TermSeek Canon Repair

Using Telephoto Lenses

Choose a telephoto lens to take portraits and to capture distant subjects such as birds, buildings, wildlife, and landscapes. Short telephoto lenses such as 85mm and 100mm are ideal for portraits, while long lenses (200mm to 800mm) allow you to photograph distant birds, wildlife, and athletes. When photographing wildlife, long lenses also allow you to keep a safe distance from the subject.

When you shoot with a telephoto lens, keep these lens characteristics in mind:

♦ Shallow depth of field. Telephoto lenses magnify subjects and provide a limited range of sharp focus. At wide apertures, such as f/4, you can reduce the background to a soft blur. Because of the shallow depth of field, there is no latitude for anything except tack-sharp focus. All Canon lenses include full-time manual focusing that you can use to fine-tune the camera's autofocus.

♦ Narrow coverage of a scene.

Because the angle of view is narrow with a telephoto lens, much less of the scene is included in the image. You can use this characteristic to exclude distracting scene elements from the image.

♦ Slow speed. Mid-priced telephoto lenses tend to be slow; the widest aperture is often f/4.5 or f/5.6, which limits the ability to get sharp images without a tripod in all but bright light unless the lens has image stabilization. And because of the magnification, even the slight movement when handholding the camera and lens or in subject movement is exaggerated.

♦ Perspective. Telephoto lenses tend to compress perspective, making objects in the scene appear stacked together.

If you're shopping for a telephoto lens, look for those with UD glass or Fluorite elements that improve contrast and sharpness. Image stabilization counteracts blur caused by handholding the camera.

8.8 Telephoto lenses are larger and heavier than wide-angle and normal lenses, but having a sharp and versatile telephoto zoom lens is indispensable. This 70-200mm lens also features image stabilization, which helps counteract camera shake when handholding the camera.