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.
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E27 48 LED Wide Angle Spot Light Bulb Lamp 2.5W AC 110V $7.05 |
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Wide Angle .38X Macro HR Lens For Digital Camera BOWER $31.95 |
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TELEPHOTO & WIDE ANGLE FOR CANON 1000D Rebel XS $31.99 |
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2″ WIDE ANGLE CONVEX MIRRORS $0.99 |
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8 Watt Blue LED Wide Angle Moonlight Aquarium Lighting $26.00 |
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Wide Angle Lens Fisheye for Sony A350 A700 A900 Alpha @ $29.95 |
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Wide Angle Macro Fisheye Lens For Sony Alpha A330 A230 $39.99 |
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WIDE-ANGLE MACRO LENS -CANON EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi 400D $39.99 |
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FishEye Wide Angle Lens for Nikon D3000 D5000 D40 D300s $36.00 |
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Wide Angle Lens for Nikon D3000 D40 D50 D60 NEW $29.00 |
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Wide Angle Lens for Nikon D3000 D5000 D40 D300s NEW $25.00 |
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0.40x SUPER WIDE ANGLE FISHEYE AF LENS WITH MACRO 37MM $27.99 |
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IR AUDIO CCD CCTV Dome Security Camera wide angle lens $18.32 |
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Fuji discovery Mini dual Plus Wide Angle Camera 35MM $1.99 |
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6 x MR16 21 LED WHITE LIGHT BULB WIDE ANGLE ENERGY SAVE $21.79 |
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Wide Angle Lens Fisheye for Nikon 18-55mm & D40 D50 D60 $29.95 |
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Set Wide-Angle+Telephoto+Macro For Tamron 17-50/28-75mm $108.98 |
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SUPER WIDE ANGLE MACRO LENS -Nikon D60 D40x D40 D2XS D3 $44.28 |
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Fisheye WIDE ANGLE For Canon EOS 400D Digital Rebel XTi $44.90 |
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Super Wide Angle Fisheye Lens 4 Canon EOS Rebel XSI XTI $39.88 |
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Wide Angle Lens Fisheye for Finepix S9500 S9600 S6000FD $29.95 |
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2008 + Mazda6 Blue Tint Super Wide Angle Mirror Mazda 6 $162.95 |
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77 mm 77mm Aluminum metal wide angle shade lens hood $6.79 |
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2 * 194/168 Super White Halogen Light Bulbs Wide Angle $12.98 |
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Night Vision Wide Angle Car Rear View Color Camera $11.99 |
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Wide Angle Lens Fisheye Macro for Canon 10D 20D 30D $29.95 |
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6 MR16 48 LED 12V Wide Angle White Spot Light Lamp Bulb $32.69 |
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6 New 36 LED 12V WHITE Wide Angle Spot Light Bulb MR16 $28.85 |
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Wide Angle Lens Fisheye for Sony A100 A200 A300 Alpha $29.95 |
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TELEPHOTO + WIDE ANGLE CONVERSION LENSES FOR CAMCORDER $7.95 |
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1 x 84 LED E27 110V/220V Light Bulb WIDE ANGLE – white $6.05 |
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UFO Lantern 48 Wide Angle Camping LED Light fishing $0.99 |
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GU10 Red 44 LED Light Bulb Wide Angle Lamp 110/220v 3W $9.99 |
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Wide Angle Lens Fisheye for Nikon D70 D80 D90 D300 D2X $29.95 |
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2x T5 Wide Angle LED Xenon White Dash 12V Wedge Bulbs $3.50 |
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Sony HDR-FX1, Wide angle lens and FS4-ProHD Hard drive $2,350.00 |
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50x 3mm wide angle Flat Top White water clear led F/R $9.99 |
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20x Green Wide angle Straw Hat LED Free Resistors $0.99 |
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2x T5 Wide Angle LED Spark Blue Dash 12V Wedge Bulbs $3.50 |
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6 x 48 LED White Bulb Light Lamp Wide Angle MR16 MR-16 $32.69 |
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TELE + WIDE ANGLE + 3 FILTERS FOR KODAK Z650 Z710 Z740 $47.99 |
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2.0X TELEPHOTO + 0.45X WIDE ANGLE FOR KODAK Z712 Z812 $37.99 |
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TELEPHOTO + WIDE ANGLE FOR KODAK Z650 Z710 Z740 $37.99 |
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72MM WIDE ANGLE LENS 0.45X FOR SONY HDR-FX1 HVR-Z1U $48.99 |
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72MM 0.45X WIDE ANGLE LENS FOR CANON XH-A1 XH-G1 $48.99 |
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TELEPHOTO + WIDE ANGLE + TUBE FOR KODAK P850 P712 $37.99 |
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TELEPHOTO + WIDE ANGLE + TUBE FOR NIKON P5000 P5100 $37.99 |
