For example, it is not uncommon for the rear element of a retrofocus lens of 18 mm to be more than 25 mm from the film plane. There are many different types of camera lenses to choose from. Camera movement can often play a very important role in how a shot or a scene feels. [a] For the most part, the dimensions of these image sensors are similar to the APS-C image frame size, i.e., approximately 24 mm x 16 mm. The benefits of using a wide angle camera lens can be found in the work of some of the best filmmakers from Steven Spielberg to Roman Polanski to Stanley Kubrick. Check out this shot from the film The Man Who Wasn’t There in which the Coens masterfully demonstrate how a wide lens combined with even a subtle push in can be very effective. For 35 mm cameras, lenses producing rectilinear images can be found at focal lengths as short as 8 mm, including zoom lenses with ranges of 2:1 that begin at 12 mm. For example, buildings appear to be falling backwards much more severely when the camera is pointed upward from ground level than they would if photographed with a normal lens at the same distance from the subject, because more of the subject building is visible in the wide-angle shot. Fisheye lenses are common in action sports, but in photography and film can cause unwanted wide angle lens distortion. By convention, in still photography, the normal lens for a particular format has a focal length approximately equal to the length of the diagonal of the image frame or digital photosensor. What is a wide angle lens used for? For a full-frame 35 mm camera with a 36 mm by 24 mm format, the diagonal measures 43.3 mm and by custom, the normal lens adopted by most manufacturers is 50 mm. Therefore, the angle of view for any given focal-length lens will be narrower than it would be in a full-frame camera because the smaller sensor "sees" less of the image projected by the lens. What is a wide angle lens used for in cinematography? What do you think his best film is? Using it with a person as a subject would create a very unflattering photo. This does, however, work best with small objects such as flowers, bugs, or other extreme close ups. wide-angle lens definition: 1. a camera lens that provides a wider view than usual 2. a camera lens that provides a wider view…. Longer lenses magnify the subject more, apparently compressing distance and (when focused on the foreground) blurring the background because of their shallower depth of field. Some of the best directors in history utilize a wide lens to create space in the frame for the blocking and staging necessary to tell the story. These lenses can range from 70mm - 300mm. We’ll answer all of these common questions and get a better understanding of the visual and psychological effects that a wide lens produces. One of the most fundamental reasons to use a wide lens is simply because you can fit more into the frame. Below 18mm enters fisheye lens territory. Here's another episode from our Filmmaking Techniques Masterclass dedicated to moving the camera. Because different lenses generally require a different camera–subject distance to preserve the size of a subject, changing the angle of view can indirectly distort perspective, changing the apparent relative size of the subject and foreground. Spielberg is notorious for his loyalty to the 21mm lens. Simply put, they have a short focal length and thus a wider field of view. (more…), Becoming a film director isn’t a straight path. Although there are many benefits to the wide lens, there are many other lenses to choose from. Let's go back to Deakins as he explains how he used a wide lens to create a more subjective experience in 1917. There are two varieties of wide-angle lens: short-focus lenses and retrofocus lenses. Wide-angle lens definition is - a camera lens that is used to take pictures that show a wider view than other lenses. Using a wide lens is a great way to emphasize those movements to create a more dynamic and engaging shot. Subscribe for more filmmaking videos like this. Common wide-angle lenses for a full-frame 35 mm camera are 35, 28, 24, 21, 20, 18 and 14 mm, the latter four being ultra-wide. A telephoto lens has a longer focal length than a standard lens, yielding a magnified image and a narrow field of view. When it comes to blending the boundaries between monster and man, no one does it better than Academy Award-winning director, Guillermo del Toro. Look it up now! Wide angle lens photography is popular among adventure and outdoor photographers because they are able to fit vast landscapes into the frame especially when utilizing an ultra wide lens of 24mm - 18mm. Up next, we'll look at the telephoto lens and scenarios in which they might be the perfect lens to capture the perfect shot. Another result of using a wide-angle lens is a greater apparent perspective distortion when the camera is not aligned perpendicularly to the subject: parallel lines converge at the same rate as with a normal lens, but converge more due to the wider total field. A wide-angle lens is any lens with a set focal length that is shorter than the length of the sensor or film. How does a wide angle lens work? Download our FREE e-book to get in-depth explanations on prime vs. zoom lenses, anamorphic vs. spherical lenses, wide angle, standard, telephoto and even specialty lenses that all tell a slightly different story. For full frame sensors, a wide angle lens would be any lens with a focal length equal to or less than 35mm. Before we dive into when to use a wide angle lens in film, you may be wondering “What is a wide angle lens?”. Short-focus lenses are generally made up of multiple glass elements whose shapes are more or less symmetrical in front of and behind the diaphragm. While there are several focal lengths that may fall under the wide lens category, it is important to fundamentally understand what is considered a wide angle lens by definition. a field of view significantly wider than that of the human eye Before we get into the pros and cons of wide lenses, take a minute to download our FREE Ebook — Camera Lenses Explained Vol. Linhof) have offered special focusing lens mounts, so-called 'wide-angle focusing devices' for their cameras that allow the lens to be focused precisely without moving the entire front standard. Sometimes they are encompassed by the dense cities around them while others face vast emptiness. In a standard dialogue scene, a wide lens is the difference between the audience feeling like they are listening to conversation versus being in the conversation. Learn how and when to remove this template message, The physics of Rectilinear and Equidistant wide angle lenses, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wide-angle_lens&oldid=961367287, Articles needing additional references from July 2013, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2015, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 June 2020, at 02:15. In some of these, an ultra wide angle lens is used by the best cinematographers so that the horizon stretches from edge to edge of the frame creating a feeling that the world continues on past what we can see. n a lens system on a camera that can cover an angle of view of 60° or more and therefore has a fairly small focal length. Take a look at how he completely changes the feeling of this interview simply by changing the lens. As example, a 28 mm lens on the DSLR (given a crop factor of 1.5) would produce the angle of view of a 42 mm lens on a full-frame camera. Wide angle lenses can create visual and psychological effects depending on how they are used. Wider lenses tend to magnify distance between objects while allowing greater depth of field. There are multiple ways of getting there but, ultimately, there's only one driving force: you. Many of the lenses in this range will produce a more or less rectilinear image at the film plane, though some degree of barrel distortion is not uncommon. With a wide lens, you have many options for camera framing and shot composition. Understanding these techniques will help any filmmaker find the best way to tell their story.