Zoom noobiness

El Gringo

El Gringo

El Gringo

Soldato
Joined
6 May 2003
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Aberdeen/London
I don't have much experience with cameras and zoom, I was wondering if I could get a comparison between what would be a 3x zoom and a 10x one... One of the main features that attracts me to the camera I'm thinking of is the fact that it has a 10x zoom, but I'm not really sure what to expect. It's not going to be the hubble telescope, but i donät really know how effective it's going to be either, how does the measuring on these things work?
Thanks for the patience :)
 
Have a look at the focal length on the lens. Then you can compare it to how your eye will see it. ~50mm is what your eye sees at.
 
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I obviously have no clue, but thanks for the replies :)
The cameras in question are the s5600 (38-380mm, 10x, according to DPReview) and the s6500 (30-280mm, 10.7x), and I had been wondering what difference the zooms actually made, since I have no real experience.

Does the first number represent what the minimum zoom is? So would that be how far from the objective the subject appears to be? (confusing...). And if the higher number is the maximum zoom, the higher the number does not necessarily mean the longer the zoom, since the latter camera is 280 and the former 380...

I think I may need to read a basic guide :( I'm getting the feeling 38-380mm doesn't mean "38mm through to 380mm", right?

And to SDK, thanks for the links but I think I must be mis-using them, it am I supposed to move the slider from 38-380 to see the differences in magnification?
 
El Gringo said:
am I supposed to move the slider from 38-380 to see the differences in magnification?
Click to expand...
Yes - Exactly that :)

Low number, 38mm = wide angle
High number, 380mm = telephoto zoom
 
So in fact a 10x zoom is pretty powerful from the mere mortal (read:amateur :)) point of view...

So the two lenses are fairly similar, one being 10x and the other being 10.7x, but they both start and finish at different points. While the higher one is 10.7, it's highest zoomed level is 280mm, while the 10 finishes at 380... Which is therefore better, or is that a question with a variable answer? How can the 10x zoom go from 38-380, and the 10.7 only go from 28-300?

Im a little lost :) But thanks so far!
 
El Gringo said:
So in fact a 10x zoom is pretty powerful from the mere mortal (read:amateur :)) point of view...

So the two lenses are fairly similar, one being 10x and the other being 10.7x, but they both start and finish at different points. While the higher one is 10.7, it's highest zoomed level is 280mm, while the 10 finishes at 380... Which is therefore better, or is that a question with a variable answer? How can the 10x zoom go from 38-380, and the 10.7 only go from 28-300?

Im a little lost :) But thanks so far!
Click to expand...

Your right to be confused, it's actually quite mis-leading!

The 10.7 comes from 28mm x 10.7 = 300mm.

As for zoom stuff, it works out like this.

50mm is what your eyes see.
Less than 50mm is like stepping backwards (zooming out if you want)
More than 50mm is like stepping closer (zooming in if you want)

Really you only want to use the 10x as a guide and pay attention to the actual mm.
 
El Gringo said:
How can the 10x zoom go from 38-380, and the 10.7 only go from 28-300?
Click to expand...
The zoom figure quoted is got from the range of focal lengths, the 10x zoom goes from 38mm-380mm, and 380mm/38mm is 10, as the longest focal length is 10x the shortest, which is the quoted value.

The 10.7x zoom goes from 28-300mm, so 300mm/28mm is 10.7, again just the longest focal length divided by the shortest.

The zoom factors advertised are usually a bit miss leading because of this, the zoom value advertised doesn't mean how close in you can get with the camera, it is just the ratio between either end of the zoom range of the lens. That is why it is worth looking at focal length, as that does tell you which camera will get closer up to the subject.

Hope that makes some sense.

As to what is better, it depends on what you need, as the answer will be different depending what you plan to photograph.
 
Jotun said:
The zoom figure quoted is got from the range of focal lengths, the 10x zoom goes from 38mm-380mm, and 380mm/38mm is 10, as the longest focal length is 10x the shortest, which is the quoted value.

snip
Click to expand...

lol!!!! Almost made the exact same post! at the same time
 
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