far far away

Photo by  Jonn Leffmann, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79524496

Toronto. Star Wars movies always began with a scroll beginning … in a galaxy far, far, away … . We often call any lens that brings in distant objects closer and compress the perspective a telephoto lens.

But the actual lens can be either a long focus or a telephoto. So what’s the difference? Basically, at infinity any long focus lens focusses about the same distance back to the camera as its focal length while a telephoto lens has a distance physically back to the camera that is shorter than its focal length.

For example, the 13.5cm Elmar or Hector is a long focus lens while the more compact Tele-Elmar 13.5cm lens is  a true tele-photo lens design. Either design makes for a great lens but the more compact tele design is easier to use/carry.

NB. While I was thinking of Star Wars when I named this post, Slade have a song of the same name…

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