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Lens sizes for Private Investigators

Grant • 3 March 2020

 What lens sizes do Private Investigators use?

 

 

Consider lens sizes for PI work is a critical aspect of DSLR photography and difficult to master. However, with some basics tips and tricks, you can achieve good results quickly.


It is of important to note that there are some great bridge cameras that can achieve solid results especially for long range high zoom situation and there are some really great specialist bridge camera models that can fit this need. This comes at the cost of reduced flexibility in the bridge camera, especially in aperture size. Mirrorless cameras perform better than DSLR's where images per second are needed above 2-3, think Paparazzi. Usually going up to 60fps (frame per second), 60 photographs per second, is essentially incredibly high quality video. With some newer models offering 50mp, we are very optimistic about the future of the technology.


However, most needs can be met with a DSLR and a camcorder, comparatively DSLR's are cheaper. Especially so for just the body. Low f stop telephotos still range at £1,500 - £4,000 which is the main expense.


As DSLR's become the inferior option for those who need more photos in a shorter time space, the mirrorless revolution will begin now as pricing becomes more competitive.


 The most popular lens size for a private investigator is 400mm-800mm with larger aperture sizes for better lowlight performance, especially f4.5 and below. For closer work, most of which will still comparably far for the average photographer, a lens size of 200-400mm with a slighter large aperture of f2-3 would be more ideal.  With that said, I would personally recommend carrying at least 4 different lens types as you can never be quite sure what you will encounter including distances and light levels. 

I would categorise the 4 into these types:

Super long 800mm - Dark, low f-stop >5
Super long 600mm - High light, regular f-stop
Long 400mm - Good light, regular f-stop
Long 400mm - Dark, low f-stop >4

With these 4 you will rarely encounter or perhaps never encounter an investigation style photography need unmet. Any closer shots can be taken with hidden body cams or your mobile, which would be better suited to not being questioned about why your 3ft long camera is in their face.

Ensuring lowlight performance, much in the same way we are concerned are with minimum lux with camcorders, with our DSLR or mirrorless camera is of incredible importance and so the f-stop is essentially how much light the lens is able to gather for the size. As an example, a 400mm lens with f1.2 would be able to take photographs in lower light with a faster shutter speed than a 400mm lens with f3.8. This dynamic between moving objects, shutter speed and low light levels can be summarized with the following 'less light, more movement and lower shutter speed means poorer images for Private Investigators'. As such, we aim to minimise the shutter speed by allowing more light into the lens with lower f stops. The lighting situation outside and the movement we cannot control and as such we just need the correct size lens, with good quality and hopefully in enough light. 

The key middle ground for most lens sizes is 180mm-400mm which most photography will be taken with. The canon 200mm lens found here is a good starting point for seeing what kind of equipment you need.

Lens sizes, availability, usability and the lens size to f-stop ratio are important factors to consider before buying your base model of camera to ensure you can actually buy the parts you need. There are adaptors and off-brand options available if you something doesn't quite fit, however you should expect suboptimal results.

SD card are also an important part of photography. We recommend using high quality class 10 cards with a minimum of 200mb/s read/write speeds. Remember, SD cards fail and cheaper models fail more often. 
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