PCPhoto
Go Wide!Add extra visual excitement to your portraits, scenics and more with the extreme perspective of wide-angle lenses |
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Of special interest to users of digital SLRs with smaller-than-full-frame image sensors, extremely short focal-length lenses make it possible to do true wide-angle photography with these cameras (which today include all D-SLR models, save Canons full-frame EOS-1Ds Mark II and EOS 5D). The popular APS-C image sensor used in most of todays D-SLRs is considerably smaller than a full 35mm film frame, so it sees less of the image produced by any lens than a full 35mm film frame sees. As a result, any lens used on one of these D-SLRs will produce the angle of view of a lens 1.5x to 1.7x longer on a 35mm SLR. For example, put a 100mm lens on a D-SLR, and it frames like a 150-170mm lens on a 35mm camera. Thats great for telephoto fans, but it makes a 28mm wide-angle lens frame view like a 42-45mm lensno longer wide-angle. Those who want to do wide-angle photography with smaller-sensor D-SLRs have to use very short focal lengths18mm and shorterto get a true wide angle of view. Fortunately, the D-SLR and independent lens manufacturers offer a number of such lenses. Canons EF-S 10-22mm /3.5-4.5 USM wide-angle zoom was designed specifically for its small-sensor D-SLRs (Canons EF-S lenses cant be mounted on its larger-sensor D-SLRs or older EOS 10D, D60 and D30 models), providing the equivalent of a 16-35mm zoom on a 35mm camera. Canon also offers wide-angle fans the EF 14mm /2.8L USM (equivalent to a 22.4mm lens on a 35mm camera when used on a small-sensor Canon D-SLR) and the EF 15mm /2.8 Fisheye (equivalent to a 24mm full-frame fish-eye on a 35mm camera), which can be used on all EOS camera models. Nikons 12-24mm /4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor (equivalent to a 18-36mm zoom on a 35mm camera) and 10.5mm /2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor (equivalent to a 16mm full-frame fish-eye on a 35mm SLR) were designed specifically for the APS-C sensor used in all Nikon D-SLRs. (Nikons DX lenses cant be used with film cameras; like Canons EF-S line, theyre designed to cover the smaller image sensor and would vignette on a full-frame camera.) Nikon also offers three short focal-length lenses that can be used on all Nikon SLRs, digital and film: the 14mm /2.8D ED AF Nikkor, 16mm /2.8D AF Fisheye-Nikkor and 18mm /2.8D AF Nikkor (which effectively become 21mm, 24mm and 27mm, respectively, when used on the D-SLRs). Note that Nikons new D40 and D40x models provide autofocusing capability only with lenses that have AF motors; only the 12-24mm does among the lenses cited here. Pentax offers the 12-24mm /4.0 ED/AL (IF) P-DA and 10-17mm /3.5-4.5 ED (IF) P-DA Fisheye zooms for its D-SLRs, with 35mm camera-equivalent focal lengths of 18-36mm and 15-25.5mm, respectively. Theres also the 14mm /2.8 P-DA, equivalent to a 21mm lens on a 35mm camera. Pentax P-DA lenses cant be used on film cameras, but can be used with all Pentax and Samsung D-SLRs. |