
In
photography
Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...
and
cinematography
Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography.
Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
, a wide-angle lens is a
lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...
covering a large
angle of view
In photography, angle of view (AOV) describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term '' field of view''.
It is important to distinguish the angle of view from the ...
. Conversely, its
focal length
The focal length of an Optics, optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the Multiplicative inverse, inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system Converge ...
is substantially smaller than that of a
normal lens
In photography and cinematography, a normal lens is a lens that reproduces a field of view that appears "natural" to a human observer. In contrast, depth compression and expansion with shorter or longer focal lengths introduces noticeable, and som ...
for a given
film plane
A film plane is the surface of an image recording device such as a camera, upon which the lens creates the focused image. In cameras from different manufacturers, the film plane varies in distance from the lens. Thus each lens used has to be chose ...
. This type of lens allows more of the
scene
Scene (from Greek ') may refer to:
General
* Scene (performing arts), a part of the story held in a single location
* Scene (perception), a set of information that can flow from a physical environment into a perceptual system via sensory tran ...
to be included in the
photograph
A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...
, which is useful in architectural, interior, and landscape photography where the photographer may not be able to move farther from the scene to photograph it.
Another use is where the photographer wishes to emphasize the difference in size or distance between objects in the foreground and the background; nearby objects appear very large and objects at a moderate distance appear small and far away.
This exaggeration of relative size can be used to make foreground objects more prominent and striking, while capturing expansive backgrounds.
A wide-angle lens is also one that projects a substantially larger
image circle
The image circle is the cross section of the cone of light transmitted by a lens or series of lenses onto the image plane. When this light strikes a perpendicular target such as photographic film or a digital camera sensor, it forms a circle o ...
than would be typical for a standard design lens of the same focal length. This large image circle enables either large
tilt & shift movements with a
view camera
A view camera is a large format, large-format camera in which the large format lens, lens forms an erect image, inverted image on a ground glass, ground-glass screen directly at the film plane. The image is viewed, composed, and focused, then the ...
.
By convention, in still photography, the
normal lens
In photography and cinematography, a normal lens is a lens that reproduces a field of view that appears "natural" to a human observer. In contrast, depth compression and expansion with shorter or longer focal lengths introduces noticeable, and som ...
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 lens of roughly twice the diagonal is considered "normal".
[Anton Wilson, ''Anton Wilson's Cinema Workshop'', American Cinematographer, 2004 (Page 100) ]
Characteristics
Longer lenses magnify the subject more, apparently compressing distance and (when focused on the foreground) blurring the background because of their shallower
depth of field
The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the farthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus (optics), focus in an image captured with a camera. See also the closely related depth of focus.
Factors affecting depth ...
. Wider lenses tend to magnify the distance between objects while allowing greater depth of field.
Another result of using a wide-angle lens is a greater apparent
perspective distortion
In photography and cinematography, perspective distortion is a warping or transformation of an object and its surrounding area that differs significantly from what the object would look like with a normal focal length, due to the relative scale ...
when the camera is not aligned perpendicularly to the subject: parallel lines converge at the same rate as with a
normal lens
In photography and cinematography, a normal lens is a lens that reproduces a field of view that appears "natural" to a human observer. In contrast, depth compression and expansion with shorter or longer focal lengths introduces noticeable, and som ...
but converge more due to the wider total field. For example, buildings appear to be falling backward much more severely when the camera is pointed upward from ground level than they would if photographed with a normal lens at the same distance from the subject because more of the subject building is visible in the wide-angle shot.
Because different lenses generally require a different camera–subject distance to preserve the size of a subject, changing the
angle of view
In photography, angle of view (AOV) describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term '' field of view''.
It is important to distinguish the angle of view from the ...
can indirectly
distort perspective, changing the apparent relative size of the subject and foreground.
Wide-angle lenses for 35 mm format
For a full-frame
35 mm camera
A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
with a 36 mm by 24 mm format, the diagonal measures 43.3 mm, and by custom, the normal lens adopted by most manufacturers is 50 mm. Also by custom, a lens of focal length 35 mm or less is considered wide-angle.
Ultra wide angle lens
An ultra wide-angle lens is a Photographic lens, lens whose focal length is shorter than that of an average wide-angle lens, providing an even wider view. The term denotes a different range of lenses, relative to the size of the sensor in the c ...
es have a focal length shorter than the short side of the film or sensor. In 35 mm, an ultra wide-angle lens has a focal length shorter than 24 mm.
Common wide-angle lenses for a full-frame
35 mm camera
A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
are 35, 28, 24, 21, 20, 18, and 14 mm, the latter four being ultra-wide.
Many of the lenses in this range will produce a more or less
rectilinear image at the film plane, though some degree of
barrel distortion
In geometric optics, distortion is a deviation from rectilinear projection; a projection in which straight lines in a scene remain straight in an image. It is a form of optical aberration that may be distinguished from other aberrations such as ...
is not uncommon.
Ultra wide-angle lenses that do not produce a rectilinear image (i.e., exhibit barrel distortion) are called
fisheye lens
A fisheye lens is an ultra wide angle lens, ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong Distortion (optics), visual distortion intended to create a wide panorama, panoramic or Sphere#Hemisphere, hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremel ...
es. Common focal lengths for these in a 35 mm
camera
A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
is 6 to 8 mm (which produce a circular image). Lenses with focal lengths of 8 to 16 mm may be either rectilinear or fisheye designs.
Wide-angle lenses come in both fixed-focal-length and zoom varieties. For 35 mm cameras, lenses producing rectilinear images can be found at focal lengths as short as 8 mm, including zoom lenses with ranges of 2:1 that begin at 12 mm.
Digital camera considerations

, many interchangeable-lens digital cameras have
image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to form an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they refraction, pass through or reflection (physics), reflect off objects) into s ...
s that are smaller than the
film format
A film format is a technical definition of a set of standard characteristics regarding image capture on photographic film for still images or film stock for filmmaking. It can also apply to projected film, either slides or movies. The primary ...
of full-frame 35 mm cameras.
[The few exceptions include the ]Canon EOS-1D X
The Canon EOS-1D X is a professional digital SLR camera body by Canon Inc. It succeeded the company's previous flagship Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. It was announced on 18 October 2011.
It was released in March 2012 ...
, EOS 5DS/5DS R, EOS 5D Mark III and EOS 6D; Nikon's D4S, Df, D810, D750 and D610; and Sony's α99 and α7 family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
. Discontinued full-frame cameras include the Canon EOS-1Ds
The EOS-1Ds is a full-frame 11.1-megapixel digital SLR camera body made by Canon in the 1Ds series, released on 24 September 2002. It was Canon's first full-frame DSLR. Its dimensions are 156 x 157.6 x 79.9 mm (6.1 x 6.2 x 3.1 in.) ...
, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
The EOS-1Ds Mark II is a digital SLR camera body introduced by Canon Inc. in 2004. It was the top model in the Canon EOS line of digital cameras until April 2007, with a full-frame 16.7 megapixel CMOS sensor. The EOS-1Ds Mark II had the highe ...
, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III
The EOS-1Ds Mark III is a digital SLR camera body by Canon designed for professional photographers. The Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III is successor to the EOS-1Ds Mark II and was announced in August 2007. The camera features a full-frame 21.1 megapix ...
, EOS 5D, EOS 5D Mark II, Nikon D4
The Nikon D4 is a 16.2-megapixel professional-grade full frame ( 35mm) digital single-lens reflex camera ( DSLR) announced by Nikon Corporation on 6 January 2012. It succeeds the Nikon D3S and introduces a number of improvements including a 16 ...
, Nikon D3
The Nikon D3 is a 12.0-megapixel professional-grade full frame (35 mm) digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) announced by the Nikon Corporation on 23 August 2007 along with the Nikon D300 DX format camera. It was Nikon's first full-fr ...
, Nikon D800
The Nikon D800 is a 36.3-megapixel professional-grade full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera produced by Nikon Corporation. It was given a Gold Award by Digital Photography Review.
It was officially announced on February 7, 2012, and wen ...
, Nikon D700
The Nikon D700 is a professional-grade full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by the Nikon Corporation in July 2008 and manufactured in Japan. It uses the same 12.1-megapixel "FX" CMOS image sensor as the Nikon D3, and is Niko ...
, Nikon D600, Contax N Digital
The Contax N Digital was a six-megapixel digital SLR digital camera, camera produced by Contax in Japan. The camera was announced in late 2000, and began to be sold in spring 2002, after several delays. The camera received mixed reviews from the ...
, Sony Alpha 900
The α900 (DSLR-A900) is a full-frame digital SLR camera, produced by Sony. An early design study of the camera was shown at PMA on 8 March 2007, and a newer prototype announced at PMA 2008 on 31 January 2008. Sony officially introduced the final ...
, Sony Alpha 850
The α850 (DSLR-A850) was Sony's second full-frame digital SLR, introduced on 27 August 2009. Similar to the DSLR-A900, the camera featured the same 24.6-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor used in the a900. On 8 June 2011, Sony pre-announced th ...
, Kodak DCS Pro SLR/c and Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n. For the most part, the dimensions of these image sensors are similar to the
APS-C image frame size, i.e., approximately 24 mm x 16 mm. Therefore, the
angle of view
In photography, angle of view (AOV) describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term '' field of view''.
It is important to distinguish the angle of view from the ...
for any given focal-length lens will be narrower than it would be in a full-frame camera because the smaller sensor "sees" less of the image projected by the lens. The camera manufacturers provide a crop factor (sometimes called a field-of-view factor or a focal-length multiplier) to show how much smaller the sensor is than a full 35 mm film frame. For example, one common factor is 1.5 (Nikon DX format and some others), although many cameras have crop factors of 1.6 (most Canon DSLRs), 1.7 (the early Sigma DSLRs) and 2 (the
Four Thirds
The Four Thirds System is a standard created by Olympus and Eastman Kodak for digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) design and development. Four Thirds refers to both the size of the image sensor (4/3") as well as the aspect ratio (4:3). T ...
and
Micro Four Thirds
The is a standard released by Olympus Corporation, Olympus Imaging Corporation and Panasonic in 2008, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and Camera lens, lenses. Camera bodies are availab ...
cameras). The 1.5 indicates that the angle of view of a lens on the camera is the same as that of a 1.5 times longer focal length on a
35 mm full-frame camera, which explains why the crop factor is also known as a focal-length multiplier. For example, a 28 mm lens on the DSLR (given a crop factor of 1.5) would produce the angle of view of a 42 mm lens on a full-frame camera. So, to determine the focal length of a lens for a digital camera that will give the equivalent angle of view as one on a full-frame camera, the full-frame lens focal length must be divided by the crop factor. For example, to get the equivalent angle of view of a 30 mm lens on a full-frame 35 mm camera, from a digital camera with a 1.5 crop factor, one would use a 20 mm lens.
Lens manufacturers have responded by making wide-angle lenses of much shorter focal lengths for these cameras. In doing this, they limit the diameter of the image projected to slightly more than the diagonal measurement of the photosensor. This gives the designers more flexibility in providing the optical corrections necessary to economically produce high-quality images at these short focal lengths, especially when the lenses are zoom lenses. Examples are 10 mm minimum focal length zoom lenses from several manufacturers. At 10 mm, these lenses provide the angle of view of a 15 mm lens on a full-frame camera when the crop factor is 1.5.
Construction

There are two varieties of wide-angle lens: short-focus lenses and retrofocus lenses.
Short-focus lenses are generally made up of multiple glass elements whose shapes are more or less symmetrical in front of and behind the diaphragm. As the focal length decreases, the distance of the rear element of the lens from the film plane or digital sensor also decreases.
This makes short-focus wide-angle lenses undesirable for
single-lens reflex camera
In photography, a single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a mirror and prism system to allow photographers to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. SLRs became the dominant design for professional a ...
s unless they are used with the reflex mirrors locked up. On
large format
Large format photography refers to any imaging format of or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the or size of Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollei, Kowa, and Pentax cameras (using 120 film, 120- and 220-roll film), and much la ...
view camera
A view camera is a large format, large-format camera in which the large format lens, lens forms an erect image, inverted image on a ground glass, ground-glass screen directly at the film plane. The image is viewed, composed, and focused, then the ...
s and
rangefinder cameras
A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus.
Most var ...
, short-focus lenses are widely used because they give less distortion than the retrofocus design and there is no need for a long back focal distance.

The retrofocus lens solves this proximity problem through an asymmetrical design that allows the rear element to be farther away from the film plane than its effective focal length would suggest. (See
Angénieux retrofocus
The Angénieux retrofocus photographic lens is a wide-angle lens design that uses an inverted telephoto configuration. The popularity of this lens design made the name retrofocus synonymous with this type of lens. The Angénieux retrofocus for st ...
.)
For example, it is not uncommon for the rear element of a retrofocus lens of 18 mm to be more than 25 mm from the film plane. This makes it possible to design wide-angle lenses for
single-lens reflex camera
In photography, a single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a mirror and prism system to allow photographers to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. SLRs became the dominant design for professional a ...
s.
The axial adjustment range for focusing
Ultra wide angle lens
An ultra wide-angle lens is a Photographic lens, lens whose focal length is shorter than that of an average wide-angle lens, providing an even wider view. The term denotes a different range of lenses, relative to the size of the sensor in the c ...
es and some Wide-angle lenses in
large format cameras is usually very small.
Some manufacturers (e.g.
Linhof
Linhof is a German company, founded in Munich in 1887 by Valentin Linhof. The company is well known for making premium rollfilm and view camera, large format film cameras. Linhof initially focused on making camera shutters and developing the f ...
) have offered special focusing lens mounts, so-called 'wide-angle focusing devices' for their cameras that allow the lens to be focused precisely without moving the entire front standard.
Development
The first wide angle lens was developed in the 1850s by photographer
Thomas Sutton. It involved a water filled lens creating panoramic visuals without the use of a rotating body.
See also
Notes
References
External links
*
The physics of Rectilinear and Equidistant wide angle lenses
{{Authority control
Photographic lenses
Television terminology