37. CHOOSE A FOCAL LENGTH
MEASURED IN MILLIMETERS, focal length essentially tells you how much or how little of a scene a particular lens can fit into the frame. Smaller numbers (like 35mm) indicate a wider focal length, allowing more of whatever is in front of your camera to fit into your frame. Larger numbers (like 200mm) indicate a longer, more telephoto focal length, enabling a more “close-up” photo of your subject.
“Prime” lenses are those with fixed focal lengths (meaning they offer a single focal length, like 85mm), while “zoom” lenses provide a range of focal lengths (like 70–200mm). Whether prime or zoom, you should be able to find the ...
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