| The next step
down, to the 23mm - 25mm range, creates a truly unique view. I bought my first lens
of this length from eBay. It was a 23mm/1:3.5 screw mount lens (M42) by the name of Auto
Aragon (not a name I had heard before). The price was less than $50, an excellent
price for such an extreme lens. The depth of field is so extreme that at aperture
22, everything from 1.6 feet up to infinity is in focus. I really like this focal
length. It allows you to make some pretty extreme shots, without requiring the
photographer to re-think too much. The
picture to the right, shows the clouds seemingly rushing towards the vanishing pint in the
middle of the picture. This is one of the dramatic effects created by this focal
length. |
 This photo was
taken with a 25mm/4.0 Voigtlaender Snaphot-Skopar. |
 |
At 15mm, we hit
an extreme wide angle effect. The angle is so wide, that the photographer frequently
has to re-think. In particular, the result frequently shows the main object of the
picture too small and disappearing within the background. At the same time, this extreme wide angle allows the photographer to
get very close to objects, such as tall buildings, and still capture the entire object.
The photo to the left demonstrates this effect quite dramatically.
Keep in mind that at this length objects outside of the
center of the image are rather distorted (even though the lens is NOT a fisheye).
This picture was taken with a 15mm/4.5 Voigtlaender Super Wide-Heliar.
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(c) Christian Wagner, 2001. |