Difference of wide angle lens

[alan_l1]

I did a search but couldnt find what I was looking for so hopefully someone can

help me out a bit. Can anyone show me the difference in a wide angle lens as to

a standard 18mm-55mm? I know the wide angles are less than 18mm, like 10mm, so

can anyone show two pics with a focal point of 18mm and than a 10mm? thanks ! :)

[jose_angel]

Usually, "Wide angle" lenses are the ones with a focal lenght shorter than the "standard" lens. Then, a "standard" lens will be the one with a focal lenght equivalent to the diameter of the format where it is used. That`s not absolutely true because e.g. the diameter of the 35mm film format is near 42mm, and the standard lenses for this format are the 50mm ones. It`s just a convention.

 

On all Nikon APS-C format cameras (Nikon DX format), the "standard" lens will be near 28mm. Then, all focal lenghts below 28mm could be considered "wide angle". On your 18-55mm zoom lens, the 18, 20 and 24 settings will be considered "wides", 28mm "standard", and 35, 50 and 55mm "tele".

 

A 10mm lens must be considered as a "extreme wide angle". You are looking for a comparison between what we can call "extreme" (10mm) and "moderate" wide angle (18mm) (again, on a "DX" camera).

 

Also, there are two different kind of "extreme wide angle" lenses at the (near) 10mm focal lenght: rectilinear and fish-eye (circular image) lenses. You can also ask for both samples.

[alan_l1]

oh, ok.

You just taught me more about lens. thanks. So yeah, samples of each type (focal lenght) would be great! ty

[danield]

I find this link very useful:

 

http://www.tamron.com/lenses/learning_center/tools/focal-length-comparison.php

 

It's for Tamron lenses but that shouldn't really matter

[ronald_moravec1]

Sample photos do not help much. With a 10mm on a D200 or 15 mm on file, ypu can stand in one corner of a room and see the whole room.

 

Double the focal length to 10 or 30, the horizontal view is cut in half.

 

You may also think in term of a standard lens, 35mm or 50mm on film. If you cut it in half to 18 or 25, the view doubles.

[eigtball]

Most references say that anything 24mm and smaller are considered ultra wide. I figure this is due to the fact they are half the "normal" focal length (50mm).

 

Cheers,

[Peter_in_PA]

Sean,

 

That's true in 35mm parlance.

 

In DX digital, Wide is probably 18-24, ultrawide is less than 18. 35 is pretty much "normal".

[carl_becker2]

Alan, if you do a search for images of the Sigma 10-20mm you should be able to look at a scene shot with different focal lengths. If you really want to see the difference it would be best to go to the camera store and play with a wide zoom. Better yet rent one for a weekend.

[dan_brown4]

Standard lens, focal length equals the diagonal of the frame (i.e. 50mm for film, and

42mm for DX).

 

Wide angle goes down to 1/2 of standard (e.g. 25mm for film, 21mm for DX)

 

Superwide angle goes down to 1/3 of standard (e.g. 17mm for standard, 14mm for DX)

 

Ultrawide angle goes down to 1/4 of standard (e.g. 12mm for film, 10mm for DX)

 

Portrait length goes up to 2x standard (e.g. 100mm for film, 85mm for DX)

 

Telephoto length goes up to 4x standard (e.g. 300mm for film, 170mm for DX)

 

Super telephoto is the longer stuff.

 

Of course, the lines are little fuzzier than that, but you get the idea.

 

IMHO.

[dan_brown4]

Oops, math error. DX lengths should have been (35, 17, 12, 9, 70, and 15, respectively).

 

I hate when I do that.

[tri-x1]

Nikon DX: Take the focal length of a film lens, say 24mm. Divide by 2 equals 12mm, then multiply by three, equals 36mm. 36mm is the DX equivalent. (That's not technically the case but there's no need to get into that can of worms).

[alan_l1]

thanks for all the answers. looks like i might just go to a camera store and rent some wide angles and upload them on my computer to see how it really looks like. thats a great idea, but didnt know they rent out lense... :(