As seen in the April issue of

Stator MASTER LENS AN AFFORDABLE GROUP Rotor The fi nal lens group relays the focused TELEPHOTO LENS light to the image sensor. How 17 pieces of glass create clear photographs of the moon—or a blade of grass One of the most important parts on any camera is the lens assembly. This collection of glass pieces bends light so that the image arrives at the image sensor in sharp focus. Zoom lenses such as Tamron’s SP 70-300mm give photographers the fl exibility of several lens assemblies—from a wide-view to a supertelephoto—in one. Such clarity often comes at a cost: Some supertelephoto lenses go for $10,000 or more, in part because their manufacturers use expensive fl uorite lenses to correct for color aberrations. The SP 70-300’s secret weapon is its extra-low-dispersion glass lens, which produces extremely sharp images at a far lower cost. Here’s how that glass lens works together with the rest of the assembly to create clear pictures without breaking the bank.—Amanda Schupak VIBRATION- COMPENSATION Inside the UNIT Telephoto Lens Vibration control counteracts the LIGHT- blurring caused GATHERING by jittery hands. LENS The VC CPU SPECS An antirefl ective ULTRASONIC SILENT gathers pitch and coating—one or DRIVE ASSEMBLY yaw data from Focal length: 70-300 mm more layers of LOW-DISPERSION LENS To achieve autofocus, a CPU uses voltage AUTOFOCUS embedded gyro- Aperture range: F/4–F/45 materials that As part of the variator group, which from the camera battery to vibrate the In one kind of autofocus, called active sensors and, Length: 5.9 inches suppress light controls image magnifi cation, the low- so-called stator of the ultrasonic silent autofocus, a sensor on the camera by way of three Weight: 1.7 pounds refl ections— dispersion lens corrects for any additional drive. These vibrations turn the rotor, body determines the distance to the coils and two Minimum focal distance: applied to both EXTRA-LOW-DISPERSION LENS light-bending that occurs after zoom. which moves the XLD lens either forward shooting subject by bouncing light o electromagnets, 4.9 feet sides of each lens Usually glass refracts and splits white Without it, chromatic aberrations—in which or back. A sensor tracks the rotation of the the object, and relays that information manipulates Price: $450 ensures that more light into a spectrum, and that can result only some of the colors remain in focus— focus ring and the position of the lens. The to the lens’s main CPU. In passive a vibration- photons make in blurred images and distorted colors. can create purplish fringes along the CPU compares these sensor readings with autofocus, the camera’s image sensor compensation it to the image The XLD lens keeps those light rays edges of greens and blues, which makes those from the autofocus sensor, nudging analyzes the incoming image to lens to negate the sensor. bound more tightly. subjects look fuzzy or doctored. the lens until you get a focused shot. determine if the image is in focus. shakes. ERIC HEINTZ

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