 BetterPhoto Member |
Relation Between Magnification and Lenses Which is the relation between the zoom in the cameras (3x, 4x...) and the mm in the lenses? For example, how much magnification is the 300mm lens?
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Wayne Attridge |
It is the relationship between the standard 1:1 lens, which, on a 35mm film camera is usually 50 or 55mm, and the zoom. A 100mm is 2x, a 200 is 4x, and your 300 would be 6x.
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Jon Close |
Just to thoroughly confuse you... ;) Dividing the lens focal length by 50 give the apparent magnification, ie. what you'll see in the viewfinder. It is similar to the magnification spec given for binoculars. This is different than the magnification ratio that is sometimes given for a lens that measures the relationship between the size of the image within the 24mm x 36mm film frame to the object's actual size. Close focusing macro lenses give this magnification as a ratio, such as 1:2 for 1/2 life-size, 1:1 for life size, 2:1 for two times life-size (2x), etc. This magnification is not directly related to focal length, but is more a function of how close the lens can focus. 1:1 macro lens can be 50mm, 100mm, 180mm, etc. Finally, some zoom lenses are loosely referred to as "2x" or "3x" etc. This is not measure of the magnification possible with the zoom, but refers to the focal length range from wide to tele. For example, a 28-80 zoom is called a 3x zoom (80 divided by 28 = 2.86 rounded to 3).
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Wayne Attridge |
Jon is right. I hadn't thought of the lens zoom ratio issue when I read your question, but the 300mm will still be 6x magnification. The zoom lens number; i.e. 3x zoom would be used for a 28-80mm and a 70-210mm lens. I know. Now you wished you had never asked.
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