Telephoto

A lens with a long focal length, a narrow view and strong magnification. In full-frame terms it is roughly 70-200mm (longer is super telephoto), and this site uses 135mm as its reference. It makes distant subjects big, the background looks pressed right up behind the person (compression), and the background blurs easily. Compression does not come from the lens changing perspective; it comes from standing much farther away to frame the person at the same size. As the camera backs off, the distances to the person and to the background become similar, so the background looks big and close.

Camera position seen at an angle from above. The 135mm camera stands far back, about 12 m from the character, and its field of view is narrow.

Camera view. The character is the same size, but the blocks behind look big and pressed right up behind them, and only a little of the street shows.

How it feels

Compression
Separation
Focus
Crowded
Observation
Tension

When to use it

Making distant subjects big, like a bird in flight or a mountain
Pulling a person out of a busy background so they stand out
Filming subjects you cannot approach, like wildlife or sports
Watching quietly from a distance without disturbing the subject
Making two things that are actually far apart look right next to each other

In the movies

The Graduate (1967) · Source: Studiocanal Cinema Club (YouTube) · Original video

Payback 1999
The fallen man and the red car are quite far apart, yet in a telephoto close-up Mel Gibson’s face looks pressed against the car. Film analysis textbooks give it as an example of telephoto compression.

Not to be confused with

Zoom In/Out: A zoom in is a movement that changes toward telephoto during the shot. Zooming in from the same spot only enlarges the image and perspective stays the same; the compression that presses the background close only appears when you back far away.
Close-up: A telephoto is just a lens that makes close-ups easy. A close-up itself is a shot size, how big the person looks on screen.
Lens Compression: Compression is the name of an effect that appears when shooting from far away with a telephoto; telephoto is the lens.

Prompt

Keyword

telephoto lens

Descriptive

Telephoto lens, 135mm, shot from far away. The city street behind the subject looks stacked right behind them and softly blurred, compressed perspective.

Try these combinations

Telephoto + city: a run with the background pressed close
Telephoto shot of a runner in the city, compressed perspective, blurred background
Telephoto + high angle: a crowd stacked flat
High-angle telephoto shot of a crowded crosswalk, compressed perspective, flat layered frame