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02/09/2008 04:47:31 PM · #1 |
Can some help expalin the difference between a Zoom, Telephoto and some times I have seen "macro" listed with those terms as well?
Also, the lens range is confusing to me... for example I have a Tamron 70-300mm. I understand that it's a telephoto/zoom.... however, does the 70mm equate to a certain distance the lens will zoom in/out too and can the "mm" be equated to feet away from the subject???
probably a stupid question but I'm just a noob. |
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02/09/2008 04:57:23 PM · #2 |
The number has nothing to do with how far it can zoom in or out or how close it can focus.
A telephoto lens is anything longer than a normal perspective (or how your eye sees). On a full frame camera, anything longer than about 70mm is considered telephoto. On your Rebel (or other cropped sensors) about 28 mm is normal and 50mm is a mild telephoto lens.
A normal lens is one that has a perspective that resembles that of the human eye.
Now, a ZOOM lens can be of any length. For example the 10-20 mm lens, 17-50, 70-200mm lenses are all zooms. They have a variable focal length. The other type is a prime lens. They have a fixed focal length. A 50mm lens is a prime.
Macro means basically that the lens will focus at close distances.
The 70 or 300 mm simply means that if the lens were made of only two pieces of glass it would be 70mm or 300 mm long, depending on if you had it zoomed in or out. Since they are made of more than 2 pieces of glass though, lenses tend to be significantly shorter than their focal length.
Message edited by author 2008-02-09 17:00:20.
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02/09/2008 05:06:01 PM · #3 |
So what is then considered a wide angle when speaking in the 'mm' term or is that not applicable?
Also, what is a fisheye lens and it's purpose ? |
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02/09/2008 05:17:55 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by kswanson:
So what is then considered a wide angle when speaking in the 'mm' term or is that not applicable?
Also, what is a fisheye lens and it's purpose ? |
Well, wide angle depends on the size of the sensor of the camera. On our Rebels, anything from about 24 mm down is wide angle. Your kit lens is a wide to moderate telephoto zoom lens. Your Tamron is a telephoto zoom lens. On a 5D with it's full-sized sensor, 35mm or lower is wide angle. I won't try to explain why, because I'll just confuse ya. Hopefully Robert will be along to clear things up. :-)
A fisheye lens is a wide, wide angle lens that makes no attempt to correct distortions of the image. Look at the images here: //www.dpchallenge.com/lens.php?LENS_ID=1102 you'll see why they call it a fisheye :-D
BTW, some fish eye lenses have a field of view so wide that you might actually see your toes in the shot if you're not careful.
Message edited by author 2008-02-09 17:22:34.
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