Telephoto lenses allows one to take shots far away and beyond the normal sight range. There are certain characteristics of these types of lens that we should know:
1. It allows far away objects to appear closer.
2. For portraits, telephoto lenses tends to flatten facial features. This usually has the effect of making portraits appear more attractive.
3. Prone to shakes and vibrations. Because of its magnifying characteristics, little movements are also amplified, thus making it prone to blurs from shakes and vibrations. You may need to use faster shutter speeds to overcome this problem.
4. Difficulty tracking subject. The narrow field of vision of telephoto lenses makes tracking difficulty.
Taking into account of the above mentioned characteristics, telephoto lenses are good for the following applications:
1. Wildlife photography. This is useful for natural and wildlife photography. Sometimes, getting too close to animals can present problems such as frightening them away and/or getting too close for oue own safety. Telephoto lens allows us to photography animals without being intrusive.
2. Portraits. As mentioned above, telephoto lenses come useful for taking portrait shots.
3. Sports photography. Because sport actions are often a distance away from the audience, telephoto lens are ideal tools for such occasions.
There are teleconverters that can be attached to normal zoom lenses to give them telephoto capabilities. However, the quality of photo from such arrangement is usually not as good as true telephoto lenses.