Wide-Angle Lens

(click here to view an example)

Wide-angle lenses range from 20mm to 35mm. The wider field of view, the more we get in the scene and other benifits include greater depth of field.

Wide-angle lenses help us capture the big picture. They are commonly used for landscape and interior photography, when we want to photograph a large part of the scene and get the elements in a scene in focus.

The lens conversion factor with digital SLR's is especially critical when considering wide-angle lenses. Because the effective focal length of any lens mounted a digital camera that is not full-frame, the lens may not give the user the full benifits of a wide angle lens.

For example, the Digital Rebel XT has a conversion factor of 1.6. A 20mm wide-angle lens will have the smaller field of view of  a 32mm lens.

Photographers who want the field of view of a wide angle lens with cameras such as the EOS Digital Rebel XT or EOS 20D will need to consider lenses with super-wide focal lengths.