What do the numbers on the nikon lenses mean?

there's kinda two questions.





broadwayphoto.com


is that legit? like can i really trust it?


there's a Nikon d60 for 400 something dollars. and i dont really know if its a scam it looks pretty real though.








second question





the lenses.





what does 18-55mm mean?


and what does 18-135mm


then more the second number the better?





help.





Thanks.What do the numbers on the nikon lenses mean?
Tim is right broad way photo sells refurbished cameras. The 18-55mm is the focal length that the lens can zoom to. At 15mm this is called wide angle and at 55mm is called telephoto. the farther you zoom in on something the smaller the field of view gets. the 18-55mm lens has an f/stop of 3.5to 5.6. the f stop is the amount the blades in the camera open up. the 18-55mm VR lens has 7 diaphragm blades that form a geo metric circle. the lower the f stop the more the circle opens and the higher the f stop the smaller the circle opens. the f stop is used to adjust the subject and the back round focus. A picture taken with a low f stop will give you a picture were everything is in focus and a picture with a high f stop will give you a picture were the subject is only in focus but the background is blurred out. You should note that the higher the f stop the slower the shutter speed has to be because you are letting in less light to the CCD. With a low f stop you need to use a faster shutter speed because you are letting in more light to the CCD. The CCD is what actually sees the image and stores it to the memory card.What do the numbers on the nikon lenses mean?
Do not trust broadwayphoto.com first of all...





Second, The 18-55 is the focal length the lens has. Which is basically like the amount of soom that a camera that says something like 5x zoom. The 18-55 is about a 3x zoom ,and the 18-135 is like a 6 or 7x zoom.
1st question i cannot give help, cos i am unfamiliar with that, but i can explain some for 2nd question.





http://www.1people1camera.com/2009/04/01/focal-length/





18-55mm as you mention is the focal length of the dslr lens. 18mm is the minimum focal length, while 55mm is the maximum. Different focal length is for different purpose, normally shorter focal length is for the object nearer, and the longer focal length is for the object further.





Then, is more the second number the better? I just can answer you, that is totally depends on your demand. Because as i mention earlier, different focal length for different shooting purpose.





Here some sample of focal length purpose:


below 35mm: landscapes and interiors


35mm to 70mm: portraits


70mm to 300mm: portraits and sports


300mm and above: wildlife and sports





For more relater to dslr lens, you can refer to my blog.
Answer to the first part of your question:





Broadway Photo does not have a good reputation with consumers. Here is the website to check it out.





http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Bro鈥?/a>





In my opinion, the price is too good to be true.





The answer to the second part of your question.





The lenses are marked with the focal lengths. A zoom lens has variable focal length eliminating the need for using several fixed focal length lenses. In the 18-55mm example, when set at 18 mm, you get a wide view and you can take picture of groups of people or pictures of buildings from a shorter distance. As you go higher in number like,24, 35, 45 the field of view becomes narrower and at 55mm you get the most telescopic effect. You bring things closer without moving towards your subject.


In the case of 18-135mm, the same rule applies. In this case, you have much stronger telescopic effect as you zoom towards 135mm setting. So in short, the lower the number (of focal length) on the lens, the wider it is. And the higher the number, the stronger the telescopic effect.