Photos taken with a wide-angle lens. Fixed focal length lenses

For architecture or landscape photography, a wide-angle lens is undoubtedly a good choice that conveys a unique perspective and has a strong potential for creative ideas. Appearance A wide-angle lens simply cannot be confused, and when used correctly, it can create stunning photographs that immerse the viewer in their surroundings. Today we're going to explore the basics and techniques for creating amazing wide-angle photos.

Wide angle lens selection

Finding the right wide-angle lens can be a daunting task for you, as the number is truly overwhelming, perhaps even more than any other lens classification. Today on the market there are whole line lenses that allow you to get a wide shot.

To get a wide-angle shot, the crop factor camera will need a slightly wider lens than its counterpart. Crop factor cameras actually make the lens focal length a little longer. Most likely, an 18mm lens is unlikely to be suitable for a crop factor camera. For such cameras, I would recommend looking for lenses named “ultra-wide”. There are, of course, no specific focal lengths to officially designate as “ultra-wide,” but a lens that starts at 10mm or 12mm will certainly fit the bill.

From my experience, third party manufacturers make very good wide angle lenses. Many photographers hesitate to buy "original" lenses, but I've found that manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron, Tokina make very good wide-angle lenses.

If you are looking for a good lens, then I especially recommend checking out Tokina lenses. They have a solid 11-16mm f / 2.8 lens and are often ranked as the best wide angle lens for crop factor cameras.

A less expensive option is the Tokina 12-24mm f / 4. In general, the budget is proportional to the wide angle, but should you really pay extra? For example, I mainly shoot portraits and reportage. The wide angle is a great addition, but I'm not likely to use it as my primary lens. For my full frame Canon camera, I decided to go with the tried and tested Tamron 19-35mm lens. This lens is hardly a full-fledged wide-angle lens, but I got it under $ 100.

Wide-angle photography techniques

Throughout your wide-angle photography, you must learn and use one mantra: anything that hits the viewfinder is your target. Wide-angle lenses allow you to capture a lot of subjects, and all of this should be used for the picture.

Just as a poet chooses every word carefully, you must choose your subjects wisely. Let's take a look at three recipes that will work well.

In the middle

There is one major effect: putting the viewer at the very center of the action. This advice that Ken Rockwell gives (love him or hate him) is regularly described on his website. This trick helped me get the best wide-angle photos.

Use a wide angle lens, step into the middle of the stage and share your look. This composition can help the viewer "plunge" into the scene, making it feel like they are in the same place as you. This formula is an enduring success for the creation of dramatic photographs.

Leading lines

Sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where there is an opportunity to capture the leading lines. Initially, you may not even notice them. When we talk about leading lines, we are looking for horizontals that will guide the viewer's eye throughout the photo. It can start somewhere in the foreground and continue until it either disappears beyond the horizon or ends at the edge of the picture.

Foreground elements

I recently spent a full day exploring the local waterfalls. The wide-angle lens is ideal for landscape photography. When I first tried to take some pictures of the waterfalls, I found myself making the mistake of “zooming in” and I couldn't fit the waterfall and the surroundings into one frame. Thanks to the wide angle, I can easily capture the foreground and surroundings for a better composition.

I have captured some of the stones in the foreground. The objects in front of the stage help the viewer to immerse in and understand where the shooting took place.

Features of wide angle lenses

If you are not familiar with the term "depth of field", you can read it. As a rule, for most portraits, photographers try to shoot at a shallow depth of field in order to highlight the main subject, to attract the viewer's attention.

But for wide-angle photography use the maximum depth of field. This means that a large number of objects will be in focus, making it difficult to select a specific object.

If you are primarily into photography, then a wide-angle lens is probably not for you. Of course this can come in handy for creative idea, but wide-angle lenses will not be able to isolate a specific subject, and will also distort the perspective a lot. The wide angle will distort the subject's nose and other facial features, making them disproportionately large.

Remember that distortion is especially common with wide angle lenses. The distortion effect has been present in many lenses for many years, but is especially pronounced with wide-angle lenses. There are two main types of distortion: Barrel distortion and Pincushion Distortion.

With barrel distortion, the photo appears to bulge, giving it a slightly bloated look. In the case of cushion distortion, the effect is exactly the opposite. Wide-angle lenses usually have barrel distortion.

Fish eye

Many people are familiar with the ultra-wide-angle wide angle known as fisheye. Fisheye or as it is also called in our area "Fisheye" is an ultra-wide-angle lens that has a capture angle close to 180 ° or even more.

Fisheye is produced by many manufacturers. These lenses are labeled “Fisheye” and are generally very wide focal lengths such as Nikon's 10.5mm and 16mm lenses. Canon recently introduced the world's first fisheye zoom lens, the 8-15mm f / 4.

If you are looking for an inexpensive option, you can again turn to third parties and purchase lenses such as the Sigma 8mm or Rokinon 8mm.

In addition to the above-mentioned Fisheye lenses, I will say that this is a popular and inexpensive way create a uniquely interesting perspective, but keep in mind that these lenses often lack sharpness.

Using Fishye can be a lot of fun. If you are looking to expand your lens lineup, you can buy one, but I would like to warn you against the temptation and suggest that you buy good wide angle lenses first.

Conclusion

Wide angle photography is very attractive and can really immerse the viewer in the frame. If you have been shooting mainly with tele- or zoom lenses all the time, then I recommend that you devote a little time to shooting at wide angle lens maybe the experience gained will change your point of view. Follow the above techniques for best results, and remember to always put the viewer at the center of the action.

Greetings dear reader. We are in touch with you, Timur Mustaev. On my blog, a lot has already been said about the carcasses of the camera, about the construction, about. It's time to touch on an equally important part - lenses. Surely each of you wondered what a wide-angle lens is for? It is in this article that I will talk about its purpose, features and use cases.

First you need to understand what a wide-angle lens is. Usually, wide angle lens or, as photographers say, "wide" is considered to be a set of lenses, the focal length of which is in the range of 24-35mm, which is true for. For crop matrices, the parameter will be somewhat large, and it depends on what you may have read about earlier.

Lenses with an ultra-wide angle are similar in concept to those considered in the article, however, they cannot be called the same type. This is due to the radically different results when working with each type. It is worth noting here that the ultra-wide angle is associated with "barrel" aberration, and the shorter the focal length, the more pronounced it is.

If we talk about dry numbers, then a lens with a focal length of 14-21 mm is considered to be ultra-wide.

Application

Inexperienced photographers often don't understand how professionals use wide-angle lenses. It should be noted right away that a beginner cannot always correctly set a task for himself and, as a result, not fully reveal the potential of the equipment.

So, the first ones usually use the type of lenses considered in the article due to the lack of the ability to move away from the object being shot. Professionals use them to approximate. In other words, the latter do not plan to move away from the subject as much as possible.

This is due to the fact that only an experienced photographer knows about one of the main features: wide-angle lenses have special lenses that make the main subject appear too large and the background ones too small. Simply put, shiriks indirectly distort reality, which is sometimes extremely useful.

Perspective

Now it is worth talking in more detail about this parameter. Most often, users play with the prospect to get an interesting result. The feature described above is related precisely to perspective. This feature is most clearly shown in the following images:

So why is reality distorted indirectly? The fact is that by itself, a wide perspective does not change much. It all depends only on the photographer, or more precisely, on his position relative to the subject being shot. If you get as close to it as possible, then the rest of the objects will seem too small.

What is it for? Most often, this feature is used to better showcase the subject while maintaining a beautiful background image. The photo attached below shows that the boats turned out to be disproportionately large when compared with the catamarans located a little to the left. This effect was achieved precisely due to the wide angle.

Among other things, it should be remembered: when shooting a camera with a wide angle, you need to place an object in the center of the frame in the foreground, otherwise the pictures will seem overloaded and the viewer's eye will have nothing to catch.

Distortion of verticals

Yes, even vertical subjects can appear tilted when shooting with this type of lens. To avoid this, you should choose right direction cameras - strictly on the horizon. If you send it higher or lower, then in the image, the initially vertical lines will begin to converge.

This statement applies to all types of lens kits, even telephoto lenses. However, on the latter, a similar pattern is less noticeable than on a wide angle. Basically, because of this, this type is considered the most difficult to learn, but these flaws are easily corrected in graphic editors, which you can read about in earlier articles.

Despite the frequent avoidance of the vertical convergence effect, it can also be used as an art. This is clearly seen in the picture when photographing in the forest: the trees seem to converge closer to their crowns, although, in reality, they are located absolutely parallel to each other.

Of course, there are many ways to avoid this effect if it is undesirable:

The first one is the direction to the horizon line. He has no shortcomings, solid advantages.
The second way is to increase the distance to the object. Of course, this is not always possible, in addition, pictures with increasing distance will lose in detail.
The third way is to stretch the image with the help of editors, however, when using it, the image can be greatly distorted and lose the correct perspective.
The fourth and final method is a lens with perspective control (tilt-shift function). Its main drawback is its high cost.

Why do many people say that polarizing filters should not be used with a wide-angle lens? As you know, their efficiency directly depends on the angle of incidence of light. If, for example, the lens is positioned perpendicular to the sun, this effect will be maximal, and when looking "in the forehead" it will be completely excluded. The effectiveness of the polarizer in different areas will differ due to the strong convexity of the lens, which can negatively affect the resulting frame.

Why should you use a gradient filter? Wide-angle lens sets often have this feature: pictures with at different levels illumination of objects can be overexposed in some areas and underexposed in others.

Such a filter solves the problem: it can absorb excess light or, conversely, add it where necessary.

Why does the shirik make the DOF too big? He doesn't do anything big, it's just a delusion. This is due to the way such mechanisms are used. It is rare for photographers to get as close as possible to the subject, which is why the frame is filled in differently from the usual lenses with an average focusing distance.

Shooting portraits wide open

Do you think you can use a wide-angle lens for portraits? And I'm pretty sure you will say no. You say the image will be distorted. And in part, you'd be right. But I'll tell you that portraits with this lens can be done. I also previously thought that this was complete nonsense, until I got acquainted with the works of the famous photographer Joe McNally. Joe broke that stereotype.

He recommends shooting very close with this lens. And if you take pictures from a very close distance, then there will be no visible distortions in the portrait. Distortion in the form of stretching is possible only at the edges of the photo, which is not very important. These are just additional objects that will only add zest to the photo. Therefore, everything is in your hands, experiment.

If you want to learn more not only about lenses, but also about the main points of photography, how to take pictures correctly, what to look for when shooting, and much more, then the video course “ My first MIRROR". I recommend this course to all my friends and acquaintances, especially for beginners.

My first MIRROR- for CANON fans.

DSLR for Beginner 2.0- for NIKON fans.

So that was all I know about wide-angle lenses and what I use them for. I hope you enjoyed the article and was helpful to you. If I'm right, then show this article to your friends and subscribe to our blog, as later you will be able to read a lot of articles on photography. See you soon!

All the best to you, Timur Mustaev.

Articles and Life Hacks

Reading the characteristics of the camera installed in a smartphone, we can often come across a mention of the fact that the lens in it is wide-angle.

This almost always applies to those that have become a stable trend over the past couple of years, even in budget models.

On the other hand, it is not always it comes about the "native" optics of the device: it may well mean a special accessory. We will try to understand the whole heap of information related to this issue.

Why do you need a wide-angle lens at all

The main purpose of such optics is to take panoramic images.

Offhand, there are several areas in which such optics simply irreplaceable:

Shooting of interiors of premises: museums, shops, exhibitions.
Obtaining high-quality images of architectural structures.
Photographing landscapes, landscapes.
Photos of large-scale events: concerts, sports, festivities.

That is, any situation when you want to capture as much detail as possible in the frame.

Ultra-wide-angle lenses are specialized lenses called "fisheye" or fish eye (fish eye). Thanks to uncorrected distortion, they can be used to obtain the effect of a "round" image of space.

main parameters

The key characteristic of a lens that determines its angle of view is. However, for smartphones, it is not too critical, since optics with a constant short focus are installed in them by default: 27-35 cm.

Therefore, if for a camera a wide-angle lens is considered with an angle of field of view from 52 ° to 82 °, then in mobile devices this value is much higher: 100 - 120 °.

For panoramic shooting, especially in closed spaces, good luminosity is very important. That is why it is usually much higher in wide-angle lenses than in "telescopes": f / 1.7-1.8 versus f / 2.0-2.4.

In two-module chambers

Using two modules with different characteristics to a certain extent solved the problem of fixed focal length in the lenses of mobile devices.

The most common in modern high-quality gadgets is a combination of two modules: a wide-angle one with a high aperture and a telescopic one with a smaller aperture.

Moreover, in most cases, the main one is the wide-angle, the viewing angle of which can reach 125 °. As a result, the resolution of the telephoto sensor in budget devices can be significantly lower than that of the “shirik”.

Selfie lovers

The viewing angle can be very critical for selfie fans, it is clear that in this case it already refers to.

On the one hand, wide-angle lenses allow you to capture as many interesting details of the background as possible: details of the structure, natural landscape, etc.

On the other hand, several people can "fit" into the frame at once, which is very important in large companies.

In this case, it is necessary to remember about the depth of field, because otherwise you can get unplanned. Usually this problem is solved using autofocus, but sometimes you have to dig deeper into the settings.

Detachable lenses

To compensate for the disadvantages of smartphone optics, an accessory has been created for mobile devices, which is a nozzle attached directly to the body of the gadget. It is also known as Clip Lens.

The set of such a "clothespin" includes several different lenses, which can be quickly replaced in relation to specific situation... Among them, there is usually a wide-angle one.

It should be said that the quality of images obtained with the use of such attachments suffers significantly: distortions occur, sharpness at the edges is lost.

But in many cases, you can get effects that are fundamentally inaccessible to the standard optics of mobile devices, such as the same “fisheye” or macro photography.

Finally

The cameras of mobile devices are getting better every year. Designers make every effort to circumvent the size limitations imposed on optics.

This makes it possible to obtain high-quality panoramic images in almost any conditions.

Particular progress has been made in this regard since widespread dual cameras that capture the ultimate requirement for lens optics versatility.

After all, as you know, universal tool does a lot, but equally bad. As a result, gadget users no longer have to choose between viewing angle and image scale.

This article will discuss how to properly use wide angle lenses. Some features of their work are also considered. Wide angle lenses are often used for the following purposes:

When you want to expand the landscapes with a large space, for example, filming a view of the city.
When it is desirable for the photographer to remain unnoticed when shooting on the street.

They have a diagonal of 100 degrees, and a width of 88 (the usual 35 mm frame).

How do wide-angle lenses work? Their features

They have a large storage capacity. Therefore, the objects depicted in the photograph are reduced in half. This is the difference between shooting from a conventional standard lens. In simpler terms, the wide-angle should not be used for shooting mountainous landscapes, because it is very small.

You can solve this problem. You should add some large objects to the frame that come out in the foreground. It can be:

bushes;
puddles on the roads.

Thus, the effect of an active spot will be created, which the viewer can catch with his gaze.

When using wide-angle lenses, optical distortion may appear in pictures. These are barrel distortions. They appear at the periphery of the frame. But it shouldn't be argued that the quality of the photo is degraded by this effect. Sometimes it happens the other way around. The composition in the shot looks more cozy with barrel distortions. If you would not like to distort the space, then take a closer look so that there are no trees or corners of houses around the edges. They will bend strongly. The camera must be held exactly horizontally, because there will be blockages in the verticals.

Wide-angle lenses have increased "glare". Therefore, you need to monitor the position of the sun when shooting on a sunny day. Use a lens hood if possible. If your outfit does not yet have it, then a little difficulty awaits you. Because of big size wide-angle (77 mm or more), it is difficult to select a lens hood and filter. If you find them, they will cost you a decent amount.

Wide-angle lenses for Canon combine with a short-throw lens for specific use. Since the sky has uneven polarization at a wide angle, a dark blue spot will appear on it. If you want to shoot a horizontal landscape with the sky, then the wide-angle is not recommended for use with a polarizer. If you still want to try, then you should opt for a narrow band ring. They are made specifically for wide angle lenses and prevent blackouts from falling into the corner of the frame.

With such lenses, the use of the built-in flash unit simultaneously with the short-throw option is ineffective. A weak flash will not be able to illuminate a huge spectrum of space and will be located close to a lens with a large diameter. Therefore, the pictures will dark spot in the form of a semicircle. It will be due to the fact that the lens will cast a shadow from the flash. She enters the frame from the bottom.

Of course, it's not just wide-angle lenses that cast shadows, but other types as well. However, due to the smaller angle of the field of view, it does not fall into the frame.

The way out of this problem is to increase or use an off-camera flash.

A wide-angle lens is a device for which the focal length is shorter than normal. Such devices cover a much larger angle of space than is accessible to the human eye. Due to the fact that the frame does not exceed the usual size, all objects in it will be smaller than when shooting with a traditional lens. In terms of expressiveness and optics, the wide-angle lens allows you to get a noticeably more interesting result, since with its help, when shooting, the effect of moving the plans apart is much more noticeable. These devices have a greater depth of field than standard models.

Peculiarities

A wide-angle lens has key features such as a wide angle of view and a shorter minimum focusing distance. The main characteristics are not unique. This category also includes ultra wide-angle lenses. This type does not have any restrictions, but photographers usually refer to it as those devices for which the focal length is below 24 millimeters. Due to certain specific properties of this category of devices, shooting with their help has a number of features. Perspective distortion is considered one of them, that is, objects located closest seem to be significantly larger than those in the background. This effect will be maximized if you come close to the main subject, while also including the one in the foreground. This distortion is especially appreciated when shooting landscapes, which allows you to add extra dimension to the scene. But because of this feature, you cannot take pictures of people, since the proportions of the body and head will be significantly distorted.

Usage

A wide-angle lens is useful for shooting architectural objects, but it is important to keep one detail in mind. The axis must not be tilted relative to the horizon, otherwise due to a large number vertical lines, the space will be noticeably distorted. The image will show the so-called falling buildings effect. Pros often use this as a complementary technique to get an interesting shot. Architectural structures should be shot using a special type of lens that can tilt or shift the optical axis to correct perspective distortion. For example, Nikon's wide-angle lens is capable of handling such a task efficiently. Such devices are almost indispensable for shooting in confined closed spaces, since the photographer will not have the opportunity to step back to cover the scene normally.

A wide-angle lens for Canon has these design features and technical capabilities which make it vulnerable to glare and ambient light. Because of this, you have to use a protective hood when shooting, which protects the front lens from the sun's rays, and also reduces the likelihood of glare in the picture.