Tips for using a Telephoto super zoom DSLR lens

 Understanding the zoom measurements associated with each lens

At the point, one aspect of interchangeable lens cameras that can be confusing when converting your camera to a DSLR or mirrorless ILC (interchangeable lens camera) is understanding what telephoto zoom lenses do and how they work.

The system used to measure the telephoto range of a zoom lens for interchangeable lens cameras is similar to measuring the range of a zoom lens on a point-and-shoot (or fixed-lens) camera, but there are some differences in the methods that can be confusing. numbers are presented.

Keep reading to better understand how to measure the telephoto function of an interchangeable lens and how to measure it with a fixed lens camera! (A zoom lens is a type of lens that can shoot at multiple focal lengths, as opposed to a prime lens that can only shoot at one focal length.)

Changing the zoom range

For fixed-lens cameras, there will be a zoom ring surrounding the shutter button or zoom switch on the back of the camera. Pressing the zoom ring in one direction sets the zoom range to more telephotos, and pressing the other way zooms in further to the wide-angle setting.

With a DSLR or mirrorless ILC model, you'll change the zoom setting by twisting the zoom ring on the lens itself. A few high-end DSLR cameras offer a zoom feature, so you can use the switch to zoom in, but that depends on the type and brand of lens and camera you have.

Focal length measurement

When determining the focal length range of a zoom lens, you will often see the range listed as part of the lens name. For example, with a DSLR or mirrorless ILC model, you can see lenses in the 25-200mm range.

Point-and-shoot cameras allow you to measure the focal length of a zoom lens. However, this range does not appear as part of the camera name. In most cases, you will need to find the range in a list of camera specs. Fixed lens camera manufacturers don't widely use this measure in their marketing materials.

Optical zoom measurement

 

With point-shoot cameras, a measurement more commonly used to describe the range of focal lengths of a camera zoom lens is the optical zoom measurement. This measure will be widely advertised in marketing collateral, and it is also listed in the specifications. (With point-and-shoot cameras, focus range measurements are usually listed after optical zoom measurements in the spec list.)

Optical zoom is always listed as a number followed by the letter X. So your camera's optical zoom measurement might be 8X.

These types of measurements are rarely shown in marketing materials for interchangeable lenses. To calculate the optical zoom of an interchangeable lens , simply divide the maximum telephoto focal length at which the lens can record images (200mm in the example above) by the lens' widest focal length (25mm in the example above). . So 200 divided by 25 gives 8x the optical zoom measurement.

Find a large optical zoom range

Typically, a fixed-lens camera lens is interchangeable lens camera made for all the zoom lens to provide a larger optical zoom range than can be achieved. So, if you're shooting a camera with a 25X optical zoom lens with points, you don't need to duplicate those measurements on a high-end interchangeable lens. This is because, depending on the type of lens, the cost is high.