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Relationship between viewpoint and focal lenght
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I just want to throw out a ball here...

Do you have any opinion regarding viewing distance from print/ copy ("picture on the wall") vs focal lenght used to take the picture? Very Happy
For instance - Does it feels more natural to have the spectators viewpoint closer to the picture when it is a wide angle shot versus a tele shot?


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Nordentro wrote:
I just want to throw out a ball here...

Do you have any opinion regarding viewing distance from print/ copy ("picture on the wall") vs focal lenght used to take the picture? Very Happy
For instance - Do it feels more natural to have the spectators viewpoint closer to the picture when it is a wide angle shot versus a tele shot?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Maybe I'm mistaken, but isn't this old issue about whether focal distance affects perspective or not?


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If there is two pictures on the wall:

One wide angle shot (20mm) and one tele shot (200mm)
Is it more natural for a spectator to stand closer to the wide angle picture to examine the content versus the picture taken with the tele lens?


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Nordentro wrote:
If there is two pictures on the wall:

One wide angle shot (20mm) and one tele shot (200mm)
Is it more natural for a spectator to stand closer to the wide angle picture to examine the content versus the picture taken with the tele lens?

I think probably the tele shot: Although the perspective of either the 20mm or the 200m would probably be unnatural in light of the human eye's natural perspective of ~50mm, at least the image of the 200mm shot wouldn't be distorted like the 20mm one. Does this make sense?


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Yes, but would it feel better to stand closer to a wide angle shot? Very Happy


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If you're gonna stand closer for the wide angle shot and farther away for the tele shot, then does it really make any difference? The image will be the same size in the viewfinder, won't it? So what difference does it make?


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I guess I am pretty bad at explaining Very Happy

If you go to an photo exhibition just to look at photos on the wall (no camera gear involved), would it be better to examine a wide angle shot at a closer distance than a tele shot (for your eyes) or doesn`t this make sense?


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For an exhibition the size of the print would determine how far away to stand from it for viewing.


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Another factor would be the subject. For example o portrait or a landscape or a shot with many details. Up close to see the details and further away to get the whole picture.

This is not the opinion of an expert, only what I imagine myself doing.


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Nordentro wrote:
I guess I am pretty bad at explaining Very Happy

If you go to an photo exhibition just to look at photos on the wall (no camera gear involved), would it be better to examine a wide angle shot at a closer distance than a tele shot (for your eyes) or doesn`t this make sense?


A photo is not like a window, eh? Standing close to window, view is wide angle; standing farther from window, view is telephoto. Yes?


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visualopsins wrote:
Nordentro wrote:
I guess I am pretty bad at explaining Very Happy

If you go to an photo exhibition just to look at photos on the wall (no camera gear involved), would it be better to examine a wide angle shot at a closer distance than a tele shot (for your eyes) or doesn`t this make sense?


A photo is not like a window, eh? Standing close to window, view is wide angle; standing farther from window, view is telephoto. Yes?


That`s a interesting comparison!


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Is any help with your question?


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Edited

Last edited by bernhardas on Mon Apr 04, 2016 4:18 pm; edited 1 time in total


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That`s an interesting answer Bernhard, because the origin of the statement was a friend who mostly shoots large format. He mostly shoots on Linhof cams... Any chance of providing this printed information online?