Lense Question

[butcher]

Hi, I have a question regarding the lense on my Samsung wb600. The camera is not a SLR. The lense is a Schneider-Kreuznach and it has the this information written on it:

VARIOPLAN 3.9-58.5mm 1:3.2-5.8 24mm

It's a 15X zoom.

Can someone explain what those number means? I'll tell you what I think they mean.


3.9-58.5mm - I think that on a SLR, it would the the information described by the 18-55mm, 15-200mm or 18-200mm. If I'm correct, I don't understand why a 18-55mm lense translated into an about 3X - 4X, but my camera is a 15X when it's a 3.9-58.5mm.

1:3.2-5.8 - Aperture?

24mm - Not idea

Can someone help me with this please?

Thanks,
Eric

[RichardTaylor]

(1) 58.5/3.9 = ~ 15x

(2) In 35mm film camera (full frame terms) : 24-360mm (~15x)

(3) 1:3.2 = F3.2 at the wide end (3.9mm),
5.8 = F 5.8 at the long end (58.5mm)

(4) 24mm is probably the filter size (if you want to attach one to the lens)

See here for specs.
Samsung WB600 Review - Specifications | PhotographyBLOG.

[butcher]

Thanks Richard, this is great.

If I understand correctly, a 55-300mm lense would only give me a ~5X zoom?

I want to upgrade to a SLR for nature/wildlife photography. I thought that a 55-300mm would be the lense that I would need to zoom on animals that are far away, but a 5X zoom is not big enough. Am I misunderstanding the concept, or would I require a bigger lense?

Thanks
Eric

[IABoomer]

Originally Posted by butcher

Thanks Richard, this is great.

If I understand correctly, a 55-300mm lense would only give me a ~5X zoom?

I want to upgrade to a SLR for nature/wildlife photography. I thought that a 55-300mm would be the lense that I would need to zoom on animals that are far away, but a 5X zoom is not big enough. Am I misunderstanding the concept, or would I require a bigger lense?

Thanks
Eric

If you look at the link Richard posted, they give the 35mm equivalent for the lens, which in this case is 24-360mm. What this means is, to cover the same range of zoom this compact camera has, you would need a lens or lenses on your DSLR that covered from 24-360mm.

This equivalent lens situation comes about because of the sensor size in the camera. A smaller sensor will allow a smaller focal length lens to cover the same area of light. It's also something to consider when you buy the DSLR. Most entry level cameras don't use full 35mm sized sensors, so this scaling takes place on the DSLR as well. An entry level Nikon like the D3100 has what they call a crop factor of 1.5x. What this means is if you put a standard 18-55mm lens on the D3100, it's the 35mm equivalent of a 27-82.5mm lens.

This is a good thing for your situation. A 70-300 lens gives you an equivalent field of view to a 105-450mm lens, thus getting you more reach than your P&S. You're not going to find the entire range in one lens, but that's the beauty of a DSLR. You can pick lenses that are optimal for the job they're designed to do and switch between them as needed.

Or, you could look at something like the Tamron 18-270 f/3.5-6.3 which would be one lens that covers the entire range.

[inkista]

Just to further nitpick at the zoom x5 thing...

the x zoom range thing is simply dividing the longest end of the zoom range by the lowest end of the zoom range. It's a RELATIVE measurement of zooming capability.

A 1mm-10mm lens is 10x.
A 20mm-200mm lens is 10x.
A 40mm-400mm lens is 10x.

But all three will give you vastly different amounts of reach.

Focal length (the mm notation) is ABSOLUTE measurement of magnification. The bigger the number, the more magnified your subject is. So, whether the lens is only 3x or 1x (a fixed prime) doesn't so much matter as what the focal length is, when you want reach.

This is a shot I took with my 1x lens. It's 400mm.


Canon XT, EF 400mm f/5.6L USM, iso 400, f/5.6, 1/640s. handheld. Cropped.

[RichardTaylor]

For nature and wild life you want long.
How long depends on the wild life and where you are shooting.

If the wild life is medium sized birds in an urban environment (sea gulls for example) you would get away with 300mm. If they are really used to people anything will do.
For large wild animals (the size of a cow) probably less depending on how far they are away.

For small birds and wild life at a distance 400mm is really the minimum (even longer is better).

Here's why.

(1)


Here are some real world examples Taken with a Canon 100-400 on a Canon 40D (35mm equivalent lens of 160 mm to 640mm). Some of the photographs have been cropped.

(2) At 400mm


(3) at 400mm


(4) At 300mm using a Canon 70-300 lens.


Notice I am almost always at the long end when shooting animals in the wild unless I just want an animal in a scene.


As IABoomer says the beauty of a SLR is that it con be configured to be almost the perfect camera for almost any shooting situation.
The downside it may mean different lenses may be needed.

For more info on "super zooms" (lenses that cover a large focal length range) you may find this post, on this site, of interest.


Lenses #3 - Superzooms.

[butcher]

Thank you very much all of you. I finally understand the concept..

Eric