So you want to buy your new lens for nightclub photography but you do not know how much of the scene would be capture with the new lens? Let’s find out.
Today will talk about the difference 16mm, 35mm and 85mm on a full frame body has in nightclub photography.
But first lets see what Focal length is.
Focal length (in millimeters) is how much of the scene(the club in our case) our camera will be able to capture.
1.) The 3 lens type that we will discuss are:
1.1) Wide-angle (and ultra-wide ) lens that takes in more of the scene than what’s perceived by the human eye. It provides a wider field of view or angle of view. Common focal lengths of this type are 14mm to 35mm.
1.2) Standard or Normal Lens like the 50mm
1.3) 85 to 200mm are telephoto lenses that have zoomed field of the view
Now that we have in mind the 3 basic categories lets see 3 images from same club (same spot) but with different lens.
As we see If we want to capture the whole scene or the venue in just one photo we will prefer a wide angle lens (something like a 16mm – and with this lens the club will look like more crowded. Keep in mind though that Wide or ultra-wide lens will distort people faces_if we take close up portrait shots.
But what else focal length do we need?
1) For the portrait shots we will need a 35 or 50 mm
3) Α telephoto lens_like the 70-200 or an 85mm if there is plenty of room or a long distance between us from the subject, this distance is required by the lens in order to be able to focus. Canon ef 85mm 1.4 for example requires at least 1.4m (one point four meters or 4.6 feet) and in action it is not always possible keeping that distance_especially in a tiny club.
In Conclusion we see that a 16mm is handy when a nightclub photographer want to capture the whole venue, 35mm when we take portrait shots and an 85mm if we have a long distance between us from the subject. I hope this article will help with your decision. Let me know if you have any further questions.
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