Telephoto lens question

**FreakofSnow** · 10-09-2007, 10:36 PM

I've got a Canon G5 that I have been very happy with for quite some time. Its served its purposes for the most part, being somewhat compact but flexible enough to get a little more creative than with a point and shoot. However, one thing that I have really been wanting is some more range/zoom. I'm curious what the opinions are on getting one of these types of lenses

http://www.digitalinnovationsny.com/...itemid=2533328

They seem to run anywhere from $70-100.

My main question is: If the G5 has four times optical zoom lens with an equivalent zoom range of 35 to 140 mm, how much better of a zoom am I going to get with the 3X tele above? Is it 12X or 7X? Will it be noticible?

Basically, I am biding my time until I can afford to upgrade to a better and faster camera. But in the meantime I want to get some more out of the G5.

Dankashane

**summit** · 10-09-2007, 10:47 PM

G5 is a great camera. It has a 4X zoom. If you put that frontal TC on it, it will still have a 4X zoom. However, your range will be 105-420mm.

The penalty is increased flare and decreased contrast and sharpness.

**FreakofSnow** · 10-09-2007, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by Summit

G5 is a great camera. It has a 4X zoom. If you put that frontal TC on it, it will still have a 4X zoom. However, your range will be 105-420mm.

The penalty is increased flare and decreased contrast and sharpness.

So what exactly does the increased MM's do for me? Stupid question I know....

**summit** · 10-09-2007, 11:15 PM

Makes far away things seem closer

In this case, the adapter increases your maximum focal length by 3X (so things appear up to 3X larger)

**FreakofSnow** · 10-09-2007, 11:27 PM

One more JONGtography question, so how is that different than the zoom?

**summit** · 10-09-2007, 11:53 PM

its taking the zoom and putting a permanent 3X in front of it

like taking your zoom and always have a pair of binoculars in front of it

**BurnHard** · 10-15-2007, 08:39 AM

I think Freak's having a hard time differentiating zoom from "mm focal length" (feel free to JONG me if I'm wrong)....

Here's the deal:
ZOOM is *commonly* understood to be the capability of a camera to "zoom" in objects, i.e. to make far away objects look bigger no the photograph.
ZOOM is *technically*, however, simply the ratio of available focal lengths on your lens/camera, i.e. 4x zoom because 420mm/105mm = 4 ... This simply implies that, at the highest "zoom setting" of 420mm the object in your photograph will be 4x as big as it would be on the lowest zoom setting of 105mm.

What matters to make objects look big is FOCAL LENGTH - that's the "mm" value, and the bigger that value is, the bigger will objects be in your photographs. The scale is linearly proportional.

To answer your initial question - Summit's right. However, to make it a little simpler (IMHO) ... Yes, you will get 12x "ZOOM" as compared to your 35mm base focal length, i.e. an object photographed at 420mm will be 12 as big as one photographed at 35mm.

The TC is definitely worth it for a camera that does not have interchangeable lenses. Like Summit says, it will reduce contrast and sharpness, and possibly color saturation.

**Tippster** · 10-15-2007, 12:07 PM

Zoom = the ability for one lens to have various focal lengths (XXmm to YYYmm)
Prime Lens = any fixed focal length lens
Wide Angle Lens = wider viewing area than standard (in the 35mm film world a 50mm lens was considered equivalent to the viewing angle of the human eye) causing the illusion of miniaturization of the objects within the frame relative to "normal." so any lens <50mm.
Telephoto = narrower viewing angle than standard, causing the illusion of magnification of the object relative to "normal." In other words any lens >50mm.

You can have Telephoto zooms (X>50mm to Y>50mm), wide angle zooms (X<50mm to Y<50mm), and Full-range zooms (X<50mm to Y>50mm.)

Of course the smaller sensors of P&S cameras skew the focal length numbers, but the terminology remains true.