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>>38762 Note that those focal lengths only apply to 35mm or full-frame digital like Canon's 5D. What's normal or telephoto depends on the size of the imaging surface. If you're using a camera with an 18-55mm lens, I'm guessing you're using a digital SLR with an APS-C-sized sensor, which means it's not very-wide-to-normal, it's moderate-wide-to-moderate-telephoto. 80mm is normal on a medium-format camera, 32mm is normal on my Digital Rebel XTi, and the one of the reasons that large-format cameras have those big-ass bellows is because they need that huge amount of distance between the film and the lens to get a normal angle.
To get the "35mm equivalent" of a digital sensor, you need to multiply the lens focal length by 1.3 (for Canon's higher-end cameras like the new 1ds Mk III), 1.6 (for Canon's prosumer and low-end digital SLRs, like the 20d, 30d, and Rebels), or 1.5 (for all of Nikon's digital SLRs). For little point & shoot digital cameras, they'll often have the 35mm equivalent on the lens barrel, but if not, just look it up--they have all different sensor sizes.
Additionally, those numbers you gave are just rough guidelines. Voigtlander, for instance, makes a rectilinear wide-angle (I.e., not fisheye) lens that's 12mm. And the "telephoto" range doesn't just stop dead at 500mm--off the top of my head, Canon's got a 600mm lens, and I think I've seen longer ones.
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