BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

BetterPhoto Member		buying a camera Hi, may name is Marty Krieger and I’m 65 years old. I’ve been interested in photography for over 40 years (as a novice / on & off shooter). I currently have a Panasonic DMC-FX8 digital camera with no Aperture, Shutter, Manual or Program modes. I’ve been looking at a Sony DSC-H3 digital camera, it has Program, Manual, Shutter & Aperture modes, because I’m looking for more control. My question is, the Sony has two (2) f-stops in WIDE ( f 3.5 & f 8.0 ) and (2) f-stops in TELEPHOTO ( f 4.4 & f 10 ). Without going to DSLR (I have Rheumatoid Arthritis & my fingers are crooked and makes holding large things difficult) would the f-stops be close / comparable to an f 2.0 and an f 22 on a DSLR range, giving me some latitude? Thank you, Marty Krieger e-mail: martycaine2000@yahoo.com To love this question, log in above October 21, 2007

- Carolyn M. Fletcher Contact Carolyn M. Fletcher Carolyn M. Fletcher's Gallery		I don't think you get quite the latitude you get with a DSLR, but if my Sony's are any example, it's usually enough. By the way have you looked at the H9? Longer zoom and also has the tilt screen which would be very valuable to you, I think so you don't have to get down on your knees when you want to shoot low. Some of the techies will answer your question better, I'm sure, and you can also call Sony Style and they can usually help, too. Good luck and I'll keep an eye on this to see what other advice you get. We are about the same age and I'm also plagued with arthritis (osteo) so I feel your pain. To love this comment, log in above October 21, 2007

Alan N. Marcus		Hi Marty, Let’s talk about the speed of the Carl Zeiss lens mounted on the Sony DSC-H3. Zeiss has a reputation for making super high quality lenses. This camera sports a zoom with a focal length range of 6.3 thru 63mm. Quoting the actual focal length is somewhat pointless as one must understand optics and know the size of the camera’s imaging chip to make sense out of this. Camera makers know this so they fall back on the de facto standard which is the size of the film frame on a 35mm film camera. Then they make comparisons talking about “equivalent”. What they trying to saying is, if you take pictures using a 35mm film camera mounted with a zoom lens with a focal length range of 38mm thru 380mm, the Sony DSC-H3 with its digital chip and zoom lens 6.3mm thru 63mm, produces equivalent pictures. Now looking at the data we can say the wide angle ability of this camera is only moderate. We can also say that the telephoto is adequate. Additionally Sony makes available attachments (somewhat pricy) that mount over the lens--one to make it more wide angled and another to make it more telephoto. Also, the camera features a 2x electronic zoom meaning it can zoom to the equivalent of a 760mm telephoto and that’s formidable. Now for the f/numbers: Lens makers like to engrave on the barrel the maximum f/number available for that lens. This is a measure of how fast the lens is i.e. it tell how the lens performs under dim lighting conditions. Everyone wants a fast lens so lower f/number (large apertures) are attractive. As an example f/3.5 is preferable to f4.4. F/2 is even better (by a long shot). Now a zoom design means the focal length is adjustable by the user. As a lens zooms to higher and higher magnifications the amount of light passing through the optical system is caused to diminish. To counter this phenomenon the lens maker must cause the aperture to open more and more with the zoom to compensate for the light loss (requires a lot more front lens diameter). While it’s possible to keep the same f/number throughout the zoom, this require a super expensive design. Now this model does not fully compensate during the zoom. Thus the specifications give the range of available apertures at the wide angle setting as f/3.5 thru f/8. At maximum zoom (telephoto) the available range is f/ 4.4 thru f/10. Interpreting; this lens is not a particularly fast one -- i.e. it’s only mediocre. The max aperture occurs at the wide angle position and its f/3.5 which is 1 ½ stops less bright than an f/2. The max aperture at telephoto is f/4.4 which is 2 ½ stops less bright than an f/2. In other words a lens with a range of f/2 thru f/22 is far superior. Sorry nobody said it’s easy. You can disregard all this stuff because I only dispense marginal technical gobble-de-gook. Alan Marcus ammarcus@erthlink.net To love this comment, log in above October 21, 2007

This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here Report this Thread