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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Zoom ?
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 05/27/2005 08:37:16 PM · #1
Well... I got a Sony Cybershot one year ago and now i wanna buy a "Canon EOS 300D rebel". The included Zoom is 18-55 mm and i really don't know what it means. With my Cybershot it work in X method ( like mine the zoom is 8X ). What is that "mm" method ? Anyone can help ?

thks
Apee
 05/27/2005 08:40:59 PM · #2
On the Sony, the X factor is just the longest focla length (in mm) divided by the shortest. You can do the same with the rebel kit lens, and you get about 3X.
 05/27/2005 08:42:55 PM · #3
well that's mean i get a better zoom with my Sony than with a Canon Rebel ? Strange ?

Apee
 05/27/2005 08:49:03 PM · #4
The point with the digital rebel is that is has interchangeable lenses - you can buy lenses with longer zoom ranges and swap them with the one that comes with the camera.
 05/27/2005 08:49:37 PM · #5
Originally posted by Apee:
well that's mean i get a better zoom with my Sony than with a Canon Rebel ? Strange ?

Apee

The kit lens is a good handy lens but there are a few others to use with the Rebel. It's a small walking around lens. You can think of it as a starter lens but will want others for other types of shots. //www.photo.net/equipment/canon/300D/EOS_300D_lenses.html
05/27/2005 08:52:06 PM · #6
Originally posted by Apee:
well that's mean i get a better zoom with my Sony than with a Canon Rebel ? Strange ?

Apee


Actually, from the data I found here the DSC-P72 has a 6 - 18 mm lens, which is equivalent to 39 - 117 mm in 35mm film terms and is 3.0X zoom (18/6). With the 18-55 kit lens on the rebel, you'll get the equivalent of 29-88mm. So you'll have significantly more on the wide angle end, but less on the telephoto end.
Bottom line, you will definely want more than one lens with an SLR, that's one of the big benefits. It's fine to start with one lens, but realize that eventually you will almost certainly spend more on lenses than on the body.
 05/27/2005 08:54:00 PM · #7
ok ok... i get it i think... The lens that comes with the camera(15-55mm) is worst than the zoom of my Cybershot (8X). But with the Rebel 300D you can buy way better zooms. Is that it ? Are zooms expensives ?

thks
Apee
 05/27/2005 09:25:45 PM · #8
Well as kirbic noted... if you have the camera you list as having you'll actually have a better zoom range with the digital rebels kit lens (unless you really want more at the telephoto end) The camera you have (unless you've got the wrong one listed), has only a 3X optical zoom - which is effectively the same as the digital rebel.

Longer zoom lenses range from a couple of hundred dollars to a couple of thousand and upward - but the good thing is, that, unlike cameras, they aren't outdated every 12 months, thus you can keep the lenses you buy even when you upgrade cameras (provided you stick with the same manufacturer). I'd look at somewhere like bhphoto.com to give yourself an idea.

Good luck with the search.

Cheers

Message edited by author 2005-05-27 21:26:25.
 05/27/2005 09:48:08 PM · #9
thks a lot but what is the telephoto end ?

thks
 05/27/2005 10:16:48 PM · #10
I'd say go with the 28-300 3.5-5.6L IS. That's a solid zoom with a lot of range.

Just kidding, it's $2100. If you concerned about zoom and not so much on quality and speed, go for Tamron or Sigma's new 18-200.
 05/27/2005 10:36:38 PM · #11
To quote from before:

The DSC-P72 has a lens which is equivalent to 39 - 117 mm in 35mm film terms.
With the 18-55 kit lens on the rebel, you'll get the equivalent of 29-88mm.

So your lens is 39 - 117 mm and the Rebel lens is 29-88. If you want more wide angle shots, like more in the picture, you want the rebel's 29mm lens. If you want more zoooom power, the P72 has more. However, if you get a 75mm-300mm lens, that's equivalent to 480mm on the zoooom end and pretty much 4 times as zooooom as the P72. :)

M
 05/27/2005 11:09:35 PM · #12
Apee, here is a blurb I did a while back ago on this subject

the zoom factor can be confusing, but easily understandible.

lets look at the Sony 717 camera as an example.

it has a lens that on the wide angle end is 38mm and on the telephoto end 190mm. to get the "X"factor you divide the telephoto end by the wide angle end and you get 5x zoom.

the "X" faxtor or zoom factor just means the range of zoom the camera has between the wide end and the telephoto end, not really how many more times you can bring an object closer to you.

on a D60 I use a 28mm to 200mm which equeals a 7x zoom, the difference between the sony and my camera with the 28-200 is 2 x, but that does not mean I get a full 2 x MORE powerfull, its close but not a full 2 x zoom.

Now lets take a look at my 80mm to 400mm zoom lens, that only comes out to a 5x zoom, but it has more reach than my 28-200, actually it has 2 times more reach. It just does not have as wide a range to select from for different focal lengths.

So basically what im saying is to not really pay attention to the zoom factor ( or the "X" factor) camera manufactures boast, but rather the telephoto lenght in mm the lense, in or on the camera is OPTICALLY capable of.

James
 05/27/2005 11:58:16 PM · #13
You can skip the kit lens and get a Sigma 18-125, that's about 7X. It will give you more range: better wide angle and better telephoto. It's very sharp, focuses close, and is about $200.

For about $350-400, you can get the Sigma 18-200, which is over a 11x zoom.

These are both good lenses, but they are neither wide nor constant aperture, so they are better in good light. They do focus very close (not quite a macro lens, but very good closeup lens). You can compensate for the F3.5-F5.6 aperture by using a higher ISO.

For indoor use without flash in natural light, you'll want a 50mm F1.8

There are lots of choices when it comes to lenses! But they are costly.

Message edited by author 2005-05-27 23:58:40.
 05/28/2005 12:37:46 AM · #14
I'm about to sound like the bad guy and burst your bubble.
I would NOT buy a DSLR now. Maybe some time in the future, but it doesn't appear that you have a solid grasp on the basics of photography. Learn those first, create photographs that you like and are proud of with your current camera (or maybe a better digicam that you can get cheap), learn how to do post processing/editing and then consider upgrading to a DSLR.

Just my two cents from a two-bit photographer.
 05/28/2005 01:36:33 PM · #15
So the first number when you talk about zoom ( 18-55mm ) is how close you can focus and the last how far you can focus ? How comes the mesure of this is in "milllimeter". I don't get it ? What these numbers really mean ?

Originally posted by jab119:
Apee, here is a blurb I did a while back ago on this subject

the zoom factor can be confusing, but easily understandible.

lets look at the Sony 717 camera as an example.

it has a lens that on the wide angle end is 38mm and on the telephoto end 190mm. to get the "X"factor you divide the telephoto end by the wide angle end and you get 5x zoom.

the "X" faxtor or zoom factor just means the range of zoom the camera has between the wide end and the telephoto end, not really how many more times you can bring an object closer to you.

on a D60 I use a 28mm to 200mm which equeals a 7x zoom, the difference between the sony and my camera with the 28-200 is 2 x, but that does not mean I get a full 2 x MORE powerfull, its close but not a full 2 x zoom.

Now lets take a look at my 80mm to 400mm zoom lens, that only comes out to a 5x zoom, but it has more reach than my 28-200, actually it has 2 times more reach. It just does not have as wide a range to select from for different focal lengths.

So basically what im saying is to not really pay attention to the zoom factor ( or the "X" factor) camera manufactures boast, but rather the telephoto lenght in mm the lense, in or on the camera is OPTICALLY capable of.

James
05/28/2005 02:56:25 PM · #16
First you need to know that Zoom & magnification have nothing to do w eachother.

Zoom tells you how much you can move the focal length of a lens. The amount a lens can zoom in-out is calculated by dividing the maximum focal length by the least focal length.

This gives.. the 18-55mm lens is a 3x zoom, but a 100-300mm is a 3x one as well. And a 300mm fixed lens has no zoomâ€Â¦ So a 300mm fixed lens is a 0X zoom.

Magnification; The magnification of a lens depends on what format it was made for.. A 300mm lens on a medium format camera will have less magnification than a 300mm lens designed for a 35mm camera.

A 50mm lens for a 33mm film format is close to the magnification of what the human eye can see. Since 50mm is close to what we see, that̢۪s how we can calculate the lens magnification by dividing by 50. A 100mm lens magnifies as a 2X scope. A 300mm lens is like a 6X scope etc.

The 300D has the 1.6 crop factor to count in as well, so a 300mm gives the same field of view as a 480mm lens..

Hence a fixed 300mm lens on a 300D yields no zoom & 9.6X magnification.

And a 10-30mm lens is 16-48mm with the crop factor. Although this lens has a 3X zoom rating, at 48mm, it has no magnification at all, since it̢۪s below 50mm.

Message edited by author 2005-05-29 03:17:37.
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