to  the eye.

Shorter focal lengths are wide angle, and longer lengths are "telephoto".

The two lenses provide a well balanced coverage, with the 35-80mm allowing you to capture wide vistas, or giving a slightly kinder perspective to portraits at 50mm+, while the 70-210mm makes distant objects larger.

It is often said that a certain lens changes perspective, but it is actually your position when using it that changes perspective.

If you approach a subject closely with a wide angle lens, then perspective will be exaggerated, on a face, the nose will be too large.

In the case of telephoto, if you walk toward the closest subject to make them bigger, the distant background will change little, while if you stand still and use the zoom, both subject and background are magnified equally.

The other point, is that longer focal lengths are less amenable to handheld use unless the light is very good, as the usual rule of thumb is that 1/f is the slowest acceptable handheld shutter speed, so you can use 1/60 for acceptable results at 50mm, but with the other lens at 210mm, you really need to aim for 1/250 shutter speed, as the longer focal length also magnifies any movement. Braced handheld, you can generally go a speed slower, I've taken some good available light shots at 1/30 on a 50mm lens.

Answer 3

35 to 70 is considered to give normal to slight telephoto range this range gives good portraits in good light from 50 t0 70 mm 70 to 210 is a good low end telephoto to moderate telephoto on a film body I am not sure of the quality of promaster on film bodys 35 is slight wide anglef4 is not great for low light photography but is good over all best bet is get some film and engoye.

Answer 4

Basically different focal length.

You can see here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pook...

So the 35-80 is a moderate wide to moderate telephoto range, and the 70 to 210 mm can be used to bring in objects that are far away closer to you.

Each one has its own use. The rest of my photos are marked with the lens (and usually its setting) which I hope you find useful. http://www.flickr.com/little_pooky