Last updated on December 7th, 2023
What camera lens is closest to what the human eye can see? It’s a question that often confuses people. In this blog post, we’re going to take a look at what lens you should be using if you want your images to be as close as possible to what the human eye sees. In addition, we will discuss some of the benefits of using this type of lens and how it can make your photos better!
The Eye as a Camera Lens
The human eye is like a camera. The lens helps us see what we’re looking at, and the retina is what processes what we see. When we wake up, our pupils can be huge, around 7 or 8mm, or small, depending on how much light there is.
There is not just one camera lens that is closest to the human eye. The most commonly accepted lens focal length is most comparable to what a human eye is 24mm. This information comes from physical refraction in the eye. The other is 17mm by the Optometric diopter value calculation.
You can calculate the aperture (f-stop) of the eye based on these premises. Given a 17mm focal length and an 8mm pupil, the eyeball should function as an f/2.1 lens. According to some studies, it should be f/3.5 if we use the 24mm focal length and 8mm pupil.
Are you confused yet? Many people debate whether the lens closest to the eye is 35mm or 50mm. The reason is that the eye’s measured focal length doesn’t determine the angle of view of human vision.
The main image that our eyes see is just one portion of the retina. (The cone of visual attention is the region where the eye focuses on, while everything else is “peripheral vision”).
The cone of visual attention has a diameter of 55 degrees. A 43mm lens on a 35mm full-frame camera offers a 55-degree angle of view. So the focal length provides us with the same angle of vision that humans have.
So the original argument is over; the standard lens on an SLR camera is neither 35mm nor 50mm. This is because it’s in between.
The Eye is Far From a Camera System
Your eye, on the other hand, has over 130 million pixels compared to your digital camera’s 24 megapixels. It also has a variable aperture, unlike your camera. The pupil that lets light into the eye widens and contracts depending on what the environment is like.
The retina of our eyes can’t record images in color even though they see it as such. This is due to the three types of cone cells telling us what colors we’re seeing.
The human eye has a relatively low resolution. This means that what we see isn’t as clear and precise as the equipment you use to take photos with. Our eyes are constantly moving. The muscles around your eyeballs move them about three times per second, which makes it harder to focus on what you’re looking at.
The human eye also has an exposure time of about one-tenth of a second. This is what makes it difficult for us to see what’s happening in slow motion. And this explains why when someone takes your photo with their phone, the image may be blurry). The shutter speed on most cameras is fast enough to freeze what our eyes can see.
Why use a lens with the same focal length of an eye?
There are many reasons you would want to use a lens that many consider as what the human eye sees. Firstly, it takes out the guesswork of what your image will look like through another person’s eyes.
This means that what people see when they view photos from this lens will be similar to what you saw when taking a picture. This is great for applications such as wedding photography. What your clients see in the images should be what they remember from their special day.
It can also make it easier to get what’s called “compression” if using an 85mm lens on a full-frame camera or any other focal length, for that matter.
“Compression occurs when the angle of view is narrow and distant subjects appear large in the frame relative to closer objects.” this means you can fit what appears like a wide shot into your image, which makes it easier for people to see what’s happening. This also applies to group shots where there are lots of people in one photo.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of science that goes into what we see and what our eyes can do.
However, there is no reason why you shouldn’t use the camera lens closest to your eye. It allows you to get what will be seen in standard viewing conditions (such as when viewed on other people’s computer screens or mobile devices).
There aren’t many 43mm lenses out on the market, so many recommend using a 50mm lens closest to the human eye.
