It is always said that the credit for a good picture does not go to the camera, but the eye behind the camera. But nobody pays any heed to the lens in front of the camera. Every camera has a shutter, light meter and film plane that will have the same mechanism. It’s ultimately the lens of the camera and its angle of view that makes your picture stand out. The kind of lens that one uses to click a picture can make a huge difference in the result.

The lens is the eye of your camera and decides the perspective of your picture. A good photographer is always aware of the effects and angles of view of the different lenses. Two types of lenses can be mounted on a camera. One type is a Prime lens, which has a fixed focal length and one has to keep changing them as the need arises. On the other hand, there are the zoom lenses, like the Canon 55-250 IS, which have a variable focal length and you can manipulate according to the need. The lowest focal length of the camera will give you a wide angle perspective and the highest focal length will give the telephoto perspective. Zoom lenses seem like an easier option but a good photographer will sometimes take the pain of using prime lenses.

Since the lens decides the perspective of your photograph, it is important to understand the angle of view of various lenses. Look at this picture for instance. It has been taken with a wide angle lens and has a wide angle of view. The picture has a higher depth of field, keeping all the features of the car in sharp focus and giving it a grand look. Had the photographer used a telephoto lens for the same picture, only the headlight of the car would have been in sharp focus and the rest blurred. On the contrary if you see the picture on your right, it has been taken with a telephoto lens and has just the bird in focus and the background blurred, drawing attention towards the bird and avoiding clutter. Hence it is necessary to use the right kind of lens for the right situation to click the perfect picture.