Hey it's Dave from the camera store Today we're going to talk about what Focal length means when it comes to Choosing lenses [Music] [Applause] [Music] When you first start looking into Photography you can get quickly overrun By how many different lenses are Available for you now you have a look And a feel that you want to achieve with Your photography and how do you get that What lens is going to be the best choice For you I mean in front of me here I've Got a whole selection from Sony from a 14 millimeter all the way up to a big 600 millimeter here when do I use one When do I use the other and what does it Actually mean when I start talking about 14 millimeters compared to 600. Let's Dig into that now well let's get a Little bit techy here 35 millimeter film Has been by Far and Away the most Popular film format has been around for Decades it's still incredibly popular And in the digital side of things they Call it full frame now back in those Days when you're designing a camera the First thing and it makes complete sense Is you're trying to recreate what the Human eye would see so how can I Recreate that onto a film plane so we Start coming up with these different
Lenses and the first lenses that came Out were 50 millimeter lenses because They most closely replicated what the Human eye sees perspective wise so that Means when I'm looking through the Camera with a 50 millimeter lens and I Look at my subject matter with my own Eyes they both appear the same size so Where do they even come up with the Number 50 millimeters let's take a look At this Sony 50 millimeter lens here I Mean on the front it says 50 but is that 50 millimeters is this 50 millimeters Where do they come up with this number Effectively what they're doing is going For the optical center of the lens to The film plane or the focal plane now Let's see if I can help simplify this With some visual aids now I am by no Means an artist when it comes to drawing But let's see what we can do with this Whiteboard effectively when you are Focusing a lens This Is My Lens here and The camera attached to it there's the Focal plane this is the film plane so as Light enters the lens it's focused to a Single point this is what's called the Point of convergence where all the light Comes together imagine using the Magnifying glass and being able to focus That light into a single point that's The point of convergence now what Happens here is that light is spread to The sensor the distance we're measuring
Here is from the point of convergence to The sensor plane this gives us our focal Length so the focal length of the lens Is the point of convergence to the focal Plane or the film plane of the camera Now you can find that on your camera any Camera that has an interchangeable lens System is going to have a line with a Circle on it that's where your sensor is Located inside the camera so that's Where they get 50 millimeters from now Why are some lenses much bigger than Others well take a look at this Ultra Wide 14 millimeter lens so if we Remember what we talked about the point Of convergence it's only 14 millimeters Away from the film plane that means that Point of convergence is very far back in This lens so it can be a relatively Small lens if I want to bring things in Much closer if I want to do like a 600 Millimeter lens here this lens needs to Be this big because that point of Convergence is much further away from The sensor hence the size of this lens So if the 50 millimeter lens is the Standard lens that most closely Represents what the human eye sees why Don't we just use it for everything well There's a big reason we have multiple Lenses on the market for instance I find A 50 millimeter lens a little limiting I Prefer a 35 millimeter that's my Favorite focal length because it's just
The most natural feel for me for Capturing people in their workplace and Environmental portraits I absolutely Love it for that now we can go much Wider if we need to for instance this is A 24 millimeter lens and we also have a 14 millimeter lens for Ultra wide and of Course these different focal lengths all Have different applications and some are Better suited for certain subjects than Others however there's no real rules you Can use one lens for whatever subject You want however some are more Applicable for certain applications than Other so when it comes to comparing all These lenses we're concentrating only on Full frame sensors right now just to Keep this process simple because there's So much to talk about when it comes to Choosing a proper focal length we have So many different options so where do we Even start 50 millimeter has always been A great starting point to kind of get Your feet wet when it comes to Photography and then you quickly find Out do I wish I had a wider field of View I want to capture more of the Interiors or I can't quite get the Skyscaper or the cloudscapes that I want Through the 50 millimeter lens and I Can't bring that bird in as close as I Like to with my 50 millimeter lens what Are my options going either way now We're going to go wide and then even
Wider with the next two lenses so a 24 Millimeter lens is a very popular lens As well if the 35 is still not wide Enough for you if you find yourself in Environments where you just can't get Far enough back or can't get to the Position that you want you just like That aesthetic 24 mil gives you that Look now if you take 50 divided by 24 It's just a little over two times so When you're looking through a 24 Millimeter lens things are half the size Of what they would be in a 50 millimeter Lens it's kind of cool math if you want To play that way now a 14 millimeter Lens here is an ultra wide lens it's Incredibly wide and it's very Interesting to work with I love this Lens for big skyscapes and cloudscapes And some Interiors can look Monumental When you use this man ends like this Although it is tricky to use and it's Not a lens I want to use for everything For instance take a look at this Portrait of me done with a 14 millimeter Lens this is not an attractive portrait Lens at all now it's kind of fun if you Use this lens for Santa kind of artistic Photos if you're into snowboarding Skateboarding or you can have a lot of Fun with this lens for some kind of Artistic portraits if you want to put it That way but it's not my primary Portrait lens and that's where we're
Going next is the other side of 50 mil Now if we start going the other Direction on my table here we have an 85 Mil and a135 mil these lenses bring Things in much closer than our human eye Sees and when it's pretty cool to see Because it also cuts out the background A lot more these lenses are perfect for Shooting portraits take a look at these Shots here and comparing my 40 Millimeter portrait with a 135 Millimeter portrait it is drastically Different than the separation everything Looks so much nicer with the 135 well The 85 and the 135 are almost Purpose-built to shoot portraits now you Certainly can shoot anything you want With them however you might find them a Little bit tight to shoot Interiors with Now where all these other lenses a Little bit smaller and a little Unassuming this is the big one from us Today this is the two to six hundreds From Sony and the 600ml allows me to Shoot birds in Flight it allows me to Shoot football or soccer outside because I can bring the subject in much closer Now if we go back to the math we used on That 24 mil this is a 600 mil divide That by 50 our standard lens and we Bring things in 12 times closer what the Human eye sees this allows us to really Get close to the action and the wildlife So as good as this lens is for outdoor
Sports and Wildlife it doesn't really Apply itself to Interiors for instance And definitely not for portraits you Certainly can't shoot a Head and Shoulder portrait if we carry along our Theme what we're doing with our Head and Shoulder portrait you can see the Working distance a proper portrait lens Allows me a nice working distance with My subject I can still communicate with Them quite nicely but doing a Head and Shoulder porch with a 600 millimeter Lens we are yelling distance to each Other to communicate so there you have It I hope this simple and fun video Really helps you understand a little bit More about why a lens is called what it Is and a little bit more understanding Of why you use one focal length over the Other I encourage you go out and try Different focal lengths see what works For you some people fall in love with The ultra wide angle some people fall in Love with the portrait lens or as huge Telephoto I encourage you to try all the Different focal lengths out and really Play around with it and see what works For you I want to know what you guys Think of the focal length that you've Been using have you ever been surprised By a focal length that you never thought You'd use now let me know what you think In the comments down below follow us Both on Instagram comment Please
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