Camera Lens Impact

camera lens impact

Next time you have a photoshoot you might want to ask the photographer to use a 28mm lens. When they say “The camera adds 10 pounds” they’re not kidding.

12 Comments leave a comment below

  1. I wonder what the iPhone camera equivalent is? This may explain why i hate my selfies!

  2. It’s actually the distance to the subject that matters, not the focal length as such. As Wikipedia says, “Note that linear perspective changes are caused by distance, not by the lens per se – two shots of the same scene from the same distance will exhibit identical perspective geometry, regardless of lens used. However, since wide-angle lenses have a wider field of view, they are generally used from closer, while telephoto lenses have a narrower field of view and are generally used from farther away.”

  3. the lens on an iphone is equivalent to 28 mm :)

  4. deb: That’s why they invented the selfie stick, to make the distance between the camera and the selfie subject larger.

  5. You got it all wrong, 28mm is a horrible focal length for portraits, it distorts your features. The standard portrait lens is 80mm or 50mm both are close to what the human eye will see and therefore give more pleasing results.

  6. Elliott: Did you read and understand my (first) comment? It’s not the short focal length as such that distorts. It is the short distance. If you take a photo with a 28mm lens from the same distance as one with a 80mm lens, and enlarge the central part of the 28mm photo, it will look the same as the 80mm one.

  7. Tor: yes I understand but why would anyone do that?

  8. Just to prove the point;) But yeah, I agree, this is a silly thing to argue about, and it is OK to cut the corners when explaining things to people.

  9. This comparison is misleading.

  10. I like seeing them all in sequence like this to drive home the effect to people who haven’t experienced it yet for themselves. Tor is suggesting heavy cropping, selfie sticks, making it sound like focal length isn’t a measurement of distance, quoting wikis, and then agreeing it’s silly is amusing and all but IRL most photogs use something around 100mm to get a nice head shot with a little bit of compression, as this post demonstrates nicely. It also is a good focal length for desirable portrait background focus, or should I say lack there of, which is also a large part of the photo.

  11. The suggestion that a 28mm will deliver a better portrait is an odd call, while the distortion may make the face appear smaller on a 28, a good 50 or 80 will deliver a narrow depth of field and nice bokeh which help to soften and accentuate the portrait, something you will never get from a 28. And as previously mentioned the 50 or 80 will deliver a portrait that is closer to the perception of the human eye – if that’s what you’re looking for,