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Thread started 21 Jan 2011 (Friday) 08:20
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We have lenses with fixed focal lengths but...

 
Dmab
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Jan 21, 2011 08:20 |  #1

...would it be silly to wonder why there aren't lens that have fixed apertures?
i.e. a 50mm prime with a fixed aperture of f/2.
Sure it's an ultra specialized lens, but I can only imagine that without the complexity of having to account for all the other apertures, the lens mechanics could be simple but ultra effective, i.e. the engineers could *really* concentrate on having absolutely no CA, no vignetting, flare, ultra sharp center....

Is this even physically possible?

Just one of those ponderables I had while ding some business...


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LOKPhotography
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Jan 21, 2011 08:57 |  #2

Never thought of that. Maybe you should write canon and they can shed some light on the subject. If i could get a 50mm with a FA (fixed aperture) for a cheaper price id be all over it.


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Jan 21, 2011 09:31 |  #3

Dmab wrote in post #11684792 (external link)
...would it be silly to wonder why there aren't lens that have fixed apertures?

Lenses of that kind already exist. They're the telephoto mirror lenses (external link) that are fixed at f/8. Few people use them.

As for "faster" fixed aperture lenses, few photographers are going to want to buy the stacks of neutral-density filters that would be needed to use them in the real world.




  
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scroller52
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Jan 21, 2011 09:51 |  #4

losing control of aperture is too big of a problem. thats like buying a camera body that can only shoot at 1/50 shutter?


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egordon99
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Jan 21, 2011 10:06 as a reply to  @ scroller52's post |  #5

I really don't think "adding" an aperture mechanism adds that much to the cost/design of the lens, especially since they are so well understood. You just have an arrangement of "blades" that need to close down to a bunch of different size "holes" to cut down the light entering the lens. I don't think there are any "optics" involved at this level.




  
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Dmab
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Jan 21, 2011 18:45 |  #6

scroller52 wrote in post #11685266 (external link)
losing control of aperture is too big of a problem. thats like buying a camera body that can only shoot at 1/50 shutter?

No doubt, but the same argument can be said of a fixed focus lens...


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Jan 21, 2011 18:46 |  #7

egordon99 wrote in post #11685341 (external link)
I really don't think "adding" an aperture mechanism adds that much to the cost/design of the lens, especially since they are so well understood. You just have an arrangement of "blades" that need to close down to a bunch of different size "holes" to cut down the light entering the lens. I don't think there are any "optics" involved at this level.

I kinda think the optics and the blades have to be calibrated to exact specs in order to work together. Remove one and the other becomes simpler....yes?


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photoguy6405
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Jan 21, 2011 19:22 |  #8

Somewhere, there's a 'purist' reading this and thinking... "Oooh. Oh, wait... I'd need a larger bag.".


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Red ­ Tie ­ Photography
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Jan 21, 2011 19:56 |  #9

DC Fan wrote in post #11685148 (external link)
Lenses of that kind already exist. They're the telephoto mirror lenses (external link) that are fixed at f/8. Few people use them.

As for "faster" fixed aperture lenses, few photographers are going to want to buy the stacks of neutral-density filters that would be needed to use them in the real world.

Im one that uses them. Its a fun lens, but I wouldnt want many more.


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20droger
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Jan 21, 2011 21:00 as a reply to  @ Red Tie Photography's post |  #10

There are mirror lenses faster than f/8. I can think of several that are f/6.3 (see the Lens Tables sticky in the EF and EF-S Lenses forum in the Equipment section of POTN), and I believe I once saw one that was f/4.

Also, virtually all telescopes, refractive or reflective, may be considered fixed-aperture lenses. Simply take off the eyepiece and put on a T-mount adapter and voilĂ ! Instant camera lens!

There are also other types of fixed-aperture lenses for cameras. None that I'm aware of are worth a damn, however. Most box cameras have fixed-aperture lenses.

The aperture structure has almost nothing to do with the quality of the optics. It's merely a stop mechanism that controls the effective diameter of the objective element.

Fixed focus lenses are another matter entirely. Although I can't think of any real-world examples that have any decent quality, there would be nothing to prevent someone from turning any lens they desire into a fixed-focus lens.

Usually, fixed focus lenses are also fixed aperture or, at the most, two apertures (semi-fixed apertures?). The lens in the classic box camera is such a lens, typically preset to f/16 and pre-focused at the hyperfocal distance. This is how such cameras can take pictures with everything more than a few feet away in focus.

Fancier box cameras sometimes had a switch that changed apertures. When you flipped the switch, you typically got f/8 and lost infinity focus. That was because the hyperfocal distance changed with the aperture, but the lens' focus did not.




  
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Jan 21, 2011 22:05 |  #11

lensbabies are a fixed aperture system.


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20droger
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Jan 21, 2011 23:41 |  #12

Chippy569 wrote in post #11689376 (external link)
lensbabies are a fixed aperture system.

Not quite. They're variable by means of changing disks.




  
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Jan 22, 2011 00:27 |  #13

20droger wrote in post #11689858 (external link)
Not quite. They're variable by means of changing disks.

So they are fixed until you fix em.


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Jan 22, 2011 01:21 |  #14

There are older Sigma lenses that were variable aperture but now only work wide open.


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freaking102
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Jan 22, 2011 02:09 |  #15

Dmab wrote in post #11684792 (external link)
...would it be silly to wonder why there aren't lens that have fixed apertures?
Is this even physically possible?


sounds like you need a basic education in physics.

you should round up your kids or the neighbors kids and make pinhole cameras.

now that dark rooms are no longer, do people even do this in school?




  
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We have lenses with fixed focal lengths but...
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