Comments on: Guest Bloggers Zach & Jody | Tuesday Tips & Tricks – Long Lens Perspectives

By: Joel and Amber

Joel and Amber — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:47:32 +0000

One of the best group pictures that Amber has taken was with the 100mm macro. She obviously had to stand very far back, but the bokeh, the compression, the perspective, everything; it was incredible! Definitely something I’m going work more on! I usually shoot with the 50 or 24-70 for group shots, now I’m going to have to try the 85 instead.

Love the writeup, and love the examples!

By: Jim Rice

Jim Rice — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 01:06:16 +0000

With some sitters, a VERY good thing.

By: Jim Rice

Jim Rice — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 01:02:06 +0000

One point that I feel was missing from the article (I have not read them all)is that a slightly long (~2x normal) focal length is thought of as a “portrait” lens because it reduces the apparent size of a sitter’s nose in a “head and shoulders” scenario. This is a good thing.

By: Brad Seaman

Brad Seaman — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:30:10 +0000

I have the Nikon 85mm 1.4G and am absolutely blown away by this lens each and every time I shoot with it. In comparison to my 70-200 VRII and 24-70, it puts them to shame in portrait settings.

Great article!

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:50:18 +0000

I am a wedding & lifestyle photographer near Burlington, Vermont. I have been following Z&J Gray for almost a year now. Huge fan of their “rockstar” style, and because of their recommendation have been renting lenses to see which prime I want to purchase next. When comparing the 50mm 1.2 to this 85mm 1.2, I prefer the 50mm. Why? Because I tend to not place my subjects directly in the middle of a portrait, and if my bride is along either edge of the frame, the 85mm tends to make her look larger (arms especially.) Wish Z&J had touched on that a bit… Anyone else find this or have a way around it? Happy shooting! J

By: Caroline

Caroline — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:42:06 +0000

Hey Danny!,

We are actually trying to mix things up a bit and bring something new to the Lensrentals blog! Not everybody is into the techy-talk, and we really want to be able to give people some sound advice from the pros themselves.

Best,

Caroline
Intern Extraordinaire

By: Danny

Danny — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 22:36:41 +0000

Fun article, but it just feels awkward and out of place against the backdrop of Lens Rentals’s normal blog posts. Usually blog posts are techy, funny, and highly informative. This just feels like a commercial for LR’s 85mm+ lenses by a couple whose ethos does not really match Roger’s.

By: Mark Olwick

Mark Olwick — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 19:57:45 +0000

Siegfried. Here you go:

“2. Longer lenses help throw the background out of focus…”

No, they don’t.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 01:37:19 +0000

The nikon 200 mm f2 has quickly become my favorite and most used lens. Incredible! Many of the shots posted recently on our blog were with taken with this gem.

By: John Cornicello

John Cornicello — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 22:33:04 +0000

There is a common misconception that long lenses compress the perspective. This is not correct. The camera to subject distance determines the perspective. The longer lens just gives you a narrower field of view so that the subject is larger. But if you shot from the same position with a 20mm and a 200mm the portion of the scene that is common to both photographs will have the same perspective. Enlarge/crop in on the 20mm image to match the 200mm image and the compression will be the same. Of course you wouldn’t use the short lens far away because of the loss of quality when you enlarge it. In practical use you do see the compression more with long lenses, but it is not caused by the lens. Similarly, if you move in close with a short lens you see extended perspective. But again, it is not because of the lens. The short lens just allows you to get in closer.

As for the blur issue, that may be more subjective (the above is just the physics of optics). With the same framing of a subject (subject is the same size in the frame) with the two lenses (long and short) at the same aperture will have the same depth of field. But the background elements with the shorter lens will be smaller and more identifiable. With the longer lens there will a narrower field of view which makes the background elements larger in the photo. The degree of “out of focusness” will be the same, but larger elements look more out of focus. Smaller things look more in focus.

As an example, think of taking a photo of a flower on your backyard table. Take two photos. One with a 20mm and another with a 100mm. Fill the frame the same way with the flower in both photos. In the photo taken with the 20mm lens you will see the flower. You will also see the rest of the back yard, the house next door, some trees, maybe some of the sky. They are all there and pretty recognizable, even if way out of focus. In the photo taken with the 100mm lens you will only see a narrow big of the background behind the flower. Maybe a splotch of paint from the house, or a bit of a shrub. Not enough of the background item to tell what it is compared to the shot with the shorter lens.

Quality of out of focus depends on lens design, including the number of aperture blades and the shape of the aperture. You can probably find 4 or 5 different design 85mm lenses (from the same or different manufacturers)that will show a different quality of background blur at the same aperture.

John