Zoom lenses

[Suburbanmom]

I am going to Disney World in 10 days! We are staying at PO Riverside...hopefully Alligator Bayou.

I have the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR and the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR. I'm totally in love with the 2.8. Even on my D50, I'm blown away by the sharpness and clarity. I know it's heavy, but I really don't mind carrying it around. I have an over-the-shoulder shoulder strap, so it doesn't weigh down on my neck. It is the lens of my dreams.

The 70-300 takes great images too. It's just not so fast. And...it fits in my backpack, meaning I can't quickly and easily change from the zoom to my walk-around lens. It's not so easy to change out the 2.8 because it won't fit in my backpack and don't really want to carry around a second bag...and neither does my DH who usually ends up carry around my equipment. (he is my caddy. :heart: )

I mostly see myself using the "Beast" only on the safari. Would you bring the 2.8 for just one shoot and then leave it in the hotel room the rest of the time? Or should I be content with the 70-300 and the ease of carry it around and having it whenever I want, not just the Safari.

Any suggestions that would make my decision easier?

 

[YEKCIM]

As long as you don't mind hauling it around, I would suggest maybe considering taking it to Studios for the shows there (BATB, Indy, HSM3, LMA, Fantasmic!). You would probably not need it at Epcot or MK. Like you, I'm headed Mouse-ward soon and will probably use my 70-300VR a great deal of the time. If I had the 70-200VR, I'd have to really weigh (pun intended) whether it was worth it to lug it around all week. Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't have that option.

Beyond that, I'm not sure I'd leave a $XXXX.XX lens lying around my room while I was gone. We drive down so we have our car and always put all the camera gear in there when we leave the room for the day. YMMV.

~Ed

 

[WebmasterAlex]

I prefer to think of my 70-200 2.8 vr as "optimally weighted for stabilization" not heavy

 

[frugal_mar]

I would bring the 70-200 f2.8 and just carry a bigger bigger bag.

 

[annnewjerz]

If I was ever lucky enough to own the 70-200mm 2.8, I probably would not bring it. I, too, would be worried about leaving something that expensive in the hotel room and since you don't plan on using it more than a trip or two to Animal Kingdom..I would just bring the 70-300mm VR.

While it's still expensive, I wouldn't be as upset if something were to happen to it. Plus, I like to pack as light as possible. If you start adding on bigger bags, bigger lenses, etc. before you know it, you may as well pay for another checked bag fee!

IMO, as long as you are bringing another lens that will be good in low-light, you can always get a better seat at a show/parade/etc. for those up close shots.

 

[Quicklabs]

That's an easy one, IMHO! Take the 70-300. And leave the fantastic 70-200 with me for safekeeping while you're gone! LOL
Are you taking a tripod or something with which to stabilize the 70-300? That could make up for the lack of speed.
Have a great time, Amy. I'll look forward to all of your pictures when you get back. Hope there will be a LOT of them.

 

[YesDear]

I took my 70-200 in September to a Sunrise Safari and felt it was well worth it to have it since we got to stop and seriously take pictures. I am not certain I would be excited about taking it on a regular Safari ride since they never stop and you are being bumped constantly.

I love the lens and actually enjoy the look of people when I use it. It attracts attention!

I feel as safe with my stuff at WDW as anywhere. My stuff is totally insured so I take care of it but do not worry about it.

 

[Suburbanmom]

That's an easy one, IMHO! Take the 70-300. And leave the fantastic 70-200 with me for safekeeping while you're gone! LOL
Are you taking a tripod or something with which to stabilize the 70-300? That could make up for the lack of speed.
Have a great time, Amy. I'll look forward to all of your pictures when you get back. Hope there will be a LOT of them.

That's your solution, is it, Laura???? Nice try!
I am planning to take my tripod with me, so that may help.

"optimally weighted for stabilization"....I'm going to have to remember that one.

Today...I am planning to bring it. I like the looks I get too.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

yes, DSLR newbie - prob a stupid question, but I am trying to make sense of this.

My current camera has 12x range, so how does this compare to the lenses on a DSLR.... or am I comparing things that you can't really compare or???

I am now thinking of the sony alpha A300 and I want an idea how my zoomed out shots will compare. I am assuming I can't zoom out as far, but I can crop the photos to my delight when actually making prints.

 

[Groucho]

yes, DSLR newbie - prob a stupid question, but I am trying to make sense of this.

My current camera has 12x range, so how does this compare to the lenses on a DSLR.... or am I comparing things that you can't really compare or???

I am now thinking of the sony alpha A300 and I want an idea how my zoomed out shots will compare. I am assuming I can't zoom out as far, but I can crop the photos to my delight when actually making prints.

Aperture (or f-stops) are not the same as focal length, which is like the 12x on a PnS camera. Aperture is how big the opening is in the lens, while focal length is how close the camera will appear to get to a subject. A higher focal length means that you will appear to be closer, or more zoomed in. (A sloppy and flawed explanation, but you get the idea!)

The closest thing we have to a "standard" in terms of measure focal length is how it compares to a lens on a 35mm camera. Most 12x point-n-shoot cameras are equivalent to about 36mm at the wide end and 423mm at the zoomed end - that is an awful lot of focal length.

Most DSLRs, including the Sony A300s, are "1.5x crop", which means that the lenses that you buy are marked for a 35mm camera and you multiple that by 1.5x to get the equivalent focal length. So in other words, a lens that may be an option is the Tamron 18-250mm, which is about as much zoom as you can get in a DSLR lens. Mounted on the A300, that works out to an equivalent of 27mm-375mm. It won't zoom quite as far as a 12x PnS (at 36mm-432mm) but it will be wider. The extra 9mm at the wide end will almost certainly be more useful and noticeable than the 57mm that you'll lose at the zoomed end.

Mind you, that's just one lens. The advantage of DSLRs is the flexibility of lenses, you can have one lens for wider shots and another for more zoomed shots. You can often find somewhat decent "consumer-grade" zoom lenses for reasonable prices that will go up to 300mm, which would equal 450mm on a 35mm camera, which is more zoom than you can get on your 12x PnS. You can also go much higher... 400mm, 500mm, whatever your pocket can handle.

By the way, you said "I am assuming I can't zoom out as far, but I can crop the photos to my delight when actually making prints". "Zoom out" usually means to go wider, which is something that digital PnS cameras, especially 12x zooms, generally don't do very well. I think you probably meant "zoom in", which gets you closer to the subject. If you can't zoom in as much, you can crop the photo later to give the appearance of having zoomed in further.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

thank you, Groucho!
You have helped me greatly - it now makes sense

 

[boBQuincy]

Unfortunately "12x" doesn't really give any useful information, it could be 1:12, or 12:144, 30:360, or anything else. So what measurement system is any better? Well, for better or worse we are probably stuck with 35mm focal length convention, where we compare a lens & sensor combination to how it would look on a 35mm camera.

It is a flawed comparison but works ok for most purposes. On a 1.5 or 1.6 crop camera the 18-55 "kit" lens is then figured to be equivalent to a "28-80" or thereabouts, a good range for a walkaround lens (about 3x).

 

[cpbjgc]

I thought I would point you to an old thread with a number of book recommendations on DSLRs and photography generally. Pretty much any of the books listed would answer this question (which has already been ably answered) but also any future ones you might have.

 

[GrillMouster]

Superzoom P&S cameras often have optical zoom and digital zoom. That 12x may include the digital zoom.

Optical zoom is "true" zooming, like that of a DSLR. Digital zoom is where the camera fakes additional zoom by cropping the image and artificially adding pixels to bring the cropped image up to the advertised megapixel count of the camera. Most knowledgeable photographers dislike digital zoom and turn if off, because "real" computers have a lot more processing power and do a better job of cropping and interpolating than does the tiny chip in the camera.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

thanks everyone.

I think I will take your advice and pick up a book - I am a definite book learner. Whenever we purchase anything I go right to the manual - drives my husband nuts!

Thanks again!

 

[pjacobi]

The largest zoom range commonly available for a dSLR is the 18-200mm lens available from both Nikon and Canon. This yields about an 11x zoom range, but with very noticable distortion. Most Pro's probably would not touch it.

Zoom lenses are much easiler to implement for P/S, bridge (Super Zoom) and video cameras because the image sensor is much smaller than a dSLR camera.

Large image sensors, smaller zoom range lenses, or even fix focal length lenses of dSLR cameras will yield high quality images.

It's a trade-off between high quality images of dSLR vs. size and zoom range of P/S cameras.


-Paul

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

The largest zoom range commonly available for a dSLR is the 18-200mm lens available from both Nikon and Canon. This yields about an 11x zoom range, but with very noticable distortion. Most Pro's probably would not touch it.

Zoom lenses are much easiler to implement for P/S, bridge (Super Zoom) and video cameras because the image sensor is much smaller than a dSLR camera.

Large image sensors, smaller zoom range lenses, or even fix focal length lenses of dSLR cameras will yield high quality images.

It's a trade-off between high quality images of dSLR vs. size and zoom range of P/S cameras.


-Paul

so would a faster 50mm lens then cropping give better results than a slower 200mm lens?

I will be doing a lot of indoor pix - kids sports etc

 

[jann1033]

so would a faster 50mm lens then cropping give better results than a slower 200mm lens?

I will be doing a lot of indoor pix - kids sports etc

i think you would have to pay a lot for a 50mm lens sharp enough to crop equal to a 200 mm good lens.( if it even exists) you can get canon 70-200 f4 L lens for about $600 and it is a tack sharp lens. it is when you have a really large zoom range ( ie 18-200) that you have a problem with softness ( usually) something like the canon 70-300 or 70-200 don't have that problem. and a 50mm i would think would be bad for sports, not nearly long enough to get anything close to a close up and you can't "zoom" without moving so unless they were right in front of you it would be a dinky little object. think tamron makes a 70-200 in an f2.8 ( I never shoot sports but guessing that would work ) canon also has lots of 2.8 lenses but the cost is close to $1000+ usually, don't know about sony. i know DVC Jen has gotten some great photos of her daughter's dance recitals with a 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS canon but don't know how well something like that would work for a sport that might be faster( ie basketball) since you'd need a fast shutter to stop the action which is where the f2.8 would come in

 

[DragonSlyr]

Sigma 70 -200 f2.8 at 70mm

at 200mm

Wendy hope this gives you an idea of indoor sports images. The photo at 200mm was cropped and enlarged. Its a little noisy, the quality of the original is a little better, had to knock the size down to post.

Tom

 

[Dis-Wiz]

I've been searching everywhere online to try and find out what is wrong with my camera but I can't seem to find anything that particularly addresses my problems. I'm hoping you guys might be able help me!

My Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 is refusing to zoom. It won't zoom in while taking pictures, and it won't zoom in when I'm viewing the pictures afterward. At first I thought it may be the lens, stuck perhaps, but you would think that I'd still be able to digitally zoom in while viewing my pictures. Personally, I think its the actual zoom switch that's broken, but I'm no camera pro.

There aren't any camera shops around me, and all I really want to know is what's wrong with it and if it's fixable. Other than the inability to zoom, the camera works fine! I love it so much, and I really miss my 12x zoom!!

So if anybody has ever had this problem, or may know what the problem is, your comments would be greatly appreciated!!