The differences between lenses

[indiraider]

I am having trouble knowing what the effect of different lenses are on the picture. Let me explain analogy: I play the guitar and there are different guitar petals to make the sound of the guitar different to fit the tone. I see the different lenses (wide angle lens, telephoto, anamorphic) as compatible expect they manipulate the image to fit the tone. I'm having trouble though knowing what theses lenses actually do visually; I read descriptions but don't see the result to the photo. I can't really find a site that can show how the lens affects the picture (like a before and after). Could anyone help me out?

 

[Huy Vu]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephoto

Go down about halfway through the page and there's a comparison of the field of view at various focal lengths.

 

[indiraider]

thanks

 

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

anamorphic is just a lens which has a certain aspect ratio,.

 

[235 Studios]

I read descriptions but don't see the result to the photo. I can't really find a site that can show how the lens affects the picture (like a before and after). Could anyone help me out?

Sure- check out my blog, I did an entry on that very thing:
Focal Legnth

 

[someday]

Let's do some reverse engineering:

FOCAL LENGHT To move a subject nearer or farther, change the Focal lengh:
With a focal lenght of 24mm you see a full house from 5 meters
With a focal lenght of 50mm you see the entrance and a window
With a focal lenght of 85mm you see only the door
With a focal lenght of 150mm you see the head of the man opening the door

APERTURE When it's sunny, you will close the aperture, and in the evening you will open it.
With an aperture of f/1.2 you will see things in the dark because i'ts full open
With an aperture of f/11 you won't have the image burned by the sun at 12:00 because i'ts almost closed


DEPTH OF FIELDThe focus ring lets you choose what's in focus and what's not.
If you open the aperture ( i.e. f/1.4)you will have few things in focus and many out of focus
If you close the aperture (i.e. f/3.5) you will have more things in focus

 

[snodart]

My DOF tutorial gives a break down of focal length that might help (part 3):
http://snodart.com/tutorials.php

Of course, it is a technical explanation.

If you are asking about the effect that various focal length lenses have on the overall tone or mood of a shot... that is a tough one. It can depend on a good number of factors. If you have $500 to spend, the Hollywood Camera Work DVD's do a great job of explaining it.
http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.us/index.html