You’ve probably heard or used a wide angle lens before. Well, this type of lens has a focal length of 35mm or shorter, which gives you a wide field of view. They wider your field or view, the more of the scene you’ll be able to see in the frame. Actually, this type of lens is ideal for many scenarios, and most photographers have at least on trusty wide-angle lens in their kit.
If you’ve done your homework, you will agree that wide-angle lenses are a staple in most landscape photographers’ kits and for good reason. After all, a wide-angle lens has the ability to capture sweeping vistas and starry nights. Aside from landscape photography, architecture, and real estate, photographers frequently settle on these lenses to make a space feel more expansive and impressive.
The classic focal length that street photographers use is 35mm, as it approximates how you see the world with your naked eye. Wide-angle lenses are also perfectly suited for travel photography, as the short focal length offers you more versatility to capture the multitude of scenes you may encounter.
On the flip side, there is a slight good chance that a wide lens could hinder rather than help your photos in some scenarios. Portrait photographers tend to go with a higher focal length to avoid unflattering distortion that comes with wider lenses. And a telephoto lens is almost always the ideal pick for sports, wildlife photography, or any time you need to get close to the action.
There are three different subcategories of wide-angle lenses you should know about. They include ultrawide-angle lens, wide-angle lens, and the standard wide-angle lenses. Focal lengths under 16mm tend to fall into the category of ultrawide-angle lenses, and they are generally considered specialist lenses, used only for certain circumstances, such as astrophotography scenes where you want to capture the whole Milky Way band.
Things tend to be different with wide-angle lenses as they range from 16mm to 24mm, and are wide without falling into fish-eye territory, where extreme stretching of the frame occurs. The sweet spot for most landscape photography lies between these focal lengths, but you can use this range for any number of everyday uses too.
Focal lenses from 24mm to 35mm generally get labeled as ‘standard.’ This is a great range for getting wide shots without too much distortion. But if you want a lens that really opens up tight spaces, such as cityscapes or small rooms, you might find it ideal to go wider.