Basic terms, with lenses?

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anObsession

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Hi, Im struggling to understand what different lenses are used for what. For example, if I list these lenses;

20mm
28mm
35mm
50mm
85mm
100mm
135mm
300mm

Am i right in saying from the top to the bottom - photograph small and close-up to distance and far away? In basic terms or is this totally wrong? :S

please help!
 
It all depends on what you want to do! To some people, 85mm is ideal for portrait shots, to some only 50mm will do.

When I first got my nifty fifty, I discovered that it was great for everything apart from trying to catch wild animals. For me, it depends on what you grow to like and how you learn to use it.
 
The 20mm is close, the 300mm is far away. Focusing on close up objects is another side to it, and you'll need a macro lens for that which are lenses that have a very close focusing distance.
 
so if I wanted to photograph close up of hands holding a flower for example, i should use 100mm macro...?

whereas, if i was photographing a tall building, should I be using 20mm if im close to it? or still 300mm?

cheers
 
You can sometimes get away with a zoom for "close up" shots, e.g. of hands. But if you want extreme closeup you have to go macro, lenses all say their minimum focusing distance on them.

For a tall building you'll want 20mm or lower if you want to get the whole building in and you're very close. The 300mm would be good if you want a photo of one of the windows ;)
 
okay thankyou for that, starting to understand. just a quick question, if i am photographing a modern building made from stainless steel and glass, would it be useful to use a lens hood and a neutral density filter to reduce chance of overexpose and to bring out the shapes more?
 
That one has gone straight over my head, I don't know anything about photographing buildings. Hopefully someone will be along to help, but I would think a polarising filter would be enough to stop glare and you wouldn't need to go as far as an ND. Lens hoods are always good if just for protecting the front of the lens, but they also stop/reduce lens flare - although I don't know how much that stands on wide angle lenses.

Best bet would be to take a test shot and then compensate the exposure either way to get the result that you want, the joys of digital :)
 
I'd assume a circular polarising filter would be best (if any filter was needed at all). ND filter effects can be imitated in post-processing should the need arise.
 
anObsession said:
Hi, Im struggling to understand what different lenses are used for what. For example, if I list these lenses;

20mm
28mm
35mm
50mm
85mm
100mm
135mm
300mm

Am i right in saying from the top to the bottom - photograph small and close-up to distance and far away? In basic terms or is this totally wrong? :S

please help!
Click to expand...

This SITE may help you.
 
the angle of view varies with each lens
the small ones are wide angle and the larger you get the angle gets smaller
and of course you get closer...relatively

i started with 28..50 macro..105 and 200
i got a 500 mirror but quickly tired of its drawbacks

now i have a zoom
 
thankyou for that site, starting to become more clear now.
 
and thanks for the comment... quick question, if i wanted to photograph people, with slight action movement in the image, a standard lens 85mm should be right? right? or can anyone suggest better, for a high energy shot with interactuvity wwith the models in the frame.
 
i depends where you stand
smaller lenses are 'faster' in many respects and give more depth of field
for action..
50-80 will give truer perspective
any smaller will give distortion...however small

portraits are normally taken on the 80-135 focal length
wait for better info
;)
 
If you want to capture movement you want a slightly slower shutter speed so it captures a very slight blur instead of freeze framing them. It doesn't really matter what lens you use for that as long as you can frame the subject correctly in the shot.
 
The focal length is about field of view, not distance. You can get macro (close up) lenses of over 200mm and people use 10mm for mountains.

Yes you then focus the lens to some distance, but really I often think that quoting focal lengths isnt very helpful. I understand that in most optical specs people do actually talk about the angle of view.

If you are looking at images of a modern building taken close up then wide angle (small focal lengths) may be better as you will get the whole building in. Longer focal lengths will be better for getting detail.

A circular polarising filter will reduce reflections, and you may well want to capture reflections - depending on what is reflected in the building you are interested in.

An ND filter cuts down the amount of light getting into the camera so allows you to use longer exposures without overexposing - that may or may not be useful to you for a building - Personally I dont think it will help. A lens hood will help prevent lens flare (the sun getting into the lens directly at an angle) but wont have any significant effect in shooting a building in terms of exposure

To catch peoples movement I would take a couple of pics starting at maybe 1/30th sec exposure and see if that blurs peoples movement enough for you, vary either way to get what you want.
 
What lenses do you actually have access to? or are you looking to buy something specifically for this job?
 
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