Looks Achieved with Different Types of Camera Lenses

May 05, 2015 in Lenses, Tips/Resources/Guides

For beginner photographers and videographers, understanding what lens you may need and why you need it can be very confusing. There are all types of camera lenses from what looks like toys to telescopes. You’ve all seen the lens comparison videos where a portrait is taken with each lens, and the subjects face gradually goes from goofy (wide angle) to flat (telephoto). Taking a portrait with a fish eye lens is a good way to display distorted optical characteristics of the lens, but does not portray its uses in a way that is flattering to the lens.

In this article we will take you out of the studio and into the real world, simply trying to find the best shot for each lens type. If you don’t yet know difference between an 18mm and a 50mm, read on. Look for the images that reflect the type of shooting you want to do – then see what lens was used to achieve it!

The images produced by these lenses should be observed for their field of view characteristics only, that is how much can be seen from top to bottom and left to right. Things such as bokeh (blurry background) are achieved by camera placement and aperture, these looks are adjustable depending on the aperture of the lens. For more on

how aperture affects depth of field view the video here

. This article will be running through lenses in all the main categories, a few with multiple examples. Images are unedited with use on an APS-C sized sensor. More information on this at the end of the article.

12mm Lens Ultra Wide Angle

types of camera lenses, 12mm lens example Cameraplex

types of camera lenses, 28mm lens example Cameraplex

types of camera lenses, 50mm Lens Example Cameraplex

types of camera lenses, 55mm macro lens example Cameraplex

Macro lenses have the ability to focus much more closely than non macro lenses. A non macro lens may have a minimum focus distance of a foot, while macro lenses often can focus at one inch and closer. The best part is, beyond close focusing, they focus all the way to infinity just like your other lenses.

types of camera lenses, 16mm toy creative lens example Cameraplex

types of camera lenses, 35mm tilt shift lens example Cameraplex

types of camera lenses, 100mm Lens Type Example

types of camera lenses, 200mm Lens Example Cameraplex

200mm and beyond is considered the super telephoto range. Super telephoto lenses are best for sports and wildlife photography, when you want your subject to fill the frame while maintaining a good amount of distance from them.

All images shot in this article are taken with an APS-C sized camera sensor, this means that the smaller sensor (in comparison to a full frame sensor) gives a 1.5 – 1.6x zoom on the actual lens’ focal length. Times all focal lengths of the lenses used by 1.5 to get full frame equivalent focal length. Using the focal lengths in this article with a full frame camera sensor will result in a slightly wider field of view.

BONUS! [When getting the shot means getting awkward ]