{"id":363,"date":"2025-01-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.logsbylynn.com\/?p=363"},"modified":"2025-03-28T12:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T12:41:12","slug":"ultra-wide-angle-lenses-a-guide-6-reasons-to-love-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.logsbylynn.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/22\/ultra-wide-angle-lenses-a-guide-6-reasons-to-love-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultra-Wide Angle Lenses: A Guide (+6 Reasons to Love Them)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Ultra-Wide Angle Lenses: A Guide (+6 Reasons to Love Them)<\/a> appeared first on Digital Photography School<\/a>. It was authored by Tom Ang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This article was updated in January 2025 with contributions from Tom Ang and Kim Brebach<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

What is an ultra-wide angle lens? What type of effects do ultra-wides produce? And should you use them in your photography?<\/p>\n

I’ve been working with ultra-wide angle lenses for well over 30 years, and in my view, they’re incredible<\/em>. They offer plenty of practical benefits, they’re a great way to improve your photography, and they’re lots of fun to shoot with, too.<\/p>\n

In this article, I explain everything you need to know about ultra-wides, including what they are and why I highly recommend them. I also include plenty of examples, so you know exactly what ultra-wide lenses can do, and I close with a handful of ultra-wide angle photography tips!<\/p>\n

Let’s dive right in!<\/p>\n

What are ultra-wide angle lenses?<\/h2>\n

Ultra-wide angle lenses are extreme versions of wide-angle lenses<\/a>. Instead of producing a field of view that’s subtly wider than the human eye, they offer a field of view that’s far <\/em>wider. They create a beautifully expansive effect:<\/p>\n

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Notice how, in the photo above, I’ve managed to capture over half <\/em>of the room. That’s the power of an ultra-wide lens!<\/p>\n

So what focal lengths correspond to ultra-wides?<\/p>\n

Well, as you may already be aware, a 50mm lens<\/a> (on a full-frame camera) closely approximates the field of view of the human eye. And wide-angle lenses feature smaller focal lengths, generally from around 24mm to 49mm.<\/p>\n

Therefore, ultra-wide angle <\/em>lenses have focal lengths that are wider than 24mm. A 10-20mm lens, for instance, is an ultra-wide zoom, while a 14mm lens is an ultra-wide prime.<\/p>\n

(Note that these focal lengths are approximate; there’s no single agreed-upon set of focal lengths for wide and ultra-wide lenses.)<\/p>\n

Take a look at this image, which is taken with a wide-angle (28mm) lens:<\/p>\n

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Then see how an ultra-wide focal length (11mm) widens the scene even further:<\/p>\n

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So while wide-angle lenses and ultra-wide angle lenses have a broad field of view, the ultra-wide effect is much more extreme.<\/p>\n

When should you use an ultra-wide angle lens?<\/h2>\n

Ultra-wide lenses are hugely helpful, but you don’t want to use them all the time. For instance, trying to shoot a distant bird with an ultra-wide lens will get you nothing but a landscape and a distant blotch of feathers.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, you can use ultra-wide lenses to capture entire scenes in a single shot. For instance, you can photograph an entire city skyline from end to end. Or you can photograph a beautiful mountain scene and include a foreground, a middleground, and plenty of mountain background.<\/p>\n

Here are a few genres where ultra-wides are useful:<\/p>\n