Telephoto Lenses

I think of telephoto lenses as 200mm or longer. 300mm is a popular fixed telephoto, and things get more interesting and pricey as they go up to 400, 500 and 600mm. Anything over 600mm is pretty exclusive territory.

It doesn't matter — for this discussion — if you are using a zoom lens in the telephoto range or a prime telephoto.

Bottom Line: Telephoto lenses do five things:

  1. They bring distant objects closer.
  2. They isolate subjects from backgrounds because of their narrow range of focus.
  3. They compress objects into looking close together.
  4. They allow you to shoot "through" obstructions by throwing them far out of focus.
  5. They can give an image a distinctive look (the opposite of the wide-angle look).

You can add extenders to add 1.4x or 2x to the focal length. Generally, you add extenders to fixed "prime" lenses, as they soften things up too much to add to zooms. But some people use extenders with high-quality zooms and do fine.

 

300mm
400mm
Nicole and dome
telephoto compression
shooting through
shooting through
far away
far
300mm
400mm
Nicole and dome
telephoto compression
shooting through
shooting through
far away
far
300mm
400mm
Nicole and dome
telephoto compression
shooting through
shooting through
far away
far
Left
Right

This is a good example of using a long lens to isolate the subject from the background via focus. I picked a clean background from a rather messy shot and zoomed to 300mm.

240mm, 1/90, f5.6, ISO1600

The reference shot below was taken with the same lens, just at the 70mm end of its range.

cafe shot

Using the long lens to isolate Nicole in an outdoor shot.

400mm, 1/350, f13, ISO1600

Using long lens to fit a background item to Nicole's head. Those of you who are alert will realize the the dome is NOT REALLY just big enough for Nicole to wear as a hat. This is another way of looking at the ability of a telephoto lens to compress foreground and background.

300mm, 1/180, f22, ISO1600

 

Compressing Nicole among the pillars of a building. Oddly, there is some debate about whether telephoto lenses really can "compress" the look of a place.

Refer to the photo below taken from a different angle and decide for yourself.

1/90 f19, ISO1600

non compressed

And below is the MOST compressed image I ever took: ridges in the Virginia hills, looking stacked up, although each is thousands of feet apart. Shot with a 400mm lens.

Misty Ridges

Using the narrow depth of field to shoot "through" out of focus obstructions. This is a less common use of the telephoto, but it is often surprising how you can shoot right through branches and wires — particularly if they are dark or black.

300mm, 1/1500, f5.6, ISO1600

 

Here we left everything the same and pulled the focus back to the green fencing. Nicole is just about gone, except as a suggestion.

300mm, 1/1500, f5.6, ISO1600

Bringing the subject closer. Here Nicole is up on a balcony. The 300mm brings her fairly close for an "environmental" portrait. Note that I said you tend to use a wide-angle to place a person in an environment, but here we used a telephoto because there was no other choice, and we were able to choose a specific segment of the background that we liked.

In the reference shot below, shot with a 24mm, you can see the balcony where Nicole stood for this shot. (Taken in Quincy Market, Boston.)

1/30mm, 300mm, f5.6, ISO1600

wide view

Another example of using the telephoto to bring the subject close enough to shoot and isolate from the background via selective focus. Nicole was on a 2nd floor porch — 300mm was the only reasonable way to shoot her portrait from the ground. 

300mm, 1/350, f6.7, ISO1600

wide view


This is a good example of using a long lens to isolate the subject from the background via focus. I picked a clean background from a rather messy shot and zoomed to 300mm.

240mm, 1/90, f5.6, ISO1600

The reference shot below was taken with the same lens, just at the 70mm end of its range.

cafe shot

Using the long lens to isolate Nicole in an outdoor shot.

400mm, 1/350, f13, ISO1600

Using long lens to fit a background item to Nicole's head. Those of you who are alert will realize the the dome is NOT REALLY just big enough for Nicole to wear as a hat. This is another way of looking at the ability of a telephoto lens to compress foreground and background.

300mm, 1/180, f22, ISO1600

 

Compressing Nicole among the pillars of a building. Oddly, there is some debate about whether telephoto lenses really can "compress" the look of a place.

Refer to the photo below taken from a different angle and decide for yourself.

1/90 f19, ISO1600

non compressed

And below is the MOST compressed image I ever took: ridges in the Virginia hills, looking stacked up, although each is thousands of feet apart. Shot with a 400mm lens.

Misty Ridges

Using the narrow depth of field to shoot "through" out of focus obstructions. This is a less common use of the telephoto, but it is often surprising how you can shoot right through branches and wires — particularly if they are dark or black.

300mm, 1/1500, f5.6, ISO1600

 

Here we left everything the same and pulled the focus back to the green fencing. Nicole is just about gone, except as a suggestion.

300mm, 1/1500, f5.6, ISO1600

Bringing the subject closer. Here Nicole is up on a balcony. The 300mm brings her fairly close for an "environmental" portrait. Note that I said you tend to use a wide-angle to place a person in an environment, but here we used a telephoto because there was no other choice, and we were able to choose a specific segment of the background that we liked.

In the reference shot below, shot with a 24mm, you can see the balcony where Nicole stood for this shot. (Taken in Quincy Market, Boston.)

1/30mm, 300mm, f5.6, ISO1600

wide view

Another example of using the telephoto to bring the subject close enough to shoot and isolate from the background via selective focus. Nicole was on a 2nd floor porch — 300mm was the only reasonable way to shoot her portrait from the ground. 

300mm, 1/350, f6.7, ISO1600

wide view