The 10 Best Street Photography Camera Options in 2021

Tags: Photography for Beginners,  

 

By Gabor Holtzer

 

Street photographers are always searching for the best street photography camera. Luckily, there are always new cameras developed and released on the market.

So, what is the best camera for street photography? It depends on what you are photographing. Candid images are going to be challenging to capture with a hefty DSLR camera. Architectural images won’t have the HDR (high-dynamic range) they deserve from a point-and-shoot.

But the camera is not the only important factor for great images. A stunning photograph comes from a multitude of areas. You need a useable camera and a quality lens, of course. But patience, planning and confidence are just as essential.

 

What to Look for in a Street Photography Camera

There are a few things your camera will need for capturing street photography. No matter what your focus is, shooting in RAW is a must. It gives you more play when editing your images.

A system that allows you to change your lens is a plus, but not a necessity.

What is the best focal length for street photography? You’ll get the best, most inclusive shots with a medium-wide lens. Around 28mm, in my experience.

A High ISO range is beneficial in low-light conditions. Perfect for shooting behind windows and night-time photography.

Portability is also essential. You may find yourself traipsing far-and-wide over a city, capturing all it has to offer. You don’t want to have a camera that is too bulky.

Speed is essential in capturing those moments that happen in a blink of an eye. A high burst rate is really useful. It will allow you to have more chance to snap an image at the perfect moment.

A large, bulky camera is easily spotted a mile-off. This can stop you from catching those candid shots. It will not fit in your pocket for discreet, spy-like captures. A poorly designed camera body also means more time to navigate through those buttons and settings.

DSLR

DSLRs are not for every type of street photography. If you want powerful sensors, high framerates, and other fancy features, you’ll pay a lot. And the camera will be big and heavy. If you want a smaller, cheaper package (say, under $1000), you have to make sacrifices on other fronts.

For some, a DSLR camera is still the preferred type for street photography. So, let’s see the camera options I recommend.

Nikon D780

The 24-megapixel D780 is a fresh update of the well-known D750. It’s relatively inexpensive and has all the advantages of a typical full-frame DSLR.

This includes a wide dynamic range, lens options, great control surfaces, and two card slots. So, if you ever want to use it for something else than street photography, it won’t fail you.

It also features a new EXPEED 6 image-processing engine besides WiFi connectivity and an unbelievable ISO capacity of 204,800. Besides these, Nikon recently started using backlight illuminated sensor technology to ensure that your images will be tack sharp and detailed.

It’s a workhorse camera, that’s for sure, and a great choice for street, too. A sturdy and reliable model which probably won’t disappoint you.

Canon EOS 250D / SL3

Canon’s best cameras for street photography are no longer their DSLRs. But when it comes to less expensive choices, one still stands out.

The SL3 is one of the smallest and lightest DSLRs ever made, yet it’s packed with powerful features. First in Canon’s Rebel series, it shoots 4K video. Its 24MP APS-C sensor produces nice images throughout the day. But don’t expect a revelation in low light.

Its autofocusing system is quite outdated in viewfinder mode. But Dual Pixel autofocus is accurate in live view mode. It tracks subjects well. A flip-out screen helps composition from unusual angles. Wireless connectivity options make it a great choice for on-the-road sharing.

Pair it with a 24mm f/2.8 pancake lens for a compact, affordable and expandable DSLR camera setup for street photography.

Rangefinder

Leica M (240)

The Leica M (240) Digital Rangefinder Camera is a one-of-a-kind. The 240 is bigger than it’s older brother M model. However, it has a very quiet shutter action. This is perfect for close-ups and candid street photos.

It has live view capability, through its 3″ LCD screen. The rangefinder is a treat for all those who miss it from the newer generation of cameras.

ISO runs all the way to 6400, yet only minimal noise comes even from the 3200 ISO setting. It has a full-frame sensor with a resolution of 24MP. The image quality of the jpegs is amazing, but it is a Leica we are talking about.

It is the most expensive camera here, coming in at well over double the price as other cameras. You pay for the brand and the feeling here. If that’s something that inspires and motivates you, the 240 won’t fail you.

It is a powerful camera for street photographers; just don’t be afraid to take it out.

Fujifilm X100V

Fujifilm’s new fixed-lens rangefinder camera is similar in feel and handling to a Leica. Its price is quite high, too, but you get what you pay for.

Its brand-new, 23mm f/2 lens produces razor-sharp, colourful image quality. Paired with the 26MP APS-C sensor, the X100V promises excellent detail and dynamics.

It’s weather-sealed (if you add a UV-filter), and it’s built from high-quality metal. Durability won’t be an issue. Straight-out-of-camera tones (especially skin tones) are beautiful. If you can justify this price for a fixed-lens camera, you’ll love the X100V camera for street photography.

Mirrorless

Sony A6600

Sony’s fantastic new crop-sensor camera promises a lot for street photography. Its blazing-fast hybrid autofocus system and high burst rate make sure that you’ll rarely miss any shots.

Its grip, while still not giving the same feel as a large DLSR, is comfortable to hold for longer periods. Yet, the body is still small. If you pair it with small or medium-sized lenses, you’ll get a stealthy street combo.

My recommendation is to use it with Sony’s 20mm f/2.8 pancake lens for street photography, the size and focal length are perfect.

Canon EOS RP

Canon’s tiny and cheap full-frame mirrorless is also an excellent option. Its 26MP sensor offers solid full-frame performance in terms of image quality.

Its Dual Pixel autofocus is fast and accurate, even in dark conditions. A recent firmware upgrade fixed many issues that earlier reviews criticised.

In a kit with the RF 35mm f/1.8 lens, it’s a fantastic deal for street photography.

Canon EOS M6 MkII

Canon’s flagship APS-C mirrorless is a mini power station. It has a 32MP sensor and incredible tracking capabilities. Yet, it still fits in a similar-sized body as the A6600.

The issue with Canon sensors’ dynamic range is finally gone. The M6 MkII (like the 90D) is now up there with the competition. One downside is that it doesn’t have a lot of native lens options. The EF-M mount is not a wide-spread one.

Pair it with the EF-M 22mm f/2 lens, and you have a small, lightweight kit – perfect for capturing candid street moments.

Point-and-Shoot

Ricoh GRIII

The Ricoh GR III is tiny, fits in my pocket and allows me perfect spy-like images. A 28mm-equivalent, f/2.8 lens extends of the camera body but folds back when the camera is turned off.

Thanks to its phase-detection-based autofocus system, locking in on subjects is quick and accurate with the GR III.  Its magnesium-alloy body makes this a very durable, easy-to-tote street photography camera.

Its 24MP APS-C-sized sensor produces dynamic and colourful (raw) photos, with low noise levels. Ricoh omitted its optical low pass filter for ultra-sharp and detailed images. We love that!

Fujifilm X70

Very similar in size and handling to the GR III, Fujifilm’s X70 is another advanced point-and-shoot. It has all the advantages of Fujifilm. Beautiful colours, film simulation modes, retro-like layout, and a beautiful, durable body.

Its autofocus is quick and snappy, utilising on-sensor phase detection. A 28mm-equivalent, f/2.8 lens projects clear and colourful images to the 16MP APS-C sensor.

It’s cheaper than the GR III – but it’s also one generation older. Both are designed and best used for street photography.

Your Smartphone

It’s a common saying, but true: the best camera is what you have with you.

This is particularly relevant for street photography, where your aim is to capture everyday scenes. You need to have your camera ready for that.

You most likely have a useable camera on your phone. It will be more than enough for shooting street photography with good image quality.

Most smartphone lenses are around the 24-28mm effective range. Thanks to intelligent algorithms, their sensors are getting better every day. Even for low-light performance. That’s what I recommend for street photography anyway – great!

Each one of these cameras has a specific area it will shine in. The DSLR captures the meat and majority of your work, due to lenses and settings.

The mirrorless systems are not far behind. They let you move freer and get more shots. They are also lightweight, meaning you won’t be frustrated with carrying the camera around.  We value your input.  Let us hear from you in the comments below.

 

 

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Shooting film cameras at night

Which Type of Landscape Photography Is For You? (Choose From 21 Types!)

Tags: Photography for Beginners, Landscape Photography, Nature, Urban, Sunsets

 

By Simon Bond

 

Landscape Subject

The first decision you’ll need to make is what subject you want to concentrate on.

There are lots of different subjects you could approach, below you’ll see a summary of these.

You could choose more than one subject and use a single photographic technique to portray it.

Urban cityscapes are very popular subjects, like this one in Bangkok.

1 – Urban

This is an exciting area of photography for many photographers. Not least because it’s likely you already live in, or near a big urban centre.

The larger the city you’re photographing, the more interesting it will be. Bigger cities tend to have the type of architecture you’ll want to photograph.

Urban landscape photography can roughly be divided into three sub-categories.

• Cityscape – This type of photo aims to show a large part of the city. It needs to give a sense of scale to the place. You’re looking for a vantage point, and you’ll use a wide angle lens for this. Look for accessible tall buildings, or a hill overlooking the city for this.
• Urbex – This entails photographing abandoned buildings, or accessing underground tunnel systems. Urbex stands for urban exploration. Look to take gritty photos, in interesting locations. Urbex can be dangerous though, so make sure you stay safe.
• Architecture – Stunning architecture is a staple of urban photography. Look for new buildings, statues or bridges for this.

The natural world is full of landscape possibilities. This photo utilizes a lensball to capture 

an image of a cherry blossom tree.

2 – Nature

At the other end of the scale to urban photography is nature photography. In this case the more remote you can go, the more stunning the landscape is likely to be.

You can always find amazing natural locations you can reach by driving your car. But chances are you’ll be taking a photo like those taken by many other people.

The true wilderness will reward you. Think deserts, mountain ranges or even volcanos.

Sunsets and sunrises make for great photos. This coastal location is minimalist in nature, 

and there is a silhouette of a fishermen in the frame.

3 – Sunsets or Sunrises

In the case of both nature and urban photography, sunset or sunrise are an ideal time for photos.

Many landscape photographers will only photograph during this time. Why is that? This time of the day gives you all those warm colours in the sky, something only seen for a short time during the day.

It’s also a time when the light is easier to control, it’s less bright and comes from a lower angle.

Not every sunset is the same though, and planning needs to go into getting the best results.

• Time of year – The position of the sun changes all year round. The farther away from the equator you are, the more dramatic this shift will be. You can plan for the sun to set in a specific location for more interesting photos by using a website like suncalc.
• Sunset or sunrise – Is your location a sunset or sunrise? If it’s a sunrise you’ll need to be prepared to wake up early in the morning. Check the sunrise time and be there an hour before that time.
• Check the weather – If it’s raining, you’re not going to see a sunset or sunrise. So check the weather forecast before heading out.

Astrophotography has become very popular. You will need to find dark sky locations to 

capture the milkyway.

4 – Astrophotography

Camera equipment has improved a lot in recent years. Camera’s can now perform well even at higher ISO’s. This has meant photographing the stars is easier than before. Subjects like the Milky Way are becoming more and more popular.

The following are some typical subjects you can photograph in the night sky.

• Star trails – Use a program like StarStax, and create beautiful star trails across your photo.
• The Milky Way – You’ll need a wide-angle lens with a large aperture, and a camera capable of performing at high ISO. Milky Way photos can be magical, it’s an amazing genre.
• The Moon – This requires a lens with a long focal length. You can still get good results with a regular zoom of 300mm. You will have to crop the image in post processing to zoom further in on the moon. Look for events like eclipses for even more dramatic results.
• The Aurora – Visiting somewhere like Iceland is like going to Mecca for a photographer. One of the main reasons for this is the chance to photograph the Aurora. You can photograph this anywhere as long as you’re close enough to the north or south pole.

5 – The Seasons

The changing seasons can make for a dramatic photos. Capturing the seasons can mean visiting the same location many times. You can photograph the same composition during winter, spring, summer and autumn. This photo series is classic and timeless.

There will be some locations which work very well for a particular season. But they might be less dramatic at other times of the year. Use these location scouting techniques to figure out the best spot.

Types of Landscape Photography Techniques

The type of landscape photography technique you use can also lead to you have a particular style.

The following are some of the most popular landscape photography techniques out there. Read on and see if one of these fits your style.

Light painting is a great photography technique, here you can see kinetic light painting 

taken from a worm’s eye view.

6 – Light Painting

Light painting is one of the most creative techniques out there. There is an immense amount of potential that comes with it. In fact you’re making your own image here, so you can make compelling images from any location.

The genre has many tools you can use. Keep in mind you’ll need to find a location that’s dark, and you’ll need a tripod.

• Wire wool – Place some fine grade wire wool into a metal whisk, set it on fire and spin. You’ll get dramatic results, but be careful of the fire risk.
• LED light stick – Two light sticks have transformed light painting in recent years. The Magi light, and the pixel stick are very creative tools.
• Light orbs – Place a light source on the end of a string and spin it to create light orbs.

Infra-red photography can have a transformative effect on a scene.

7 – Infrared

This technique is a great way of transforming your scene into a dreamscape. You’ll need the conditions to make a success of this technique. Look for a sunny day with a few clouds. At the very least you need sunshine. IR photography works best when leaves are photosynthesising.

When vegetation photosynthesises the light it emits is infra-red light. This is what you’ll use for this type of landscape photography.

You can manipulate the white balance in camera, or post-process later. IR photography will make any green vegetation appear white.

There are two main approaches to this form of photography.

• Filter – Attach this to the front of your camera to filter all light out, except infra-red light. You’ll likely need to use long exposure when using a filter.
• Adapted camera – You can get your camera body adapted so that it photographs in infrared light. It now performs like a regular camera, only the images will all be infra-red.

8 – Lensball photography

A popular form of photography in recent years involves the use of a lensball. This is a glass ball that works as an external lens optic, this can be handheld or put on the ground.

You can capture a fisheye-like image within the ball and blur out the background behind the ball.

You’ll have to overcome the challenge of the image within the ball being upside down. This is all part of the fun when using one of these spheres.

Long exposure was used in this photo to flatten the water an give a minimalist feel.

9 – Long Exposure

Another favourite of landscape photographers is long exposure. Use this to transform the moving elements within your frame.

You’ll need a tripod to carry out photographs of this type, and a strong neutral density filter.

Use an ND1000 filter if your wish to take long exposure photos during the middle of the day.

The following are popular subjects for long exposure photography.

• Water – Long exposure can flatten the sea, or make white water at a waterfall appear like silk.
• Clouds – On days that clouds move across the sky a long exposure can capture this motion.
• Light trails – Car light trails are the most popular here, but you can use boats too.

10 – Silhouettes

Silhouettes can form interesting landscape photos. These photos can be very minimalist in nature. The silhouette is your main subject.

A great landscape composition is layering silhouetted mountains against one another. Another great option is to silhouette a person or object against a sunset sky.

Different Landscape Compositions

Composition is a key element of a photo. There are several different options available here to photographers.

You can even choose one and make it your signature style.

11 – Worm’s Eye

This describes a composition where you are looking straight up, from ground level.

This works best when you’re surrounded by tall objects. Make sure those objects are close into the camera. Think of tall buildings in a city, or trees in a forest.

Roof topping is one way you can acheive a birds-eye view.

12 – Bird’s Eye

The bird’s eye view describes looking straight down. You’ll want to be taking this type of photo from an elevated position.

The world from above looks very different.

The perspective lends a minimalist vibe to your work. Roads cutting through the countryside are a good subject for this.

There are several ways to achieve a perspective like this.

• A high position – This can be an overpass looking over a road, or the viewing deck of a tall building. Getting into a higher position than your subject is all that’s required.
• A drone – Nowadays there is the option to fly a drone. This gives you a lot of freedom for your composition.
• In flight – The old approach to flying could also work. A ride on a helicopter, out of the window of a plane, or even taking a hot air balloon ride.

13 – Minimalism

Minimalist landscapes look striking. The question is how to go about achieving this look? You’ll often need to visit somewhere like a desert or a coastline for this.

Get your wide angle lens, and look for one single subject. The rest of the frame should be simple and uncluttered.

14 – Panorama

One of the most popular landscape compositions is the panoramic shot. It’s not be something everyone photographs for. The six by four composition most camera’s have means extra work to produce them.

It’s a great composition though. And it works well for many landscape photography situations be it nature or urban.

The following are the options available to produce this composition.

Layered silhouettes work well in this photo. The outline of the temple acts as the main 

subject in this image.

15 – The Single Subject

It’s almost a given that your photo will have the one main subject. A successful photo will cut out other areas of the photo to allow the view to focus on the message of the photo.

Choosing one subject means your photo is likely to be minimalist in nature, but what will that subject be?

You might be an urban photographer and all your photos focus on bridges as the main subject. If you’re a nature photographer, it might be a single tree.

You might even include one person in each photo. They could be looking off into the distance giving your photo a narrative.

16 – Wide Angle

Not all landscape photos are taken with a wide angle lens. Some photos involve the use of a long telephoto lens.

The long lens will be for distant cityscapes, or to focus in on some distant mountains.

The wide angle composition makes you work more for the photo though. You will need to think about what to include in the foreground elements of your photo.

Get low to the ground and let the foreground jump out of the frame with your wide angle lens. Include roads in the foreground, as they lead up to your main subject in the background.

Using a small aperture in this photo makes the sun appear as a starburst.

Post Processing Landscape Photography

The final part of any photographers workflow is post processing. This is an area rich with possibilities. You can explore it more for your type of landscape photography.

Here are a few types of post-processing for landscape images.

17 – Black and White

This is one of the most popular forms of photography. It’s difficult to reproduce the results you’d get with a film camera. But with the correct post processing you can still get good results.

Avoid using the camera’s built-in black and white function. Focus on post processing a RAW file.

Black and white photography is all about contrast. You only have grey-scale to work with after-all. Look to introduce this using adobe camera raw.

You can carry out the majority of the work with Nik Silver efex. This program has a range of presets. You can use them on your photo to give it the punch a good black and white photo should have.

18 – Digital Blending

Another very popular way to edit photos is digital blending. You’ll notice HDR is not in this list of 21. That’s because digital blending is far superior. It allows you to manually blend together photos of differing dynamic range.

This will be a real game changer for most photographers. You’ll produce natural looking photos that have a real impact.

In this photo, digital blending was used to balance the foreground with the sky.

19 – Desaturating

A lot of photographers want to add to the saturation of an image to make it more colourful. Photography is all about your style though, and it can be very pleasing to de-saturate as well.

This works especially well if you have a sequence of photos that all have a uniform editing style.

You can achieve this look by reducing the saturation of your image. You might also choose to reduce the contrast as well.

Nik color efex has several filters that will allow you to create this de-saturated look if this is your aim.

20 – Time-lapse

Another type of landscape photography is time-lapse. This is a video of course, but you may want to experiment with this style.

The key is to get a sense of movement. You’re looking for places where traffic moves, people move, or clouds move.

One of the best uses of this style of recording shows day turning into night or vice versa. What’s happening here is single frame photos are stacked together to form a continuous video-like scene. The clouds and other objects are moving fast across the frame.

One of the latest styles to explore is hyper-lapse. It’s time-consuming but very creative.

21 – Presentation

You can also look to present your photos with style. In galleries photos will often have white or black borders.

You can add this to your image for online presentation. By using this with all your photos you can develop a style. You could also experiment with the vignetting effect within the image itself.

Darkening or lightening the edges of your image will draw the eye to the central area of your photo. This is likely your main subject.

Conclusion

With so many landscape photographers out there, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. It’s especially tough given that the majority of the world’s iconic landscapes have been photographed many times before.

This article presents the many ways you can add your own style to the landscape photo you wish to take. The aim is to develop your style. When people see your work they know it’s you without even needing to look at the name tag.

Do you use any of the landscape styles listed above, or indeed a combination of the above? Is there a style you use, which isn’t on this list?

We’d love to hear from you, and see your landscape photos. Please share any thoughts or images in the comments below.

 

 

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How to Shoot Surreal Portrait Photography

Tags: Photography for Beginners, Portrait Photography, Surreal, 

 

By Taya Ivanova 

 

Surreal portraits are often thought-provoking, haunting, otherworldly, or a mix of all three.

Want to make your portraits look surreal and feel exciting at the same time? Here are a few important (and easy!) tricks you need to keep in mind.

What Is Surreal Photography?

Surreal portraits almost always make you wonder about the story behind the picture. You might end up with more questions than answers. But isn’t it the whole point of surrealism in general?

Surrealism is a form of art that focuses on dream-like elements. These elements can be bizarre, like Dali’s The Elephants, or unbelievably realistic, like Justin Peters’ Cloud Whale.

These two examples are very different. But they share the same characteristics. They aren’t something you’d see in everyday life.

Yet, they’re still capable of making you think from a different perspective. You might even find them relatable on an emotional level. Surreal pictures are often something you could potentially see in a dream.

Recreating dreams is a common technique in various photography genres. But it’s especially popular in surreal portrait photography.

You can shoot stunning surreal portraits if you play around with facial expressions, poses, or props.

Surrealism allows you to express yourself, experiment, and create fine art.

Keep Facial Expressions Serious to Intensify the Surreal Effect

In surreal portrait photography, you’ll notice that models have similar expressions. They might look lost in thought, confused, unaware of the camera, and so on.

The seriousness of their expressions plays an important role. It has the ability to intensify the surreal effect of the portrait.

If they looked cheerful in the middle of an unusual landscape, the image would look out of place. There’s nothing wrong with this mix, but it doesn’t define the surreal portraits genre.

The more serious your model looks, the easier it is to make even simple compositions look surreal.

Here are a few general portrait examples to use as references. Share them with your model before the photoshoot to ensure that you’re both on the same page.

Not every expression will go well with your theme. Be open to your model’s feedback. Don’t hesitate to experiment!

Simply looking up will make your model look like they’re lost in thought or looking at something mysterious in the distance.

When you shoot profiles, take a few photos where your model looks straight ahead or a little to the side. Like the previous expression, this will create mystery and continuity.

This way, your model’s expression will suggest that there’s more to your photo than meets the eye.

One of the best ways to create pure surrealism is to hide your model’s face completely. You can do this by asking them to stand with their back to the camera.

You can also have them cover their faces with masks, hair, or their hands.

This expression is great for emotional or tranquil photographs. All your model has to do is close their eyes and slightly part their lips.

Last but not least, ask your model to make an intense expression when looking at the camera. This is perfect for close-up portraits, as the viewer can make eye contact with the model.

This way, they will not be distracted by other subjects.

Use Moody Lighting to Enhance Your Story

Moody lighting can also intensify the surreal effect. This setting makes it easier for you to set the mood at the beginning of your photoshoot.

Moody lighting exists in many forms. If you want to use natural light, shoot when it’s cloudy or gloomy outside. You can also shoot indoors when it’s cloudy for an even moodier effect.

You can also use artificial light for a sharper result. This will give you more control over the atmosphere in your images. Artificial light also allows you to shoot as much as you can, without having to worry about unpredictable weather changes.

Keep your artificial light bright but limited. You can use neon lights or cover any light source with colored gel filters.

Use Layers to Create Depth and Mystery

Surrealism goes hand in hand with unusual ideas. Because of this, you can use cheap but unusual props to enhance your portraits. These can be curtains, transparent sheets of paper, or anything else with texture.

You can use these props to hide parts of your model’s face, make them less visible, or add depth to your photos. The more textured the material you use, the more mysterious your images will look.

Layers are also an easy way to make a dull composition stand out. All you have to do is shoot through them with your model posing somewhere in the distance.

For a softer effect, use a large aperture like f/2.5. This will blur any layers that are out of focus and create even more depth.

A blurry effect will also make it harder for viewers to understand what’s going on in your image. This is perfect for abstract and surreal portraits.

Use Smoke Bombs to Create Dreamlike Atmospheres

It’s likely that the model in this shot posed for a few seconds before putting the smoke bomb 

away. Concepts like this are inspiring but quite dangerous as well. Don’t try to recreate this 

unless you know how to handle smoke bombs professionally.

Another easy way to take outstanding surreal portraits is to use colored smoke bombs.

Smoke bombs are affordable and can be used in a variety of settings. You can use them as backgrounds, foregrounds, or props to hide your model’s face.

They can be quite dangerous though, especially when used indoors. Familiarise yourself with smoke bomb hazards to keep yourself and your model safe.

If the risks outweigh the creative benefits, you can use incense or flour instead.

Use a Slow Shutter Speed to Create Eerie Motion Blur

To make motion blur look even more eery, convert your surreal portraits to black & white. You can do this in-camera or in post-editing. Converting your images afterward will give you more control over the tones in your work.

Fast shutter speed is great for capturing movements in detail. Slow shutter speed is ideal for soft and eerie images.

Slow shutter speed is often used in landscape photography to track the natural movements of water or wind. In surreal portrait photography, you can use motion blur to capture ghostly figures or create a more abstract effect.

If you want to capture a specific movement without blurring your entire photo, use a tripod.

Surreal portrait photography can help you leave your comfort zone. Feel free to experiment with fun photography techniques and compositions!

 

 

 

 

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What Is a Telephoto Lens? 5 Things To Know About Long Lenses

Tags: Photography for Beginners, Telephoto Lens, Long Lenses

 

By Hillary Grigonis

A telephoto lens is a long lens that makes objects appear as if they were closer to the camera.

Don’t think you should pull out a telephoto lens only when you need to capture that thing in the distance. You’d be missing out on some of the biggest reasons to shoot with a long lens.

Here’s what budding photographers need to know about telephoto lenses.

Photo by Ilya Mirnyy, Unsplash

 

What Is a Telephoto Lens?

A telephoto lens is any lens that has a long focal length. Depending on who you ask, some 

say a telephoto lens is anything that’s 60mm or greater. Other photographers wouldn’t consider 

a lens telephoto until 80mm or 85mm. And others don’t use the term until the mid-telephoto 

range above 135mm.

Either way, a telephoto lens helps to bring distant subjects closer to the camera than a 

wide-angle or standard focal length lens.

A telephoto lens can be a zoom lens, with multiple focal lengths in one lens such as a 

70-300mm lens. But, a telephoto lens can also be a prime lens with a single focal length, 

such as a 200mm lens or a 600mm lens.

To bring subjects up close to the camera, telephoto lenses require multiple pieces of glass 

inside the lens itself. Because of that, telephoto lenses are often long and heavy.

The biggest telephoto lenses have a tripod collar to help support the lens’ weight using 

a tripod.

Photo by Chuttersnap, Unsplash

Telephoto Lenses and Sensor Size

A 300mm lens on a full-frame camera is a 300mm lens. But change the size of the sensor 

in the camera body, and the angle of view that the lens captures also changes.

A crop sensor, such as an APS-C sensor or Micro Four Thirds, makes a telephoto lens appear 

to bring the subject even closer. That’s because it takes a crop of what the lens sees.

The optics in a lens projects the image onto the sensor (or a piece of film). If that sensor is 

smaller, the image is cropped. Cropping the image makes that distant subject feel even closer.

That crop is why photographers who need to capture close-up images of their subjects 

sometimes prefer crop sensor cameras. This is despite the fact that full-frame cameras 

offer more in terms of image quality.

With Micro Four Thirds, the crop factor is 2x — which means a 300mm lens shoots like 

a 600mm lens. That allows photographers to get up much closer with a smaller, often cheaper, 

lens.

Types of Telephoto Lenses

Telephoto lenses are often further divided into sub-categories based on focal length.

Lenses between 85mm and 135mm are considered short telephotos. These lenses have some 

ability to bring an object in close and create background separation, but to less of an extreme.

These focal lengths are often popular for portrait photography. The lens offers more background 

separation without requiring the photographer to stand too far from the subject.

A 135mm to 300mm lens is often called a medium telephoto lens. These focal lengths are among 

the most popular. They offer a significant reach without a significant price tag.

Lenses above 300mm are typically also referred to as a super telephoto lens. These lenses offer 

the most reach. But they are often expensive and typically used by professionals more often

 than hobbyists.

Telephoto Lenses and Shutter Speed

The camera settings that work with a wide-angle lens may create blur with a telephoto lens. 

That’s because telephoto lenses are more prone to camera shake.

The magnification of the lens can exaggerate even the most minor camera movements. And 

this creates blur. Telephoto lenses are also heavier, which means your hands are also more 

prone to shake too.

As a general ‘rule,’ the denominator on the shutter speed should be at or greater than the 

focal length when shooting handheld. A 100mm lens should be shot at a minimum 

of 1/100 second, a 200mm lens at a minimum of 1/200.

Heavier lenses may need an even faster speed, as well as photographers that are more prone 

to shaky hands. To shoot with a telephoto lens and a slower shutter speed, you’ll need a tripod.

The rule isn’t true 100% of the time though. Some stabilized lenses (or lenses attached to a 

stabilized body) can shoot a bit lower without shake. Some heavier lenses will need an even 

faster shutter to eliminate shake.

Shot at 165mm. Photo by Hillary K Grigonis

Shot at 300mm. Photo by Hillary K Grigonis

How Telephoto Lenses Affect the Background

Sometimes, photographers choose a telephoto lens because of what it can do to the background 

of the shot. Lens compression is a photography term that’s used to describe how close the 

background appears to the subject.

With a telephoto lens, the background appears closer to the subject than with a wide-angle lens. 

 In fact, the longer the focal length is, the less exaggerated distances seem to be.

Lens compression is actually a result of standing further from the subject rather than the actual 

lens optics. But the effects on the photograph are important to understand nonetheless.

Because of lens compression, a telephoto lens can help fill in the background with less empty 

space. A building, for example, will fill the background of a portrait with a telephoto lens but 

not with a wide-angle lens.

Lens compression will also help the background to appear more blurred. A common 

misconception is that using a telephoto lens actually creates a shallower depth of field or 

creates more background blur.

A telephoto lens doesn’t actually affect the math for calculating the depth of field. But, the

background compression brings that blurry background in close. This gives it the appearance 

of having more blur.

In short, a telephoto lens will make the background appear closer and more blurred. That is 

a result of how close you are to the subject, not because of any optical trickery in the lens itself.

That background blur is one reason why even photographers who could walk closer to the 

subject still choose a telephoto.

How Telephoto Lenses Affect the Subject

The difference between the background of a photo shot with a wide-angle and a photo shot 

with a telephoto is significant. But the subject itself will also have some subtle differences too.

Just like the distance between the subject and the background is compressed, other distances 

in the photo appear to be shorter too.

In a portrait, a wide-angle lens will make the eyes, nose and mouth appear farther apart. 

With a telephoto lens, those facial features appear closer together. This typically creates 

a more flattering portrait.

The effect is the same for subjects other than portraits too. Remember that a telephoto lens 

makes distances seem shorter in the image.

If you want to create the sense that the objects in the photograph are closer together, use a 

telephoto. To exaggerate distance, use a wide-angle.

Shot with a 300mm lens. Photo by Hillary K Grigonis

Other Common Telephoto Lens Questions

What is the difference between a telephoto lens and a zoom lens?

Telephoto and zoom are two different ways to describe a lens — and a lens can be both a 

telephoto and a zoom lens.

A zoom lens is a lens that allows the photographer to adjust the focal length. This is usually 

done by twisting the lens barrel. A telephoto lens is a lens with a long focal length — typically 

more than 80mm. It’s used to get closer images of far off subjects.

A telephoto zoom lens would be a lens that has more than one focal length but also a long 

focal length, such as a 70-300mm lens. A telephoto prime lens would be a long lens that 

doesn’t zoom in or out, like a 200mm lens.

A zoom lens such as a 18-55mm isn’t a telephoto lens at all but a wide-angle zoom lens.

Do you really need a telephoto lens?

That depends on what you are photographing. If you can walk closer to the subject, then a 

telephoto isn’t necessary. Subjects that are impossible to get close to, such as wild animals 

or the action on a sports field, require a telephoto lens.

Other times, a telephoto is nice because of the background compression. Or the way the optics 

make the background appear closer to the subject.

A 100mm lens, for example, is a popular choice for portraits. It offers more background blur, 

even though in a portrait, it’s usually easy to walk closer to the subject.

Are telephoto lenses good for landscape?

Wide-angle lenses are the most popular optics for landscape photography. But a telephoto 

lens can sometimes create great shots that would not have been possible with a shorter lens.

A telephoto lens will make objects in the landscape appear closer together. This can sometimes 

work well in landscape photography.

Photo by Chuttersnap, Unsplash

Bringing a subject in close is the obvious reason to use a telephoto. But there’s so much more 

to long lenses than that.

The background will also appear closer and more blurred. And the proportions on a portrait 

subject’s face appear more pleasing.

 

 

 

 

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What is Focal Length? (And Why it Matters in Photography!)

 Tags: Photography for Beginners, Focal Length, Zoom Lenses

 

By Josh Dunlop  By Gabor Holtzer  

 

One of the most important aspects, when you buy a lens, is the focal length. This lets you know how close you need to be in relation to the subject you are capturing.

A longer focal length is necessary for objects further away. A smaller focal length captures more of the scene in front of you. To understand focal length in four, easy steps, read on.

 

Why Focal Length Is Important?

Knowing what focal length means in relation to your camera is very important when it comes to buying lenses. Read this post to find out what different lenses are used for. You’ll see which ones are right for you, how to use them creatively, and all the technicalities.

Lenses are divided into two categories based on whether they can zoom. There are the ones that have a fixed focal length (prime lenses). And there are those that have a variable focal length (zoom lenses). In general, prime lenses are sharper and often have a wider aperture. These are great for low light conditions.

Zoom lenses allow you to use one lens to cover a range of different photography fields. One lens means less time spent searching for and changing lenses. There are advantages and drawbacks to both types of lenses. So, having a mixture of them gives you versatility and power.

We can use the human eye as an example. Its focal length varies between 17mm and 25mm, depending on who you ask and who you examine.

We have an approximate field of view of over 180°. This is different from the 90° angle of view from a lens, which is down to the fact that we have two eyes.

The area that we actively perceive is smaller, similar to a 40-50mm lens. That’s why the 50mm is called the ‘standard’ focal length.

What Does Focal Length Mean?

The focal length of the lens determines how ‘zoomed in’ your photos are. The higher the number, the more zoomed your lens will be.

It is often misunderstood that the focal length is measured from the front or rear of the lens.

In reality, it’s the distance between the point of convergence in your lens and the camera sensor. This is the case of simple lens designs (like Double-Gauss). There are also plenty of complex optical designs that work differently. In many cases, that distance is not equal to the focal length.

The key takeaway is that the focal length of a lens is identical to the focal length of a single lens that would provide the same field of view.

Take a look at the diagram below that explains this.

You might ask: why do we use complex, multi-element designs and large lens housings if a single lens will also provide an image for much cheaper?

There are many reasons for this. First, to use a lens for photography, you need to make that lens focus somehow. This, on its own, doesn’t require multiple elements. But it does require a mechanism that allows the user to move the lens closer to or further away from the sensor. If designers want to seal off the moving element, it means two more elements on the front and on the back.

Second, an image coming from a single lens is not nearly as clear as you’d expect. Because of different wavelengths being present at the same time, colours shift very noticeably, causing a distracting effect. Special elements and coatings are necessary to counter this. And even in complex designs, the issue doesn’t disappear.

These elements, however, might introduce additional geometric distortions to the image. So, even more lens elements are needed potentially. In some expensive lenses, you’ll find aspherical elements. They, too, are there to provide a cleaner image with more detail and less distortion.

Zoom designs are a whole new world. They often use more than a dozen lens elements, sometimes even 20.

Ultimately though, their angle of view and focal length can be compared to single lenses. Hence, we’re able to use focal length as a measurement of “zoom”, and angle of view.

Different Focal Ranges and What They’re Used For

Ultra Wide Angle and Fisheye (14-24 mm)

These lenses are often considered speciality items. Usually, they are not included as part of a starter kit. They create such a wide angle of view that can feel unnatural to work with at the beginning. This is down to the lens having to fit more of the scene into the image than what your eyes can see at once.

Ultra wide-angle lenses are often used in event and architectural photography. They help to get a lot into a photo when shooting in a confined space.

These lenses are not suitable for portraits. They enhance the perspective so much that facial features can look unnatural.

Landscape photographers and adventurers, however, love them. An ultra-wide lens is able to distort perspective in ways that these genres value. In a landscape scenario, it’s possible to have a flower in the foreground be larger than the mountain in the background, while still fully including both in the frame.

When used for journalistic scenes, ultra-wide-angle lenses can provide a dramatic, interesting angle. Especially if you’re close enough to the subject. A 16-35mm or 14-24mm zoom, for example, is a crucial tool in the bag of a press photographer. These focal lengths can be found in the lineup of most manufacturers.

You might recognise the work ‘rectilinear’. Rectilinear wide angles project an image in which the straight lines remain straight. Fisheye lenses distort the scene into a spherical shape.

If a lens is not designated as fisheye, it’s more likely rectilinear, as that’s the standard. Fisheyes are rather special tools. Apart from fisheye DSLR lenses, they’re most commonly included in action cameras, such as GoPros.

Their angle of view is the largest among all lenses, often reaching 180 degrees diagonally.

Wide Angle (24-35 mm)

This is where you’ll find most kit lenses for full-frame cameras start. 24mm is the point at which the distortion that appears to stretch the side of an image stops appearing unnatural.

Wide-angle lenses are used by photojournalists for documenting situations. This is because they are wide enough to include a lot of the context, whilst still looking realistic.

Nature and landscape photographers love them for the same reason.

The widest lenses commonly used in movie production also fall into this range of focal lengths. Their field of view is ideal for showing plenty of the environment. But thanks to the wide aspect ratio, subjects can be far enough away to not appear distorted.

Standard (35mm-70 mm)

It’s in this range (at about 45-50 mm) that the lens will best reproduce what our eyes see (excluding peripheral vision). I like to use this range when shooting on the street or with friends in a closed setting. Examples would be at the dinner table or the pub.

Standard lenses as called standard for a reason – these are the most common lenses, in both prime and zoom format.

Their focal lengths can be used for virtually anything, from nature to action.

A standard lens such as a 50mm f/1.8 is an excellent, inexpensive addition for a camera. It will provide excellent results. A prime lens will always provide better results than your kit zoom lens, as it is built with a single purpose. It does one job well.

Kit zooms also fall into this category. They usually cover a zoom range of 18-55mm (on crop cameras) or 28-70mm (on full-frame and film cameras). Both of these zooms cover the entire standard range, as well as some wider angles.

Short Telephoto (70-105mm)

This range is often where kit lenses stop. Here, you’ll start to get into the range of telephoto lenses and portrait primes (around 85mm). This is a good range for portraits as the perspective of the lens will make human faces look natural.

Most short telephoto lenses separate the face from the background, without completely isolating it.

A large proportion of dedicated macro lenses also falls into this category. This is because short telephotos are long enough to provide enough working distance. But they are short enough to not make huge macro lenses. Their fairly natural perspective also plays a big role in this.

Telephoto (105-300mm, and Above)

Lenses in this range are often used for distant scenes such as buildings or mountains. They’re not really suitable for landscape photography because of the way they flatten the perspective of a scene. But they can provide interesting perspectives in that field, too.

Lenses in this range are often used for sports and animal photography. The most popular lenses for such applications are 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses on the shorter side, and 150-600mm lenses on the longer side.

Portraits are also a great genre to use them in. Shooting portraits with long lenses can provide exceptional subject separation and background compression. But it also expands working distance, so if you’re going for more intimate images, they might not be the ideal lens to choose.

There are hard-to-imagine extremes in this range. The longest modern DSLR lenses (800mm f/5.6) from both Canon and Nikon cost more than a small car. But there are longer ones not in mass productions. Canon’s groundbreaking 1200mm f/5.6 has only sold a few dozen copies before production ceased. They are owned by select companies in special fields.

How Does Focal Length Affect Perspective?

I tackled most of this in the previous section. Let me give you a better idea of how the focal length affects the perspective of a photo. I took four photos of the same subject at different focal lengths and compared them below.

The subjects (three soup cans) remained in the same position (about 10 inches apart from one another) in every photo. It’s worth noting that these photos are shot with a crop sensor. This means the effective focal length will be higher than listed.

To say it’s the focal length that changes the perspective is, however, quite misleading. You see, it’s the distance from the subject.

The focal length of a lens is an indicator of the distance from the subject: the images are all framed the same. Differences arise because the focal length is getting longer (zooming in) as the camera moves further away from the subject.

Remember, the distance from the subject is changing the perspective. The focal length is just used to compensate for this.

What About My Crop Sensor?

Shooting on a crop sensor has what’s known as the ‘crop factor’. What you’re doing is zooming in on an image, and avoiding the widest parts of the scene. The diagrams below show the way this works.

Even lenses built for crop cameras such as the EF-S range (Canon) and DX range (Nikon) will still have this effect. This is because lenses are listed by their physical focal length rather than their effective (or equivalent) focal length.

However, these lenses will not work on a full-frame body without heavy vignetting. This is because the image will not project onto the whole of the sensor.

That’s it!

Hopefully, this article cleared up any confusion you’ve had before about focal length. Once you understand it fully, the technical aspects of photography become a step easier.

 

 

 

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