John42

Ok..
My nikon zooms out to 42x
The p900 zooms to 83x
The coming nikon zooms to 100x.
Then

I look at a nikon d3400
With a 70 mm to 300 mm lense.

How does that compare to 40x, 80x and 100x ?

Bill_de Loc: US

4.28

300/70

It wasn't too many years ago that 2.5 was considered the acceptable maximum.

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BebuLamar

Bill de is correct but the 4.28x doesn't tell you how much magnification you have. In fact the 42x, 83x and 100x do not directly related to how much magnification you get.

twowindsbear

I think you're comparing apples & oranges here.

First, there's the zoom range, like you said first - the 42x, the 83x and the 100x. The 70-300mm would be 300/70=4.3x.

What I'm thinking you probably really want to know - could be mistaken - is the magnification, or 'power' of the lens, much the way binoculars are measured. You'd compare the lens' focal length, in 35mm full frame equivalent, to the old 50mm normal lens giving 70mm/50mm=1.4x magnification or 'power' to 300mm/50mm=6x magnification or power for the lens at max zoom.

Without knowing the actual focal length for the -x markings, I can't determine the magnification or power.

Hope this helps a bit.

kenArchi Loc: Seal Beach, CA

I have a 50mm x 15X zoom binoculars. I can see ants.
What would that equal to on a camera lens, 500mm , 1000mm, ?
I wonder if there is an adaptor?

twowindsbear

You don't give the 'minimum power' for your binoculars, so here goes.

For a 35mm Full Frame equivalent camera, 15x magnification would be 15x50mm=750mm.

The '50mm' in the binocular's description is the diameter of the objective lens and doesn't figure into the binocular's 'power' - just relatively 'bright' the image is, such as a f1.8 lens would be brighter through the viewfinder that a f4.5 lens.

Don't know about an adapter. I'll WAG 'probably so,' though.

Hope this helps a bit, too.

John42

Ok, I was looking at the 2 point and shot nikons..advertised at 83 and 100.



Surely there is a way to get the same results with a dslr ???

twowindsbear

Of course there is. Pick a wide angle focal length, maybe 20mm - multiply by your choice of zoom range, to give your max focal length - x83=1660mm & x100=2000mm.

Be prepared for a HUGE lens, be SURE to have really REALLY deep pockets, and you'll need a few trips to the gym to build up your muscles so you can haul either of those beasts around.

Of course all this assumes that the smart folks that actually MAKE photo lenses can work out all the optical problems of such a design, and marketing sees enough demand to warrant such a lens, and management decides on making it. . . etc., etc., etc.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

42X, 83X and 100 X compared to what? We can start with the mathematically correct "standard" normal 35mm figure of 43.3mm or the commonly accepted 50mm. Also, factor in that smaller sensors' crop factors are rounded and published focal lengths vary, and you have a myriad of numbers with which to deal.

To simplify matters, using the common 50mm "standard", a 70-300 is 1.4X to 6x.

Of course, the science of optics, combined with the design of lenses, gives us so many variables that the answer to your question can only be approximated. By the way, I like your spelling of lense; it drives some people absolutely insane. 😊🙃🙂

twowindsbear

There are 3 different ZOOM LENS RANGES, from minimum focal length to maximum focal length such that the longer focal length divided by the shorter focal length equals either 42x, 83x or 100x, NOT magnification 'powers' like in your example. (I don't know how to add any more emphasis to the capitalized words. I'd make 'em red & bold if I could!)

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

This spec, by itself doesn't really tell you enough to actually compare. What they are doing is taking the longest focal length of the lens, 357mm, and divide it by the shortest focal length, 4.3mm, you get 83X. This camera also gives you an equivalent focal length of 24mm to 2000mm. This is not really 24mm to 2000mm, but since the sensor is so small, the camera produces an equivalent field of view on the sensor of what you would see on a full frame camera of 24mm to 2000mm.

Now lets consider a full frame camera for which you have several lenses. Lens 1, let's suppose is 24mm to 70mm. Lens 2 is 70mm-200mm, and lens 3 is 150-600mm. Now, to get this range, you have to use 3 lenses. But the magnification could be computed as 600/24 = 25x. But now, you decide to add a 15-30mm lens. Now the 4 lens power is computed as 600/15 = 40x.

Notice, we did not increase the max focal length, but we did increase the power from 25x to 40x by changing the widest focal length.

So we see that the power, by itself, only tells us the ratio of longest to shortest focal length. And we can change that number by reducing the wide end or increasing the long end.

Now let's do some more math. 24 divided by 4.3 is 5.58. And 2000 divided 357 is 5.60. Rounding both to 5.6 tells us that whatever the actual focal length is, we multiply it by 5.6 to get the equivalent focal length. This in turn affects what the final image is going to look like as we start to enlarge it. The full frame will look better.

twowindsbear

Bingo!!!

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

ZOOM from what to what?

Oh, and you could make them red & bold.

twowindsbear

I don't know what values are for minimum focal length to what maximum focal length - that information would be on the camera.

Yes, I know red & bold, and other combinations are available, I just don't know how to implement them - nor do I really want to know. Thanks, though for that tip.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Where?