Perspective and angle of view

[Ruchika_2011]

One of the elements of good composition is perspective. But what perspective is all about. Is perspective and angle of view not the same thing? I read in some book, that while zooming the perspective changes, but the angle of view remains the same and was confused all the more. Can anyone clarify what perspective is?

[RichardTaylor]

Zooming, without moving, doesn't change perspective.

I think perspective is the relationship between subjects in the scene. It is controlled the the POV and especially the distance to the subject.

Just as experiment try looking at a person face from about 18" or 450mm away - notice how big their nose is. That's perspective.

[OsmosisStudios]

I get to break out one of my favourite images!

So, left image: 10mm (on DX) taken from a few feet away. Right image: 24mm (on DX) taken from several dozen feet away. The lighthouse is the same size in both images, but you can clearly tell one is significantly distorted.

Thats why I love my 10-24.

[GlynT]

I think I know what the book is trying to get at.

When you shoot with a zoom lens, the picture appears 'flatter'. That means that an object in the background seems closer to an object in the foreground.

So, if you take a shot with a wide angle standing close to an object in the foreground then the object in the background appears a long way away and quite small.

If you take the same shot with a zoom lens from further away, the object in the background appears larger and closer to the foreground object.

In this respect the perspective seems different.

I hope that helps!

Glyn

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by GlynT

I think I know what the book is trying to get at.

When you shoot with a zoom lens, the picture appears 'flatter'. That means that an object in the background seems closer to an object in the foreground.

Just remember, "zoom" and "telephoto" are not interchangeable terms. A telephoto lens "flattens" perspective while a wide-angle lens exaggerates it. Both can be zooms.

[KriegHammer]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

I get to break out one of my favourite images!

So, left image: 10mm (on DX) taken from a few feet away. Right image: 24mm (on DX) taken from several dozen feet away. The lighthouse is the same size in both images, but you can clearly tell one is significantly distorted.

Thats why I love my 10-24.

I need to ask you a question about these two great pics. Are both taken with same camera, and lens setup? Reason being, it seems some are directing me, and rightfully so, to change the angle of my shooting. I saw your two pics, and would like to know how to recreate them say using a tall tree or fire tower that is close to me in a State park.
Thanks,
Krieg

[ravncat]

simply,
perspective changes as your distance to an object changes. (moving forward and backward)
Angle of view, is related to the focal length of your lens - a longer focal length 300mm gives a narrow angle of view (things appear larger) A shorter focal length, 10mm gives a wide angle of view (things appear smaller)

You can see in the lighthouses that he has moved farther away, but changed focal length - from 10 to 24. Because of this he was able to keep the lighthouse roughly the same size. The perspective has changed between those two images and is very apparent.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by KriegHammer

I need to ask you a question about these two great pics. Are both taken with same camera, and lens setup? Reason being, it seems some are directing me, and rightfully so, to change the angle of my shooting. I saw your two pics, and would like to know how to recreate them say using a tall tree or fire tower that is close to me in a State park.
Thanks,
Krieg

They were shot on the exact same camera and lens combination, only a few minutes apart and only a few feet apart. I set the lens to 10mm for the first shot (Left) and stood only a few feet from the lighthouse. I then backed up to a greater distance and took another shot with the lens set to 24mm. I made sure in both instances that the lighthouse top and bottom were in the same spot in the viewfinder.