If you’re looking for an answer to a question like “What is a telephoto lens? ” or “What is a telephoto lens used for ?? “, then this article is exactly the thing you need to read.
When I was young, I saw so many wildlife photographers and their beautiful photographs, and I just loved it.
Do you know what I loved the most in each photograph & why?
The most common thing in all those pictures was the blurry background ( for me ) and the clarity of each subject, I just love that kind of background with a sharp object.
Look at this image; I’m talking about this kind of photograph…
Credit: Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash
At that time, I didn’t know more about this lens.
So I was trying to capture that kind of image with my prime 18-55mm lens, and that was next to impossible trying to capture a moving subject from such a long distance ( at that time, I was just exploring photography; that’s all 😀 ).
At that time, I was very curious to know how these wildlife photographers could capture that kind of image.
After some good research, I found the telephoto lens.
And after reading & knowing its features, I just fell in love with it.
All the features whether it is the the focal length, the size, or the image quality, were just awesome.
This is my story, and I know your story must be different or may be similar to mine about the telephoto lens.
So, if you’re looking for a zoom lens to capture a long-distance object with very clear picture quality, then you’re at the right place.
Or if you’re looking for a new lens (it’s going to be expensive), and some answer to your questions like why I need this kind of telephoto lens & how to use my new telephoto lens, then too you’re at the right place.
In this article, I am going to share my honest reviews for this type of lens and hope it helps you in your journey.
This article can even help you to decide whether you should buy this lens or not.
After reading this you can also decide if this lens will be suited to your needs or not.
Also, mentioning some of the best focal lengths for a good telephoto lens, you can easily pick a telephoto lens as per your need.
Now, without talking more about it, let’s get started…
So, here is our first and most important question.
What is a telephoto lens ??
These lenses are the kind of lens which contain more amount of focal length, an example, a focal length of 60mm or longer is known as a telephoto lens.
Hope you guys see our featured image, which is a good example of a telephoto lens.
If you want to dive deeper, you can go on and read the article mentioned below.
We are going to talk more about it later in this article.
These lenses are also known as “tele lenses” or “long lenses”.
Now, answering another most important question…
Why do you need to use a telephoto lens?
This is the real question which you need to know before investing in a brand-new lens.
I have seen so many newbies who just love this kind of zoom lens and bought it without thinking or knowing about it.
if you’re one of them, just remember, if you’re going to buy a new lens, then first, you need to do some proper research before buying it.
This RND can help you a lot to find a better lens.
Now, let’s get back to the main point.
After reading the introduction, I’m assuming that you now know something about this type of lens.
So, the common answer is here…
You can use this lens to capture long-distance objects, which means you can capture any object which is far away from you.
The main reason behind this is that the telephoto lens contains a very good focal length, like 70-200mm or even 300mm.
Telephoto Lens & Zoom Lens are the same things??
The answer is NO, yeah, you can use a telephoto lens like a zoom lens, but it is not known as a zoom lens.
There are so many differences between these two kinds of lenses.
Currently, we’re not covering all this difference, here is some cool stuff for you if you want to know more about it.
The main resources from Quora help you to get some serious information about the zoom lens and telephoto lens.
Different kinds of Telephoto lenses
Mainly, there are three different types of popular lenses currently available in the market.
1. For Beginners…
- This type of lens contains a focal length between 85MM – 135MM.
- If you love candid photography or even portrait photography, then you can use this lens.
- Apart from this, sometimes I like to take this lens and try my hand at some awesome street photography.
- This kind of lens is the cheapest telephoto lens.
2. For Intermediate
(135MM – 300MM)
Here comes the mid-range lens.
- This kind of lens holds a focal length between 135MM and 300MM.
- You can use this sort of lens to do some cool landscape photography & sports/action photography.
- Also, if you love to capture some pre-wedding photoshoots, or even if you want to capture fighter plans, then you can use this range.
3. For Experts
- These telephoto lenses are the most expensive ones.
- If you’re not an expert or even if you can’t afford this kind of lens, then you should avoid this lens.
- The super-telephoto lens is commonly used by wildlife photographers.
- These lenses contain a focal length of 300MM plus, and it is enough to cover a very long distance.
Here are some modern tips for using a Telephoto lens…
I own a 70-200mm telephoto lens, so here are some important tips to remember.
I’ll not mention every single way to use a telephoto lens; I’ll only mention what I learned while capturing images using this lens.
Here are some awesome tips which you need to know before using this kind of lens.
1. Tripod is MUST
This kind of lens is extremely heavy, and it’s not easy to capture long-distance objects single-handedly.
It’ll not give you the result that you’re looking for, and you will get tired of holding it as well.
Here is the main reason, which helps you to understand this little thing.
If you’re using any lens which contains a focal length above 100MM, then just try to shoot a video with maximum focal length.
After some time, you will start to notice the vibration of your hand through the LCD screen.
You can try this thing with your prime lens, too. Just start video recording and zoom in, and after some time, you’ll see the result.
So, if you can’t hold your prime lens effortlessly, then don’t think about this heavy lens; it’s better to buy a good quality tripod to get sharp images.
Moreover, a tripod can prove to be a Long time investment as you can use it almost everywhere for your photography.
2. Capture more close-up shots
Close-up shots are very important as they can give you more compressed images.
And apart from long-distance shots, the blurry background is the most important thing you’ll achieve while shooting with a telephoto lens.
3. Taking images with a Remote
As I said earlier, a telephoto lens is best known for its blurry background ( you get a more compressed shot ).
And you’ll get that kind of background only if you’re camera is stable.
When you capture some images with very low shutter speed, then sometimes you’ll not that you images get blurry.
To avoid this kind of issue, you can use a remote to capture sharp images quickly.
The longer your lens and wider your aperture, the more blur it gets.
featured image credit: Photo by Claudiu Pusuc on Unsplash
That’s all about the telephoto lens; I hope you guys find what you’re looking for.
Also, if you own a telephoto lens, or even if you’re going to buy a new telephoto lens, then comment below and let me know your reason for buying a new telephoto lens.
If you like this article, then please share it with your other photographer friends.
Thank you for reading this article have a nice day 🙂
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