Wide Angle Lenses

A wide angle lens gives a wider angle of view, so more of the area in front of the camera will appear in the shot. Like any piece of equipment there are disadvantages as well as benefits; the most common in the case of the wide angle lens occurs in landscape photography where the foreground may lack interest so the eye is not naturally led to the central point of the picture.

On the other hand, a wide angle lens allows subjects to be photographed much closer to the lens than usual, while at the same time keeping the background in focus. In some cases this effect can greatly enhance a composition.

Telephoto Lenses

A medium telephoto lens has many advantages. As well as bringing distant objects closer, it is a superb lens for portraits. It has definite advantages over a wide angle lens in this situation as, when used straight onto someone’s face, a wide angle lens will add an unflattering, albeit at times amusing, bulbous quality. A telephoto lens in the region of 100 mm enables the photographer to stand some distance away, making the subject more relaxed and allowing an unblocked light source. The lens will very slightly compress the image, making for a far more pleasing portrait. The depth of field will be less, so the background can be put out of focus and a part of the subject’s face, such as the eyes, can be highlighted.

Zoom Lenses

Many photographers find these lenses very convenient; they give the benefit of being adjustable to an infinite variety of focal lengths which can make composition of pictures much easier. Although in a technical sense a zoom lens will not produce the same quality as a prime lens of a given focal length, under most conditions the difference will be apparent only to an eagle eye.

Depending on the type of photography that is of interest, wide angle and telephoto lenses that are of a very extreme range have limited applications and can easily be underused; their purchase should therefore be considered very seriously.

Shift or Perspective Control Lens

The shift or perspective control lens allows photography of a subject that is very tall, without the problem of converging verticals; this occurs when the sides of the subject taper toward the top of the picture. The conventional rule for preventing this from happening is to ensure that the film plane is parallel to the vertical plane of the subject and then all vertical lines will remain straight in the final shot. With a fixed lens the top of a very tall subject is usually cut off, but with a shift lens the axis can be altered, allowing the camera to remain straight while the lens is moved upwards: the top of the building will then come into view.