Wide angle lenses capture a broader portion of a scene than other types of lenses.
A camera lens relates to the size of an image in terms of what proportion of the scene it's able to capture. This amount is expressed by the focal length of a lens or its angle of view. Depending on what type of image you are trying to capture, there is a lens with a variety of focal lengths to suit your needs.
Wide Angle Lens
Wide angle lenses capture a wider perspective than standard lenses, which is perfect for capturing a stunning mountain range panorama on a hiking trip or a close-up of a group at a party. If you are taking a photo of a bear against a mountain range, the image size of the bear will be smaller, but more of the background will be captured.
Telephoto Lens
Telephoto lenses generally have focal lengths of 70 to 135 mm. and are ideal for portraits or wildlife photography. If you are taking a picture of the same bear in the example above, the image size of the bear will be much larger, but the background will appear somewhat blurred due to the longer focal length.
Zoom Lens
Zoom lenses allow the photographer to adjust the focal length within a predefined range to capture a variety of perspectives. You can change the image size of your subject--such as the bear in our example--by adjusting the focal length of the lens to make the bear appear larger or smaller against the background.
Prime Lens
Prime lenses, also called fixed lenses, offer only a single focal length. Therefore, there is only one predetermined "image size" for your subject relative to the background that will depend on the lens' focal length, expressed in millimeters.
Resolution
A camera lens can only determine the perspective and composition of an image, capturing more or less of the total scene. However, only resolution can determine the actual file size and quality of the image produced. The higher the pixel count, the larger the image will appear on your computer screen and in print.
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