Essential Guide to Wideangle lenses

When starting out in photography, one of the first lenses you're likely to use is a standard kit lens. These are a good starting point for beginners, but it won't be long before you feel they're quite restrictive - leaving you short when you want to zoom into the heart of a subject and too close when you'd like to fit more of your surroundings in the frame.

If you consider the shortest focal length on a standard lens is typically 18mm (equivalent to 27mm in full frame terms) it's more of a blinkered view of the wider picture we see with the naked eye. If you've been in a situation when you can't stand back far enough to frame everything you want or you'd like to capture a wider vista than is possible with your kit lens, a wideangle lens makes a great case for itself. In this guide we'll reveal the various types of wideangle lenses and uncover a selection of the options from different manufacturers.