Photography News Issue 42

Photography News | Issue 42 | absolutephoto.com

Technique 26

In associationwith Wide awake Get up to speed with this month’s Ultimate Guide to Lenses. Looking to buy, improve your technique, or embrace some exciting projects then you’ve come to the right place... Getting to gripswith lenses canmake all the difference to your photography; each distinct type that you fit to your DSLR or CSC can change the way you see the world in a profound way, and that’s why photographers are so keen to pick the right models and use them in the correct way. Last issue, we looked at telephotos; this time it’s the opposite end of the scale –wide-angles. Wide-angle lenses are considered those with focal lengths shorter than about 40mm in the 35mm format, and anything below about 20mm is extreme wide-angle. In APS-C format a wide-angle is anything shorter than 30mm. The shorter the focal length, the wider the field-of-view will be, and things get even broader when you encounter fish-eye optics; while regular wide-angles fight distortion to keep the view as natural as possible, fish- eyes embrace it showing severe bowing in straight lines like the horizon. A wide field of view also affects how objects appear based on their distance. It exaggerates the sense of depth in the opposite way to how a telephoto compresses it. To see this in action, find a scene with two distinct objects in it, near and far. At wide-angle, compose with the closer of them at the bottomof the frame and themore distant object will look tiny. Switch to a standard or telephoto focal length and they’ll be more similar in size. Many think wide-angles are only for landscapes. A broad field of view will certainly let you shoot expansive scenes. But wide lenses can also focus more closely than standard and telephoto options, so you can fill the frame with details. So, it’s not just about scenic shots; their properties make them perfect for architecture, interiors, abstracts and stylistic portraits. Words Kingsley Singleton Pictures by Will Cheung and Kingsley Singleton

M

Pick the right lens Everything you need to know about choosing a wide-angle lens

PART 1

Picking a wide-angle means making a decision based on lots of factors. Not least, there’s price, and you won’t see much change out of £300 for a basic wide-angle. Of course, at thetopend,youcanspendthousands on a fast aperture ultrawide. the first place to look is for focal lengths of 40mm and below. But why ‘depending on your camera’? Well although the cropping effect of smaller sensors (like APS-C and Micro Four Thirds) can be a benefit to telephoto lenses (you get more reach), it means you often can’t shoot as wide as you’d like at the other end. For instance, a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera would give a much broader view than on an APS-C camera where, due to the crop factor, it’d be around 36mm or 38mm; still wide-angle, but less so. If you’re a full-frame user, it’s also important to realise that lenses designed for smaller sensors won’t necessarily work on your camera, or may require in-camera cropping. Specialist lenses designed to give What focal length do you need? Depending on your camera,

very wide views on APS-C cameras project a smaller image circle than a full-frame lens. So, if you use one on a full-frame camera you’ll see lots of vignetting. Lens names help identify this; on Nikon it’s DX, on Canon EF-S, and on Sigma, it’s DC. The temptation is to go for extreme wide-angle lenses, those starting around 10mm or 12mm, but remember these can be trickier to use; you’ll get a massive field- of-view, but you need to be careful when composing, to avoid empty foregroundandtinydistantsubjects. Prime or zoom? Fast or slow? Zoom lenses allow a range of focal lengths, and primes just one, so which type of lens you need depends on how flexibly you need to frame. Zooms are more adaptable, so you can reframe without moving your feet. On the other hand, primes can make you work harder at your compositions. Prime lenses will also often offer faster maximum apertures and improved image quality thanks to their simplified design (though of course this isn’t always the case!).

Above Wide-angle lenses change the way you see the world. Taken in the same location but at different camera to subject distances, the shot on the left uses a wide-angle 24mm focal length, while the one on the right is closer to 80mm. The difference is clear. The wide-angle viewmakes close objects much larger in comparison to the background, while the longer focal length keeps the subjects at a more similar size.

Powered by