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Focal Length
Description
A lens' focal length determines the level of magnification of the image captured in a photograph. A lower focal length leads to images appearing smaller in a photograph which will include more area from the scene (a larger field of vision). A higher focal length can be used to photograph subjects that are far away, making them seem closer.
Focal lengths are expressed here in 35mm photography equivalents. Lenses can be classified according to focal length as follows:
- Super wide angle: 20mm or less.
- Wide angle: 25 to 35mm.
- Normal: 45 to 50mm (includes a field of vision that is similar to that of a human with normal vision).
- Telephoto: 80 to 300mm.
- Super telephoto: 300mm or more.
Focal length is tightly related to the Optical Zoom feature as follows:
Optical zoom = (maximum focal length) / (minimum focal length)
Providing a value
It is generally easier to use the Optical Zoom feature than focal length to specify your requirements. Thus, you may want to skip this feature.
To specify a focal length, select a range from the dropdown list. If the values you want are not there, select "Other", type the values you want, and click on "Recalculate". If you are not interested in zoom (i.e., you want a single fixed focal length), specify the same focal length in both input fields.
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