What is a Telephoto Lens? How to Get the Shots You Want

Telephoto Definition

What is telephoto?

The technology inside a telephoto lens is similar to a telescope. They’re nearly the same size and both can capture images very far away. So, what are they exactly?

As the video explains, there are distinct advantages for using a telephoto lens in certain situations. These are considerations photographers and cinematographers are making all the time.

Before we get into the pros and cons of telephoto lenses, take a minute to download our FREE Ebook — Camera Lenses Explained Vol. 1 — where we cover everything you need to know about the different types of camera lenses, their unique visual characteristics, and how to use them.

WHAT DOES A TELEPHOTO LENS DO?

Use a long lens to bring objects closer

Using a longer lens can be helpful when shooting a variety of different subjects. Wildlife comes to mind, epic massive landscapes, even sports photography. But there are a few other reasons that make the list, let’s see what they are.

Telephoto lenses brings distant subjects closer

This is the first function of telephoto, and an obvious reason many opt for this longer lens. The telephoto lens brings the background closer to the foreground. Which is extremely valuable when trying to get footage of far away action, or things you may not want to get close to. 

Wildlife, epic landscape shots encompassing mountain ranges and valleys, and even sporting events, are captured best with telephoto lenses for this reason.

Emphasize Blurred Backgrounds

If you read our articles on depth of field or even aperture, you’ll recall how a large or wide aperture yields a shallow depth of field, meaning everything but the subject is blurred. 

Typically, the longer the lens and the wider the aperture, the more blurred background effect you’ll get. But it’s not so much about the lens, as it is about the distance telephoto allows you to shoot from. When you shoot from far away, the resulting image compresses the subject, as it brings the background closer to the subject. 

And when the background is blurred, this isolation of the subject, makes it great for portraits.

Telephoto and Portraits

As mentioned above, using a telephoto lens compresses or shrinks the subject. The subject will appear smaller in the image relative to what’s in the background. This compression can actually make facial features more congruent and proportional.

How many times have you snapped a picture only to whine that “the picture just doesn’t do it justice.”

Now no matter the “it” in your situation, you’re right, the picture probably looked worse than what you saw. 

And that can’t always be fixed, but a common reason why that happens is because you’re simply too far away from what you’re capturing.

There is, of course, a million other reasons, like lighting, and other camera considerations, but keep track of when a telephoto lens could remedy the issue.