Lens Details

niranjan · Mar 12, 2011

Hello,

I was going through reviews of few nikon zoom lenses and in 55-300 range , and i found the specs written as 3.6x zoom.

Please somebody clear me what that 3.6x zoom exactly means. Should it be considered as main attraction for purchase..?

regards

480sparky · Mar 12, 2011

3.6 is the ratio between the longest focal length divided by the shortest.

A 50-200 zoom will be a 4x zoom (200/50). A 20-100 zoom will be a 5x zoom (100/20). The Nikkor 24-85 is a 3.6x zoom (85/24).

niranjan · Mar 15, 2011

thanks 480sparky...

is it the same x which is used to mention zoom capacity in Point And Shoot cameras.. ? ( 4x 5x or some times 10x zoom) same relation between these two zooms ? ( 4x zoom in P&S camera equals to 50-200 lens ? )

enzodm · Mar 15, 2011

niranjan said:
thanks 480sparky...

is it the same x which is used to mention zoom capacity in Point And Shoot cameras.. ? ( 4x 5x or some times 10x zoom) same relation between these two zooms ? ( 4x zoom in P&S camera equals to 50-200 lens ? )

it is the same x, but x only does not give you full information on the zoom size. 4x may mean also 25-100 or any other couple of numbers (real focal length in P&S is much shorter). In point&shoot is more of a marketing trick, something easy to explain. Normally in SLR lenses description is never used, but perhaps to attract beginners someone is still mentioning x.

Drake · Mar 15, 2011

The lens magnification is expressed only by the focal length. The big flashy X, loved so much by the marketing guys, is pretty much irrelevant, showing only the relative difference between both ends of the lens. What you should really care about is the focal length expressed in mm. 50mm is a medium length lens, usually referred to as standard. 200mm is pretty long, giving a good magnification of distant objects. Is it long enough? It depends what you intend to photograph.

So a 70-200mm lens has about 3x zoom. So does a 18-55mm lens. But they are both totally different, I'd say incomparable.

ulrichsd · Mar 15, 2011

The odd thing is, the 55-300 the OP mentioned would be a 5.5x, not 3.6x

Drake · Mar 15, 2011

ulrichsd said:
The odd thing is, the 55-300 the OP mentioned would be a 5.5x, not 3.6x

Yeah, I thought so for a second too, but then I read the post again and it turns out the OP was looking at the lens within the 55-300mm range, which means probably 55-200, 70-200, 70-300 etc, when he found a particular lens with the 3.6x in the spec, which could be 55-200 I suppose.