Wide Angle
Have a nice, shiny SLR? Happy that you now have the ability to change lenses whenever you want? Have no clue what kind of lens you should get?
Welcome to the typical plight of the first time SLR purchaser.
Unless you’re a fairly serious hobbyist (in which was you can probably stop reading this article), you might be a little baffled at all your lens options as an SLR owner. You’re probably asking yourself which types of lenses you need, and what all those crazy letters and numbers in front of the name mean. How is a poor consumer to choose?
Let me make it simple for you. I’m not going to give you a complete course in everything you need to know about camera lenses, but hopefully after this, you have some idea of that you want to buy. First of all, let me state that unless you have a good reason to choose otherwise, you’ll want a zoom lens. As you probably know, a zoom lens allows you to change the magnification of your lens (we’ll start calling it by its proper name, the “focal length,” from now on. These are extremely convenient, and very high quality these days, so there really is no reason to choose a fixed focal length, or “prime” lens.
So, the first thing you’ll notice when shopping for zoom lenses are the focal lengths. Focal lengths for zoom lenses are designated using the number hyphen number system, such as 18-70. These numbers represent the focal length in millimeters, and the larger the number, the more “zoomed in” your picture appears. Assuming you’re using a digital SLR, this particular example would zoom from a moderately wide angle view (28mm) to a moderately close up view (70mm). This would be a good, everyday lens to carry around.
The second set of numbers represent the “speed” of these, which basically means how much light the lens lets in. In photography, the more light, the better. This is what the “f” number means, and the lower it is, the better. For example, a 18-70 f4 lens is better than a 18-70 f5.6 lens. Sometimes, you’ll see two numbers, like “f4-5.6,” which means that the speed gets slower as you zoom out. This is perfectly normal, but its something to be aware of.
So, which lenses should you buy? Well, the easy answer is to buy something with a huge range, like 18-300, and be done with it. However, a general rule of thumb is that the longer the zoom range is, the poorer the image quality. However, many of these lenses are a lot better than they used to be, and for many casual photographers, the image quality trade off is worth the convenience.
If you want better lenses, try to get a wide angle zoom to cover the wide angle ranges, and a telephoto zoom for when you really need to get up close and personal. Buying first party lenses (i.e., Canon lenses for Canon cameras) will almost always get you better quality than third party lenses, though you’ll pay more. Also, be sure to check up on reviews for a lens before you purchase, it will make for a happier decision.
I hope this has helped take some of the mystery out of shopping for a lens for your SLR. Remember, its not the camera, the lens, or any other piece of gear that makes your pictures great. Its you, the person behind the camera. So learn how to take better pictures, get a solid set of lenses, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a great photographer.
David Wilson is a photographer and webmaster. He encourages you to visit Discount DSLRs to save on cheap digital SLRs. If you’re looking for those lenses at great prices, check out our SLR lens section.
Would a wide angle lens on a slr camera help with group pictures?
Need to know what a wide angle lens does for a picture
A moderately wide angle lens is great for group shots. I would not use a extreme wide angle lens because you will get some distortion. If you have a zoom lens that has a range in 24-40mm area this should do the trick without any distortion.
|
|
WIDE ANGLE FISHEYE LENS FOR NIKON D300 D200 D100 D3 $47.88 |
|
|
Door Eye Spy Hole Security Wide Angle Color Camera S50 $0.99 |
|
|
Fisheye+Wide Angle+Tele-photo Lens – Panasonic DMC-LX3 $133.77 |
|
|
WIDE ANGLE TELE MACRO LENS SET for CANON EOS 450D Xsi $44.98 |
|
|
Wide Angle + Tele Lens For Minolta Dimage 5 7 7i A1 A2 $44.99 |
|
|
1 X COOL WHITE 60 Led WIDE ANGLE Light Bulb E27 SCREW $3.64 |
|
|
58mm 0.40X HD WIDE ANGLE FISHEYE LENS for CANON GL1 GL2 $29.99 |
|
|
Tele/Wide-Angle Acc Kit for Nikon D60 and 18-55mm Lens $82.99 |
|
|
0.40x SUPER WIDE ANGLE FISHEYE AF LENS WITH MACRO 37MM $22.99 |
|
|
58MM WIDE ANGLE+TELEPHOTO LENS FOR CANON XS XSI T1i XTi $82.99 |
|
|
0.40x SUPER WIDE ANGLE FISHEYE LENS FOR SONY HANDYCAM $22.99 |
|
|
52MM 0.45X WIDE ANGLE LENS FOR PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-LX3 $26.99 |
|
|
Wide Angle + Tele Lens For Minolta Dimage 5 7 7i A1 A2 $44.99 |
|
|
0.40x Super Wide Angle Fish Eye AF Lens with Macro 37mm $22.99 |
|
|
.43 WIDE ANGLE LENS for Sony Alpha DSLR-A300 A350 A200 $49.99 |
|
|
Wide-Angle Lens for Canon VIXIA HV30 HV20 HG10 WD-H43 $29.99 |
|
|
WIDE ANGLE FISHEYE LENS FOR NIKON Digital SLR D40 D40X $47.88 |
|
|
30x 3mm Yellow Wide angle Flat Top LED Free Resistors $0.99 |
|
|
4-9mm Wide Angle Fixed CCTV Camera Board Lens AN0409VBZ $17.99 |
|
|
2.1mm Wide Angle Fixed CCTV Camera Board Lens Bmtv2.1mm $9.99 |
|
|
2.5mm Wide Angle Fixed CCTV Camera Board Lens Bmtv2.5mm $10.99 |
|
|
3.5-8mm Wide Angle Fixed CCTV Board Lens AN0358VB $15.99 |
|
|
wide angle DSP surveillance bullet LED camera CCTV c41 $79.99 |
|
|
0.5x WIDE ANGLE LENS fits Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DL-M $24.93 |
|
|
NEW 0.5x WIDE ANGLE LENS fits Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX $22.59 |
|
|
0.5x WIDE ANGLE LENS fits Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor $22.59 |
|
|
0.5x WIDE ANGLE LENS fits Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III $24.93 |
|
|
0.5x WIDE ANGLE LENS for Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM $24.93 |
|
|
B CAR REAR VIEW REVERSE CAMERA WIDE ANGLE NIGHT VISION $25.99 |
|
|
52mm 0.45x Wide Angle Lens for NikonD40 D40x D50 D60 $21.99 |
|
|
52mm 0.45x Wide Angle Lens for K100D K200D GX-10 GX-1S $21.99 |
|
|
WIDE ANGLE LENS Fisheye FITS CANON EOS REBEL 300D 400D $43.88 |
|
|
30x 5mm Yellow Wide angle Flat Top LED Free Resistors $0.99 |
|
|
Super Wide Angle Lens for Canon EOS SLR Cameras $26.99 |
|
|
Super Wide Angle Lens for Canon XSi 450D XTi 350D 50D $26.99 |
|
|
Wide Angle Macro 0.42 FISHEYE LENS for CANON HV20 $39.99 |
|
|
Door Eye Spy Hole Security Wide Angle Color Camera S50 $0.99 |
|
|
NEW .45X WIDE ANGLE LENS For Nikon D3 D40 D60 D300 D700 $29.99 |
|
|
55mm Wide Angle fish eye Lens For Sony DSLR A330 A230 $37.95 |
|
|
30mm 0.45x Wide Angle Lens SONY SR10 SR60 SR45 SR65 etc $21.99 |
|
|
8 Watt Blue LED Wide Angle Moonlight Aquarium Lighting $24.00 |
|
|
100 X 5mm cylindrical Flat Top white led wide angle F/R $20.99 |
|
|
72 LED MR16 WARM white Light Bulb WIDE ANGLE 12V GU5.3 $13.74 |
|
|
2x 54 LED GU10 White Light Bulb WIDE ANGLE 110V 220V * $17.13 |
|
|
NIGHT VISION IR Wide Angle CCTV Car Rear View Camera o $24.14 |
|
|
Pro 0.42x WIDE Angle Macro Lens for Canon EOS XTi 400D $41.42 |
|
|
Door Eye Spy Hole Security Wide Angle Color Camera S50 $0.99 |
|
|
Wide Angle LENS MACRO 0.45X for kodak Z1012 IS Z8612 $29.99 |
|
|
Zeikos 0.45 Wide Angle Lens 58mm Titanium Optics $9.99 |
|
|
100PCS X 5mm cylindrical yellow led,big/wide angle F/R $14.50 |