Zoom lenses

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

From the beach at the Poly @ 85mm.

 

[We-Luv-Disney]

Here are a few I shot in May. Taken from the ferry landing, from inside the waiting area with my Canon 40d and Sigma 70-300mm lens. Both shot at around 100mm....

 

[We-Luv-Disney]

Heres one shot from the beach at the poly, canon 20d and 28-135mm lens at 85mm...

 

[ogreenlee]

Very cool! Thanks so much! I'd love to see more!! I'm going to have to try that ferry landing spot.

 

[Groucho]

I took some shots from the Poly beach a few trips ago... from my old *ist DL (1.5x crop) and a 50-200mm lens.

115mm:

80mm:

80mm:

180mm:

150mm:

 

[boBQuincy]

From Contemporary Resort at 200mm.

 

[ogreenlee]

thanks everyone! these are great, and i would love to see more. i like all the different angles and perspectives!

 

[left210]

I currently have a Panasonic TZ4 and an Olympus SP570. In the past I had a Panazonic FZ5 but sold it to get the TZ3 because I wanted something smaller. Well my TZ3 had a defect and Panasonic replaced it with the TZ4. I never really felt the love for the TZ camera. I know it gets great reviews but only got good pictures outdoors and indoor pictures had black backgrounds with bright faces (I realize it was probably user error). I found the SP570 on clearance a few months ago and bought it on a whim but I cannot get used to the zoom ring. So I love the long zoom cameras and 10X is a minimum but now that I have had the 20X of the Olympus it will be hard for me to go much lower than that. I would like to find a camera to replace these two so I dont have to carry two cameras around at a time. I am a mom that shoots lots of kid pictures indoor and outdoor, sporting events indoor and outdoor and would like something easy to use. Honestly I will not be doing much if any manual settings. I know there are limitations to a long zoom p/s on auto mode but can someone give me some opinions on what is the best available option for what I am looking for.

 

[Frantasmic]

Unfortunately, the point and shoot cameras with built-in zoom don't do very well indoors. They just aren't very good at capturing action in lower-light situations. There are a few things you could try, but they would involve getting out of your comfort (i.e., auto) zone.

I know it doesn't sound possible, but there really is not a point and shoot camera with those types of long (greater than 10x) zoom that will really do what you want. They have very small sensors and, since the lens is multi-purpose, they just aren't built for low-light, indoor action.

 

[seashoreCM]

With the typical point and shoot, the more you zoom, the worse it does in low light. This is because the lens has to be moved further away from the film or sensor and when this happens the amount of light admitted is less.

This disadvantage exists with some SLR lenses too.

 

[shelly3girls]

I have the Sony DSC-HX1. Although it is not perfect it is the best ultra zoom camera I have used. The outdoor pictures are great especially for sports. I can get clear pictures from one side of the soccer field (full size field) close up to the other side. There is a sports mode that takes up to 10 pictures in one second. DD also figure skates and I can take pictures of her from start to finish in a jump. The video quality is also quite good. The indoor pictures are decent but better than any other point and shoot I have owned.

 

[wdwlovers5]

can someone tell me which would be considered more important, 10 Megapixels ot 10 X digital zoom. Actually I saw a Sony point and shoot with both. Thanks for any help.

Mary

 

[VVFF]

can someone tell me which would be considered more important, 10 Megapixels ot 10 X digital zoom. Actually I saw a Sony point and shoot with both. Thanks for any help.

Mary

I gotta assume you are actually talking optical zoom. I've never seen 10x digital zoom as it would reduce a picture to unusable resolutions.

If this is indeed the case, then your question has no answer. They are both important to some degree. Do all people need 10MP? No. Can point and shoot cameras resolve 10MP of detail....no typically not. Is it useful for a bit of cropping room? Yes.

Just the same, a person can live without ANY zoom. However, zoom can be nice and it all depends how often you need a different focal length.

I find you will find ways to use the range you are given. Are there times that I find myself needing more "zoom"? Yes, however, most of the time I just find pictures I can take with the lens I have.

Sorry...I realize that wasn't the simple answer you were looking for...but its an impossible question to answer.

 

[ssanders79]

If you are referring to digital zoom then you will need to understand how it works. Simply, the camera crops the photo so not all images will be 10megapixels. If you are shooting at the wide end of the zoom then you will get a the full 10mp but the more you zoom in the less and less you will actually get. This is what VVFF was referring to as unusable resolutions.

 

[seashoreCM]

OT: You can rely completely on the optical zoom. Get as much of that as you wish to. Most folks find 5x to be enough. Most digital cameras have at least 3x.

You won't lose anything by turning off the digital part of the zoom. Anything digital zoom could give you you also could get on your own by cropping and adjusting the size of the picture in your computer after uploading for editing and tweaking.

 

[zackiedawg]

There are actually a few things more important to consider - when looking at megapixels, try to find out the size of the sensor (manufacturers don't always like to put that one on the little advertising tag). 14MP on a larger sensor is much better than 14MP on a tiny little sensor. Megapixels is unfortunately one of those bullet points that have captured the general public's attention, and most assume more is always better...and the manufacturers have bent over backwards to cram ever more pixels onto itty bitty sensors while the general buying public eats it up. There are a few websites for digital cameras which will give you the 'pixel density' - this can be a convenient way of comparing two cameras with the same 'MP' rating to determine which one has the right MP count versus which one has far too many for the sensor size...which usually results in worse performance.

As for zoom - as mentioned, OPTICAL zoom is good - take as much of it as you want. DIGITAL zoom is bad - don't even look at how much of that a camera has as it is nothing more than cropping done in camera, and will degrade the picture's resolution and image quality. Sometimes, manufacturers will post the 'overall' zoom number as a combination of the two - so a 15x camera might actually have 5x of optical zoom and 3x of digital zoom which combine for a total of 15x. Ignore the total figure, and look at the optical zoom only.

Also - remember what that 'X' figure means - a 10x zoom doesn't necessarily reach farther than an 8x zoom. The 'X' is a multiplier...in order to find what it is multiplying, you need to know the camera's widest angle, and the crop factor of the sensor. For example, a typical compact camera might have a lens that starts at 6mm. So a '10x' optical zoom means the maximum telephoto of the lens is 60mm. So the lens is a 6mm-60mm lens...BUT, now you have to consider the crop factor to know how that compares to the typical film cameras or full frame digital SLRs. A typical compact will have a 'crop factor' of 6...so to know the '35mm equivalent' range of the lens, multiply the lens
range by the crop factor. That means with a crop factor of 6, a 6mm to 60mm lens is actually the equivalent of a 36mm to 360mm lens. Compare that to a DSLR with an APS-C sensor that has a crop factor of 1.5...an 18-250mm lens on those cameras will be equivalent to 27mm to 375mm (18 x 1.5 and 250 x 1.5). A 'full frame' DSLR camera doesn't have a crop factor - the lens' range is exactly what it says.

So why would a 10x sometimes reach farther than a 12x zoom? Use the example above, with the compact camera that has the 6-60mm lens (10x). Now take another compact camera that has a 12x zoom with a 4.67mm wide lens. Assume the camera has the same 6x crop factor common to most compact cameras...that means the widest setting in 35mm equivalence is 28mm, and the 12x zoom will give a maximum range of 56.04mm, which adjusted for the crop factor would be 336mm. So the 10x camera goes to 360mm, while the 12x camera goes to 336mm...not farther as you might assume!

That was all probably somewhat confusing...just try to remember when dealing with zoom, to 1. only look at the optical, not the digital, 2. Look at what the wide angle is, and multiply that by the zoom amount to know how far the lens will reach, and 3. Understand when dealing with comparisons with different cameras that different sensor sizes can mean different crop factors, so adjusting for the crop factor of the sensor is the best way to compare the lens range of a little compact to a large DSLR.

 

[seashoreCM]

Most cameras, point and shoots included, have field of view expressed as "35mm film camera equivalent focal length". Two cameras with (or zoomed to) the same 35mm film camera equivalent focal length" will shoot the same field of view from the same vantage point.

Another way of measuring field of view is the angle in degrees but few if any cameras state the field of view that way.

For modenr point and shoots, standard angle is about 36mm in 35mm film camera equivalent focal length. Fewer mm for example 28mm is wide angle, more for example 70mm is telephoto. Traditional standard angle is 50mm and some DSLR's come with a "standard" lens with that rating.

When you have the 35mm film camera equivalent focal length, you do not need to do calculations with "crop factors".

As stated above, the x as in 3x zoom is relative to the zoomed out or widest angle for that lens. Another example: a 25mm lens with 4x zoom will have the same maximum zoom field of view as a 50mm lens with 2x zoom (the maximum zoom is 100mm in 35 mm film camera equivalent focal length).

Another way to visualize 2x, etc. zoom. Zoom the camera all the way out (widest angle). For 2x zoom imagine a cross dividing the viewfinder into 4 equal parts. One of those parts is your view. For 3x zoom imagine a pound sign dividing the viewfinder into 9 equal (tic-tac-toe) parts. One of those parts is your view.

 

[wdwlovers5]

all so much - naturally I am thoroughly confused - how about this question, a little easier I hope - I want to get a new camera - small pocket size one - basically point and shoot - any ideas which ones are best.

thanks again and

Mary

 

[zackiedawg]

I'd suggest at least giving consideration to: Sony's W series, Panasonic's ZX series, Canon's SD series...all three are pretty solid cams with good reliability, image quality, and strong companies behind them...and all are truly 'pocketable'.

Next would be the slightly chubbier compact cameras that would fit in a purse or a big baggy pocket, but not the back pocket on some tight jeans: The Canon SX series, the Sony HX series, and the Panasonic FZ series. These all have big optical zoom lenses and are quite versatile, but larger and chunkier builds.

If you're willing to spend a bit for a more serious compact camera, you might look at Canon's S90 or Panasonic's LX3...both have larger sensors and manual control abilities for those wanting to take compact photography a step farther.

All of these can function just fine in P&S mode. Other compact cams from Nikon, Olympus, and Fuji are all worth a look too, in case one strikes you just right - generally though Canon, Sony, and Panasonic seem to turn out the most consistently high-rated compact P&S models and all three are best sellers in the compact marketplace. You likely won't go too wrong with any of them.

 

[Legacy]

Question: DOF...I can get a short depth of field with a wide open fast lens, but I can also get the same effect from a larger F#, but on the telephoto end of a zoom lens.

Why does this work this way? Which way is considered 'better' to get nice bokeh?