No Zoom 350D

[scamps180]

Being very new to all this i bought a cheap canon 350d about 2 months ago, then i purchased a cheap Tamron 70-300mm lense, with the 350d not having a zoom function am i not getting the full 300mm or would i get more with a zoom function camera. (sorry guys if this sems a dumb question).

[Mike Jackson]

No SLR has a zoom. It's the lens that has the zoom.

[John D]

Originally Posted by scamps180

Being very new to all this i bought a cheap canon 350d about 2 months ago, then i purchased a cheap Tamron 70-300mm lense, with the 350d not having a zoom function am i not getting the full 300mm or would i get more with a zoom function camera. (sorry guys if this sems a dumb question).

The Canon 350D is a DSLR camera and like all DSLR cameras requires a lens to provide the 'zoom'. Since you now have a 70-300mm lens you will now have the zoom you require. You should also be aware that due to the 'crop factor' on the Canon 350D being 1.6 (based on the size of sensor) the effective zoom of your lens will be 112-480mm when compared to a normal DSLR (film type) or a DSLR with full sized sensor.

John D

Zenfolio | John's Wild World

[John D]

Originally Posted by John D

The Canon 350D is a DSLR camera and like all DSLR cameras requires a lens to provide the 'zoom'. Since you now have a 70-300mm lens you will now have the zoom you require. You should also be aware that due to the 'crop factor' on the Canon 350D being 1.6 (based on the size of sensor) the effective zoom of your lens will be 112-480mm when compared to a normal DSLR (film type) or a DSLR with full sized sensor.

John D

Zenfolio | John's Wild World

NOTE CORRECTION - should read 'compared to a normal SLR (film type) or DSLR with full sized sensor'

John D

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by John D

NOTE CORRECTION - should read 'compared to a normal SLR (film type) or DSLR with full sized sensor'

In spite of the proud boast of their owners, 35mm isn't really 'full sized' - it's still a miniature format. 'Full Size' (full plate) is 6 /12" x 8 1/2". Anyone got a full plate digital camera?

Jim

[John D]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

In spite of the proud boast of their owners, 35mm isn't really 'full sized' - it's still a miniature format. 'Full Size' (full plate) is 6 /12" x 8 1/2". Anyone got a full plate digital camera?

Jim

Yes Jim, I know this but for the purpose of explaining the crop factor obtained with a Canon 350D I was referring to the 'FULL SIZE SENSOR' as related to a DSLR or the image size associated with 35mm SLR.
I could have gone on to explain the crop factor related to a Nikon and others but
the initial question was in relation to zooms available with a Canon DSLR and an associated 70-300mm lens.

No I don't have a FULL PLATE CAMERA!

John D

http://johnswildworld.zenfolio.com/

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by John D

Yes Jim, I know this but for the purpose of explaining the crop factor obtained with a Canon 350D I was referring to the 'FULL SIZE SENSOR' as related to a DSLR or the image size associated with 35mm SLR.
I could have gone on to explain the crop factor related to a Nikon and others but
the initial question was in relation to zooms available with a Canon DSLR and an associated 70-300mm lens.

Probably as you guessed, it was a tongue in cheek remark of mine!

On last night's 'Solar System' programme, mention was made of a gigapixel (IIRC) camera. That might have been, or near, full plate size!

Jim

[Lancashire Lad]

I think that scamps180 might have been referring to the digital zoom facility that many compact digital cameras have.

To anyone with limited experience, digital zoom sounds great, as it appears to zoom in to a much larger extent than an optical zoom alone.

Anyone with a good deal of photographic experience will be aware that digital zooms are effectively only enlarging a portion of what's already being seen by the optical lens/optical zoom, by interpolating the existing pixel data. - All at the expense of image quality.

A cheap digital compact might have a 3x optical zoom and an 8x digital zoom. And while the image might appear to be zoomed in 24x, it is really only zoomed in 3x, with some electronic wizardry applied to simulate the 24x.

So, in this case while the Tamron lens "only" has a maximum zoom of 300mm, which, along with the DSLR's sensor crop factor gives an equivalent of 480mm, that apparent 480mm is optically produced, and will be giving the best quality that can be had form the lens/camera combination. (for any given f number etc.).

Scamps180 should inevitably see a good deal of increased image quality when comparing any photos taken with the dslr zoom, to a compact digital zoom.

And the old adage of, "if the lens isn't long enough, try to get closer to the subject" still applies, regardless of what equipment anyone has.

Regards,
Mike.

[scamps180]

Thanks guys for all that, (thought it may be a dumb question )

[Geoff F]

But digital SLR cameras do have a 'digital zoom' function.

It is called Crop and appears in all (well nearly all) editing programmes. And with careful use it makes a better job of getting those really close shots; as long as any upward resize is sensibly used.