How to Use a Medium Telephoto Lens

A medium telephoto lens is used in photography when a photographer is consistently unable to get closer to his subject. Most often, this includes sports and nature photography. While this type of lens can be used exactly the same as other lenses, using a slightly different technique can spotlight the zoom quality of the photo. At this range, the difficult part of a telephoto lens is controlling its view, which can be extreme wild if it is not stabilized.

• 1

  Mount the camera to a tripod. If possible, mount the tripod to the lens if it has a tripod mount.

• 2

  Turn on the camera and set the lens and camera to the focus settings you require. Some users prefer auto focus, while others prefer manual focus at this range. If possible, preset your focus if you can predict where the subject will be.

• 3

  Increase the camera's shutter speed enough to be able to freeze motion. Usually, this is 1/250 of a second or faster.

• 4

  Rotate the zoom lens on the lens, if it has one, to the proper amount to frame your subject.

• 5

  Rotate the focus ring on the lens if you're focusing manually, or press the shutter button on your camera halfway to focus.

• 6

  Press the shutter button fully to take the photo.