It's easy to spot a wide-angle shot.
One of the exciting aspects of shooting with a SLR or DSLR (digital) camera is the flexibility a photographer has by using interchangeable lenses. A wide-angle lens is considered basic equipment in a photographer's arsenal. The short focal length gives this lens a wide angle of view, but there are image-altering issues that can be annoying distractions in your photographs. Some of these aberrations can be removed later from the photograph, but not all.
Lens Flare
Lens flare is a "sun spot" or light from some other source that hits the lens and scatters, forming bright streaks, random polygonal shapes, or a glowing halo effect. Wide-angle lenses are more prone to picking up these stray beams of light than are regular lenses, and the flares can be distracting within the image. If you have ever shot directly into the sun, you have likely experienced lens flare.
Image Distortion
A wide-angle lens has a tendency to distort cylindrical objects at the edges of the lens, curving straight lines. The wider the angle, the more distortion. A fish-eye lens is an extreme example of this distortion. Straight lines or objects--such as buildings--appear to curve upward. These objects are actually bent by the optics of the lens. When used for portraiture, this lens can enlarge the eyes and forehead.
Vignetting
Some wide-angle lenses may produce a vignetted effect, where the image tends to become gradually darker towards the outer edges. This is due to more light reaching the center of the image than the outer edge of the frame. Also known as light fall-off or corner shading, vignetting degrades the image at the corners and makes it hard to correct.
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