When it comes to filmmaking, I am always trying to learn more so I can be more well-rounded. I want to look professional on set, and I want to be able to engage in conversations with people from other departments. Someday, I hope to direct a feature film.

So, there are a lot of lessons to learn right away!

That’s why I have been dedicating myself to learning more about lenses and cameras. And I was pumped to see a video talking about their most common ones filmmakers tend to use.

Check out this video from In Depth Cine, and we’ll talk after.

Let’s dive in.

The Most Popular Focal Lengths 

Have you ever wondered why a particular scene in a movie feels so intimate, while another feels vast and epic?

Or why a character’s face in a close-up seems to pop out of the screen with an almost uncomfortable intensity?

The answer lies in the filmmaker’s choice of a single, crucial piece of equipment: the lens.

But what does each lens and its focal length actually mean?

1. The Natural Eye: 50mm

Often considered the “standard” lens, the 50mm is beloved for its ability to replicate the human eye’s field of view and spatial perception. It gives you a naturalistic look that has no distortion or compression.

This is why it was a favorite of legendary filmmakers like Yasujirō Ozu, who used it almost exclusively, and Alfred Hitchcock, who employed it for the unsettling normalcy of Psycho.

It can be smaller, lighter, and faster in low-light situations.

Stanley Kubrick famously used a 50mm f/0.7 lens to capture the candlelit scenes in Barry Lyndon.

2. The Versatile Storyteller: 40mm

Sitting between the 50mm and the wider 35mm, the 40mm is a less common but incredibly versatile lens.

Gordon Willis used a 40mm spherical lens for the majority of The Godfather, creating wider shots with a sense of compression but without distorting straight lines.

In its anamorphic form, the 40mm can feel much wider and create distortion at the edges of the frame, a look that Wes Anderson embraced in his early films like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.

More recently, Roger Deakins used a 40mm Signature Prime lens for nearly all of 1917. It can shoot both sweeping landscapes and intimate close-ups.

3. The All-Arounder: 35mm

This is the staple in any filmmaker’s toolkit. The 35mm lens captures more of the background than a 50mm lens while still being suitable for close-ups.

While it offers less of the creamy, out-of-focus background (or “bokeh“) than a 50mm, its versatility makes it a popular choice for cinematographers who want to shoot an entire project with a single focal length.

A perfect example of this is the film Call Me By Your Name, which was shot exclusively with a Cook S4 35mm lens.

4. The Comedic Exaggerator: 27mm

A more contemporary choice, the 27mm lens sits between the 35mm and the ultra-wide 25mm.

This lens can be used to create a sense of expansiveness when the camera is far from the characters, but when moved closer, it subtly distorts faces, exaggerating features and creating a comedic effect.

This is a technique that Wes Anderson has used to great effect in films like Bottle Rocket.

The Coen brothers and David Cronenberg are also fans of the 27mm, using it to create comedic dialogue scenes and to bring the camera physically closer to the actors for a more engaging experience.

5. The Immersive Wideness: 18mm

The 18mm lens is often the widest in a standard prime lens set. It’s used for capturing vast landscapes or for filming in tight interior spaces. Some filmmakers have subverted its use to create a unique and powerful effect.

Orson Welles used it as a portrait lens to intentionally distort faces and layer information across different planes of the image.

Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is known for pushing the boundaries of the super wide-angle look, using lenses as wide as 12mm for close-ups to create a visceral and intimate experience for the audience.

The 18mm also offers a deep depth of field, keeping more of the background in focus, making it feel more immersive.

Summing It All Up 

The next time you watch a film, pay attention to the way the camera sees the world.

By understanding the language of lenses, you can gain a deeper appreciation for the artistry and intention behind every frame.

Let me know what you think in the comments.