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What is the Best Way To Learn About How Different Lenses Effect the Perspective and Apparent Depth of a Photo
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Mar 2, 2017 21:15:24   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
Steve Perry wrote:
Just to "+1" the conversation, perspective has everything to do with where you place the camera and zero to do with the lens.

It's all about camera position and distance to the subjects.


Except when you use a very wide angle lens, and you are very close to elements in the foreground. You will get moderate to extreme extension distortion - which is a type of perspective distortion - people get "horse faces." Also stuff at the edges and corners suffer from volume anamorphosis - or widening deformation, making round objects egg-shaped, and thin people looking like they put on 30 lbs. It's not a perspective issue per se, but fairly unique to very wide and ultrawide angle lenses.

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Mar 2, 2017 22:49:21   #
Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska
 
Gene51 wrote:
Except when you use a very wide angle lens, and you are very close to elements in the foreground. You will get moderate to extreme extension distortion - which is a type of perspective distortion - people get "horse faces." Also stuff at the edges and corners suffer from volume anamorphosis - or widening deformation, making round objects egg-shaped, and thin people looking like they put on 30 lbs. It's not a perspective issue per se, but fairly unique to very wide and ultrawide angle lenses.
Except when you use a very wide angle lens, and yo... (show quote)

That is perspective, and it is the distance rather than the focal that makes a difference.

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Mar 2, 2017 22:53:08   #
mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)
 
dirtpusher wrote:
What is Lens Compression and How to Use It In Your Photos


https://www.google.com/amp/s/photographylife.com/what-is-lens-compression/amp/


Excellent link. This should put the argument to rest. Thanks.

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Mar 3, 2017 02:10:15   #
dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma
 
Apaflo wrote:
Here is the major item to take away from that article:

If you take two photos from exactly the same place, one with a
wide angle lens and one with a telephoto lens, they will have
the same perceived distance from front to back -- that's because
the perspective has not changed!

The lens has nothing to do with perspective!


Not even barrel distortion?

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Mar 3, 2017 03:28:27   #
Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska
 
dirtpusher wrote:
Not even barrel distortion?

The statement is about perspective, only.

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Mar 3, 2017 10:31:46   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
Apaflo wrote:
That is perspective, and it is the distance rather than the focal that makes a difference.


In the situation I described, the short focal length will require moving in close for a tighter composition, and there is where the extension distortion comes into play. For the same composition with a longer lens, you must move back, and the result is a flattening of perspective, or compression distortion. No one is arguing that distance doesn't come into play. Distance is almost everything here, but focal length, when considering composition, is the reason why portrait photographers rarely shoot portraits with short lenses, unless they are after a particular artistic effect. And also why real estate photographers like to use ultrawide lenses to make the rooms look deeper than they really are, while serious architectural photographers prefer the more natural perspective of a "normal" lens, and will opt to do a stitched pano for a wider view rather than reach for the ultrawide.

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Mar 3, 2017 10:40:03   #
Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska
 
Gene51 wrote:
In the situation I described, the short focal length will require moving in close for a tighter composition, and there is where the extension distortion comes into play. For the same composition with a longer lens, you must move back, and the result is a flattening of perspective, or compression distortion. No one is arguing that distance doesn't come into play. Distance is almost everything here, but focal length, when considering composition, is the reason why portrait photographers rarely shoot portraits with short lenses, unless they are after a particular artistic effect. And also why real estate photographers like to use ultrawide lenses to make the rooms look deeper than they really are, while serious architectural photographers prefer the more natural perspective of a "normal" lens, and will opt to do a stitched pano for a wider view rather than reach for the ultrawide.
In the situation I described, the short focal leng... (show quote)

Obfuscation won't help. Perspective changes with distance, not with focal length.

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Mar 3, 2017 11:07:22   #
boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander
 
Apaflo wrote:
Here is the major item to take away from that article:

If you take two photos from exactly the same place, one with a
wide angle lens and one with a telephoto lens, they will have
the same perceived distance from front to back -- that's because
the perspective has not changed!

The lens has nothing to do with perspective!


If you really want to get esoteric- perspective does not really exist at all. It is merely how the eye and the brain "see" the scene. The eye and brain can be fooled to see things that aren't really there. optical illusions for instance. It you look at railroad tracks as the go away, they aopear to get closer. They. of course , do not. The moon looks bigger when it's close to the horizon. It is, of course, the same size, as when it's higher. Mirages. walking on water are 2 other examples

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Mar 3, 2017 11:34:07   #
Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska
 
boberic wrote:
If you really want to get esoteric- perspective does not really exist at all. It is merely how the eye and the brain "see" the scene. The eye and brain can be fooled to see things that aren't really there. optical illusions for instance. It you look at railroad tracks as the go away, they aopear to get closer. They. of course , do not. The moon looks bigger when it's close to the horizon. It is, of course, the same size, as when it's higher. Mirages. walking on water are 2 other examples
If you really want to get esoteric- perspective do... (show quote)

Perspective is pretty simple physics. Not magic, not an optical illusion that "tricks" your eye or your brain.

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Mar 3, 2017 11:38:22   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
bkellyusa wrote:
A few days ago I saw a two photographs taken of the same scene with two different lenses. One prime and one telephoto. What got my attention was that even though the subject in the foreground looked very similar in size the background seemed to moved forward in the photograph taken with the telephoto. I've seen this effect before in Macro photography using different focal lengths but I have never noticed it in an otherwise ordinary photograph. So my question is is that effect a part of a lenses design or is there something else going on? Thanks for your help in advance.
A few days ago I saw a two photographs taken of th... (show quote)


How about a Lens Simulator -

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/9059751105/photos/2518330/olympus-zuiko-lens-field-of-view-comparison

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Mar 4, 2017 01:09:40   #
bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN
 
Gene51 wrote:
Except when you use a very wide angle lens, and you are very close to elements in the foreground. You will get moderate to extreme extension distortion - which is a type of perspective distortion - people get "horse faces." Also stuff at the edges and corners suffer from volume anamorphosis - or widening deformation, making round objects egg-shaped, and thin people looking like they put on 30 lbs. It's not a perspective issue per se, but fairly unique to very wide and ultrawide angle lenses.
Except when you use a very wide angle lens, and yo... (show quote)


Thanks Gene. I appreciate those comments coming from you especially. As it is I think I have a pretty good feeling for how you go about your photography and I tend to follow in a similar direction. Add that to the fact that your pictures are stunning I pay particular attention to your posts.

Thanks again and continued success with your photography.

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Mar 4, 2017 01:20:58   #
bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN
 


Thanks for the links. I've never seen either one of those. The second on looks interesting but I don't think I fully understand how to operate.

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Mar 4, 2017 01:24:02   #
bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN
 
Apaflo wrote:
Perspective is pretty simple physics. Not magic, not an optical illusion that "tricks" your eye or your brain.


I never really considered that all of the difference was a result of the distance from the subject. I think I believed it was at least partially a result of the lens. I am going to have to experiment with this to make sure I really understand this.

Thanks again.

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Mar 4, 2017 01:29:12   #
bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN
 
boberic wrote:
If you really want to get esoteric- perspective does not really exist at all. It is merely how the eye and the brain "see" the scene. The eye and brain can be fooled to see things that aren't really there. optical illusions for instance. It you look at railroad tracks as the go away, they aopear to get closer. They. of course , do not. The moon looks bigger when it's close to the horizon. It is, of course, the same size, as when it's higher. Mirages. walking on water are 2 other examples
If you really want to get esoteric- perspective do... (show quote)


When I learned in school that the eye sees the world upside down and then the brain flips it I knew we were on the slippery slope with a camera in our hands.

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Mar 4, 2017 01:37:29   #
bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN
 
speters wrote:
If you think about it for a while, it'll make sense even in a logical manner (common sense). A wide angle is called wide, because it seems to stretch things, you see everything from a wider perspective, while a tele is going the other way, it "kinda" compresses things, so when looked at, they seem closer together than usual. The same thing happens if you look through a magnifying glass, or think about using a pair of binoculars, it brings everything closer to you, while appearently compressing things together (that part of perspective - the distance - is lost at viewing point,but if you turn your binoculars around, it shows the reverse! Things stretching apart as they get wider. The same thing happens with every change in focal length (changing lenses on your camera) A different view on the perspective!
If you think about it for a while, it'll make sens... (show quote)


Thanks for your reply. I think I am going to have to get my camera out and my binoculars and see if I can get my brain around this. In the past I have just sort of accepted that these things happen when you change focal length and never really considered what is really going on. I'm on it now.

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