focal length
The optical property, in millimetres, that determines a lens's angle of view and magnification.
Aviation photography is a long-lens pursuit: 100 to 300mm covers most airport work from a good position, 400 to 600mm is what a distant approach or a perimeter fence needs, and anything shorter is for ramp, detail and cabin work. It is also the EXIF field spotters compare most, because it says how far away the photographer actually was.
Nearby in Photography
- exposure compensation — A deliberate offset applied to the camera's metered exposure.
- f-stop — The aperture expressed as the ratio of focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil.
- full frame — A sensor the size of a 35mm film frame, around 36 by 24 millimetres.
- golden hour — The period after sunrise and before sunset when low sun gives warm, soft, strongly directional light.