Complete beginners question no doubt...

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PaulSanderson

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I guys and girls...

I'm a complete novice with a camera but well and truly got the bug. I have a question which is probably a bit daft to ask but I'll go ahead anyway.

With regards to zoom lens, which has the greater zoom? I have a 75-300mm but a friend showed my some images with a 200mm lens and it seems to have a much greater zoom than mine.

Can anyone clear this up for me?

Many thanks...
 
Big numbers are higher zoom.

12mm = wide angle.
100mm = longish zoom :D and 200 is longer... and 300 is longer again :D

Differences will probably be much more noticeable at the wider end than the longer end. For example the difference between 12 and 50mm will probably look greater than the difference between 200 and 300mm.

I suppose that if your friends 200mm looked longer than your 300mm is could have been an illusion due to subject and / or composition.
 
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Just to pedantic (sorry) you are really refering to a lens having a longer focal length. A zoom lens is merely a lens that has a variable focal length, i.e. with your lens as an example, you can choose a focal length between 75 and 300mm.
 
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The larger the last number the longer the zoom lens ie the closer it appears you are to something.

What do you mean appears larger ?
 
Thanks for the info guys. What I mean by larger/longer zoom is we have images of the same subject, yet his seems to be magnified better than mine.

Maybe I need to learn to use my camera more before comparing as he has been into photography a lot longer and appears to know what's he's doing!
 
Just a thought...

It could be due to focus distance as if your friends lens will focus closer to a near object than your lens will there could be quite a difference in the final image.
 
woof woof said:
Just a thought...

It could be due to focus distance as if your friends lens will focus closer to a near object than your lens will there could be quite a difference in the final image.
Click to expand...

could be differernt cameras.. a crop and a ff ?
 
Same camera guys (canon eos)...I'm guessing it's down to him knowing what he's actually doing as opposed to me just learning. Thanks for your help...
 
Whether he knows what he's doing or not a 300mm lens is longer than a 200mm lens.

Were you both the same distance from a subject of the same size?
Were both lenses set to the longest focal length possible (i.e. was yours set to 300mm)?
Has he cropped the image (basically cut some of it off around the sides) after taking it?
Do your cameras both have the same sensor size? Canon make DSLRs with three different sensor sizes.
Did he have a teleconverter fitted?
 
But in this instance, the OP would have to have had the Full frame camera, and his friend the crop, which seems unlikely.
 
According to the sales girl I overheard once in Jessops, a 300mm lens means you can be up to 300mm from the subject :thumbs:
 
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