In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens is a lens whose focal length is substantially shorter than the focal length of a normal lens for the image size produced by the camera, whether this is dictated by the dimensions of the image frame at the film plane for film cameras (film format)[1] or dimensions of the photosensor for digital cameras.

Answered by Shobhit , an ibibo Master, at 3:02 PM on May 11, 2008

well Raksha, In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens is a lens whose focal length is substantially shorter than the focal length of a normal lens for the image size produced by the camera, whether this is dictated by the dimensions of the image frame at the film plane for film cameras (film format)[1] or dimensions of the photosensor for digital cameras.One of the disadvantages of small sensor APS-C Digital SLR cameras (basically everything but the Canon 1D and 1Ds series cameras) is that the 1.6x "multiplier/crop" factor makes all your existing 35mm wide-angle lenses into "not so wide" angle lenses. Nikon cameras are slightly better, with a 1.5x "multiplier/crop", but still basically suffer from the same problem. On a Canon 20D or Canon Digital Rebel XT your 24mm lens has the same field of view as a 38mm lens would have on a full frame camera. Your wide 20mm becomes a moderate 32mm and even your superwide 16-35 zoom becomes a mid-range 26-56 lens. Even the widest rectilinear prime lens you can get for 35mm a 14mm - turns into only a 22.5mm lens.

So what can you do? Well , you have to turn to one of the new ultrawide zooms made specifically for small (APS-C) sensor digitalcameras. While Nikon and Canon have had their own wide-angle lenses for a while, there are now also four "3rd party" alternatives available.

For now here is a comparison of the Ultrawide zooms available for Canon and Nikon APS-C sensor digital cameras. I believe the 3rd party lenses are also available in a Konica-Minolta mount.

Answered by Uttam , an ibibo Master, at 9:51 AM on May 01, 2008

wide-angle lens is a lens whose focal length is substantially shorter than the focal length of a normal lens for the image size produced by the camera, whether this is dictated by the dimensions of the image frame at the film plane for film cameras

Answered by sharda , an ibibo Advisor, at 11:30 PM on April 30, 2008

In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens is a lens whose focal length is substantially shorter than the focal length of a normal lens for the image size produced by the camera, whether this is dictated by the dimensions of the image frame at the film plane for film cameras (film format)[1] or dimensions of the photosensor for digital cameras.

Answered by Sharad Singh , an ibibo Master, at 1:03 PM on April 23, 2008

wide-angle lens - a camera lens having a wider than normal angle of view (and usually a short focal length); produces an image that is foreshortened in the center and increasingly distorted in the periphery

Answered by bhanu pratap , an ibibo Citizen, at 12:24 PM on April 23, 2008

Wide-angle lens, loosely defined, any lens that has a focal length markedly less than the length of the diagonal of the format it is being used with, i.e. giving an angle of view greater than about 60 degrees. The principle of eliminating distortion by making the lens elements symmetrical about the stop was discovered in the 1860s, but early wide-angle lenses showed severe fall-off in image illuminance towards the edges of the format, and various devices were adopted to minimize this. The problem has been largely solved by introducing highly curved negative meniscus elements at the front and rear of the lens so that the peripheral rays pass more nearly perpendicularly through the stop (the Slussarev effect). The introduction of the fisheye lens, with its severe barrel distortion, has made it necessary to distinguish this from the orthoscopic (or ‘rectilinear’) wide-angle lens with correct perspective drawing. Modern designs of the latter can cover up to 120 degrees with zero distortion and little fall-off.

Answered by anil kumar , an ibibo Citizen, at 12:17 PM on April 23, 2008

Camera lens whose point of focus is a short distance from its optical center, so that it has a wide horizontal field of view. These lenses are available in different sizes and some can actually cover an area wider than the eye can see. Wide-angle lenses also provide a deep perspective, or depth of field, so that all the elements seen through the lens will appear in sharp focus

Answered by yogesh , an ibibo Citizen, at 12:08 PM on April 23, 2008

Wide-angle lenses are much more difficult to work with than longer focal lengths, even super telephotos. With telephoto lenses, you have less worry about composition since only a portion of the scene is viewed through the viewfinder.

Answered by amit , an ibibo Citizen, at 12:00 PM on April 23, 2008

wide-angle lens is a lens whose focal length is substantially shorter than the focal length of a normal lens for the image size produced by the camera, whether this is dictated by the dimensions of the image frame at the film plane for film cameras (film format)[1] or dimensions of the photosensor for digital cameras.

Answered by savesh singh , an ibibo Citizen, at 11:51 AM on April 23, 2008

In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens is a lens whose focal length is substantially shorter than the focal length of a normal lens for the image size produced by the camera, whether this is dictated by the dimensions of the image frame at the film plane for film cameras (film format)[1] or dimensions of the photosensor for digital cameras.

By convention, in still photography, the normal lens for a particular format has a focal length approximately equal to the length of the diagonal of the image frame or digital photosensor. In cinematography, a somewhat longer lens is considered "normal".[2]

There is an easy formula for calculating the angle of view for any lens that produces a rectilinear image. In addition to giving a wider angle of view, the image produced by a wide-angle lens is more susceptible to perspective distortion than that produced by a normal lens, because they tend to be used much closer to the subject.

Answered by khushvinder , an ibibo Citizen, at 5:43 PM on April 22, 2008