Telephoto lenses are huge camera lenses you usually see photographers lug around. It allows them to take shots of wild animals or faraway objects to make them appear closer than they actually are.  

They’re quite useful especially when you can’t be physically close to your subject, either due to your safety or physical constraints. The lenses also give a great contrasting focus between the foreground and background.

What exactly are telephoto lenses?

They are long-focus lenses that are attachable to the body of your camera and allow you to use a focal length that is shorter than the actual lens’ physical length. Here’s some examples with different lens lengths: 

Telephoto lenses are especially useful when photographing over long distances such as at a concert hall or taking broad landscape photos. 

Using these lenses also create a “compressed perspective” as seen in the above image. The sun, mountains, and buildings are tremendously far apart from each other, but when taken with a telephoto lens, they appear “compressed” as if they are all in the same place. 

What are the different types of telephoto lenses?

Telephoto lenses range from “medium” lengths (70-200mm) to “super-telephoto” lengths (longer than 300mm).

FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM II (SEL70200GM2)

Good for: General telephoto shooting, Event/Press photography, Portraits

These can zoom in to any focal length within the stated range and aregreat for portrait photography with a sharp subject and a blurry background. The outer edge of the lens range works best for long-distance event shots.

FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS (SEL100400GM)

Good for: When you need versatile zoom range (maximum range is 400mm), Sports/Landscape/Nature/Wildlife

These are also zoom lenses but can offer more than what the previous lenses can do. Wildlife photographers use these lenses for their long-range and zoom ability.

FE 200-600mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS (SEL200600G)

Good for: When you need ultra telephoto range (600mm) and a lightweight small telephoto lens, Wildlife photography

Sporting a 600mm zoom range, they are mostly used by wildlife photographers for faraway animal subjects. Images taken with these lenses also have an extremely shallow depth of field.

Tips for using a telephoto lens

If you want to exaggerate the depth of field in your images, use a longer focal length. Use shorter lengths for a balanced sharpness between the foreground and background of your photos.

Also, maintain a steady hand while shooting with a telephoto lens. The lens will exaggerate your shaky camera, so getting the basics down first is important.

There we have it, a quick introduction to the basics of telephoto lenses and you’re one step closer to becoming a seasoned professional of your dreams!