Editing 1855: Telephoto
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{{w|Telephoto lens}}es are special {{w|camera lens|lenses for cameras}} that are physically shorter than their {{w|focal length}}. Using a {{w|long-focus lens}} allows the {{w|photographer}} to magnify a photographic image of an object rather than being physically close to the object. Alternatively one could add "{{w|teleconverter|converters}}" and "{{w|extension tube|extenders}}" to an existing lens to get a greater focal length for the cost of reduced brightness. The joke is that [[Cueball]] did not want to spend the money on buying a new telephoto lens or real converters, and instead achieved the same effect by moving his cheap camera (a standard {{w|webcam}}, in this case) close enough to the subject to obviate the need for magnification. | {{w|Telephoto lens}}es are special {{w|camera lens|lenses for cameras}} that are physically shorter than their {{w|focal length}}. Using a {{w|long-focus lens}} allows the {{w|photographer}} to magnify a photographic image of an object rather than being physically close to the object. Alternatively one could add "{{w|teleconverter|converters}}" and "{{w|extension tube|extenders}}" to an existing lens to get a greater focal length for the cost of reduced brightness. The joke is that [[Cueball]] did not want to spend the money on buying a new telephoto lens or real converters, and instead achieved the same effect by moving his cheap camera (a standard {{w|webcam}}, in this case) close enough to the subject to obviate the need for magnification. | ||
| β | There are many problems with this. First, the end result is completely impractical to carry around; as shown in the comic, Cueball has to set up two tripods just to support the weight of his hulking behemoth of a camera. Second, if you're an animal photographer like Cueball, you need to be able to see the animal as close up as possible in order to get a good picture; a lens with lots of magnification power accomplishes just that without alerting the animal to the photographer's presence, but Cueball's camera would surely scare off any birds he tried to | + | There are many problems with this. First, the end result is completely impractical to carry around; as shown in the comic, Cueball has to set up two tripods just to support the weight of his hulking behemoth of a camera. Second, if you're an animal photographer like Cueball, you need to be able to see the animal as close up as possible in order to get a good picture; a lens with lots of magnification power accomplishes just that without alerting the animal to the photographer's presence, but Cueball's camera would surely scare off any birds he tried to picture (except in fanciful proof-of-concept diagrams like this comic). |
Perhaps most damning of all, though, is the fact that Cueball's idea involves installing a webcam at the far end to be able to photograph anything. Webcams are not designed to capture high-resolution images, so the resulting image will be of considerably lower quality compared to professional photographers' works, although it could be better than a standard camera setup taking account of the huge achievable zoom levels. But more importantly, the presence of the webcam renders the functionality of the extenders (and the base camera itself!) completely redundant, cementing this idea as a total waste of money and effort. The same could be achieved by mounting the webcam on a long stick; an extraordinary long {{w|Selfie stick|selfie stick}} will achieve nearly the same effect, for considerably less cost and set-up than Cueball's behemoth. | Perhaps most damning of all, though, is the fact that Cueball's idea involves installing a webcam at the far end to be able to photograph anything. Webcams are not designed to capture high-resolution images, so the resulting image will be of considerably lower quality compared to professional photographers' works, although it could be better than a standard camera setup taking account of the huge achievable zoom levels. But more importantly, the presence of the webcam renders the functionality of the extenders (and the base camera itself!) completely redundant, cementing this idea as a total waste of money and effort. The same could be achieved by mounting the webcam on a long stick; an extraordinary long {{w|Selfie stick|selfie stick}} will achieve nearly the same effect, for considerably less cost and set-up than Cueball's behemoth. | ||
