A Filmmaker’s Guide to Lenses: Insights and Examples from Hollywood

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Published: April 21, 2021 | Last Updated: September 19, 2025

If you’re serious about creating good-looking movies, you must understand lenses and focal lengths. The lenses you choose don’t just define how a shot looks—they dictate how a story feels.

The most famous directors and cinematographers develop signature styles using specific techniques and equipment, including camera lenses and focal lengths. Some directors even prefer a single focal length so much that they shoot an entire film.

This guide breaks down the most common lenses in filmmaking, how they work, and why they matter. I also pull examples from iconic films and verified insights from industry pros to give you a clear picture.

Wide-Angle Lenses: 10mm to 35mm

Wide-angle lenses with focal lengths of 35mm or less are common in film. Common focal lengths for wide-angle lenses include 18mm, 21mm, 24mm, 25mm, and 27mm.

Wide-angle lenses provide a wider field of view, allowing the cinematographer to capture more of the surroundings while exaggerating the relative size of an object within the field of view.

Also, wide-angle lenses exaggerate the perceived depth of a field, making subjects seem farther apart than they are.

Extreme wide-angle lenses with focal lengths below 15mm start to distort the image, even achieving a fish-eye effect, which is sometimes used creatively.

For example, establishing shots of landscapes are often shot with wide-angle lenses to give the audience a better view of the environment. A wide-angle lens may also be used for close-ups when the director wants to show more of the subject’s background.

Famous films shot with wide-angle lenses: Citizen Kane by Orson Welles

Citizen Kane by Orson Welles is the most famous example of deep focus achieved through wide-angle lenses. Welles is a master of blocking and choreographing actors’ movements in a scene. He wanted things in the background and middle ground to be as important as those in the foreground.

To achieve this look, Welles worked closely with cinematographer Gregg Toland. Using a 24mm Cooke lens with the Vard “Opticoating” system, Eastman Kodak Super XX film, and bright arc lamps allowed Welles and Toland to shoot scenes even stopped down to f11 or f16 with a great depth of field, creating an amazing composition.

Munich by Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is also fond of wide-angle lenses and has used 21mm lenses for almost every movie he has shot. A good example is the 2005 movie Munich, in which the main prime lens was a 21mm Cooke S4.

According to AC Janusz Kaminski, who has worked with Spielberg on numerous projects:

Steven is very specific about the focal length, and we stayed really wide most of the time […] We shot with the 14mm and 16mm and then jumped up to the 75mm or 100mm. We sort of left the middle focal lengths alone.

Janusz Kaminiski, in theasc.com.

Like Orson Welles, Spielberg prefers to pull back from the action to capture more of the characters’ surroundings.

Standard Focal Length Lenses: 40mm and 50mm

A 50mm focal length is considered the closest to a full-frame sensor’s natural field of view. It’s sometimes referred to as a “normal” lens. A 40mm is probably closer to our natural field of view on a traditional Super 35 cinema camera—and some even say it’s the 35mm.

The 40mm and the 50mm lenses have been widely used on Super 35 throughout cinema.

Famous directors using the 40mm and 50mm lenses primarily

Alfred Hitchcock was fond of the 50mm lens. Hitchcock shot his movies Rope and Psycho entirely on a 50mm lens.

Sir Roger Deakins shot almost all of “1917” on a 40mm Arri Signature Prime, except for two shots on a 35mm and a couple of shots for the river scene on a 47mm.

Famous Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story, Banshun) also loved the 50mm look and shot most of his films with this single focal length.

Francis Ford Coppola and his DP Gordon Willis shot most of The Godfather on 40mm. A couple of shots were on a 75mm lens… speaking of which…

Medium Telephoto Lenses: 75mm to 100mm

Medium telephoto lenses are often used for close-ups. Combined with a wide aperture, they are also great for blurring out the background, e.g., when you want to get the emotional facial expression of your subject in focus.

Focal lengths between 75mm and 100mm are often called “portrait lenses ” in photography. The narrow field of view can also create a voyeuristic style, as if the audience is eavesdropping on the characters.

Long Telephoto Lenses: 135mm and Longer

Long telephoto lenses, which often start at around 135mm, are great for bringing distant objects close to the screen. Their long focal length also compresses the background, making it seem closer to the subject.

Long telephoto lenses are also used for things like extreme close-ups.

Famous directors and movies using long telephoto lenses

Japanese director Akira Kurosawa is the most famous lover of the long telephoto lens in cinema, who sometimes used focal lengths up to 1000mm.

His movie Yojimbo was primarily shot on a 100mm lens, while the B-cam had 200mm and longer focal lengths attached.

Dutch-Swedish DP Hoyte Van Hoytema takes it further and uses a 2000mm telephoto lens in the movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to make it seem like a plane lands dangerously close to the two actors.

Anamorphic Lenses In Cinema

While most movies are shot with spherical lenses, some directors and cinematographers prefer the look of anamorphic lenses. Anamorphic lenses allow for wide-angle shots. They gained popularity among filmmakers because they offered a unique look when television sets became popular in households.

Anamorphic lenses capture a wider aspect ratio, which is then squeezed onto a narrower film strip or digital sensor. The image must then be de-squeezed again for viewing.

The anamorphic look is characterized by horizontal lens flares, oval bokeh, and an extremely wide field of view. Anamorphic lenses allow you to simultaneously capture your subject without distortion and much of the background.

Often, you’ll see some distortion and softness near the edges of an image captured by an anamorphic lens, which can be used creatively to bring even more focus to the subject in the center.

Famous directors using anamorphic lenses

Quentin Tarantino frequently uses 40mm and 50mm anamorphic lenses.

According to ASC Robert Richardson, who has worked with Tarantino on projects such as Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds, and Django Unchained, Tarantino “doesn’t like the foreground-background separation that a long lens creates.”

They also used spherical Panavision E-series primes for Django Unchained when the Primos anamorphic lenses they used on set could not cover a lighter camera configuration or focal length.

Wes Anderson mostly shot The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore on 40mm anamorphic lenses.

Zoom Lenses vs. Prime Lenses

Most filmmakers use prime lenses, as they tend to produce a sharper image while being faster at the same time.

Pros and cons of using Primes

A prime lens has a fixed focal length. As the focal length is not adjustable, the lens has fewer elements, increasing the image’s clarity. Prime lenses also typically have wider apertures, a.k.a. a lower T-stop (or f-stop). A wider aperture allows more light to reach the sensor.

This improves performance in low-light environments and allows for images with less noise in the shadows. Faster lenses also allow for shooting with a shallow depth of field.

Due to the fixed focal length, prime lenses are not as versatile as zoom lenses. If you want to use a different focal length, you need to switch lenses.

Pros and cons of using Zooms

Zoom lenses provide greater versatility by increasing or decreasing the focal length. Some filmmakers find them more convenient because they can quickly adjust the angle of view for a wider shot or closeup.

This may be useful for on-location shooting and handheld camera work, such as recording a live event or filming a documentary.

According to camera operator Mitch Dubin, Spielberg hated zoom lenses, although he did manage to use a Cooke 25-250mm on Munich.

What are the most common lenses used in movies regarding brand?

To best answer this question, I contacted Stray Angel Films, a fantastic equipment rental and production services company on Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles, California, with an impressive client list.

According to Stray Angel Film, most big movies and shows today are probably shot on Panavision cinema lenses. Other popular brands include Zeiss, Cooke, Arri, and Angenieux.

There are also a few high-end vintage options. For example, the Canon K-35s are popular because they cover the full frame.

What are the most common focal lengths for filmmaking?

According to Stray Angel Film, anything between 18ish and 100mm in zooms or primes is considered “normal.” Most average sets probably cover around that. Obviously, what you’re shooting matters, as does your sensor size.

Okay, so those were the short answers. Now, let’s explore this in more detail and examine some famous examples.

If you own a camera with an RF mount, you might also find this complete guide to RF-cinema lenses useful.

Summing Up

Of course, this article only scratches the surface, but I hope it has shed some light on the most common lenses and focal lengths used in cinema. To develop your signature style, explore the lenses great directors and cinematographers use.

And start experimenting with different lenses. Try using different focal lengths for the same shot to compare the differences. Keep experimenting until you find the right lens for creating your signature style.

However, I recommend renting if you want to play with the big boys and girls because Hollywood cine lenses are expensive!