18-55mm

[ste1812]

Thinking of buying a slr camera but what is the optical zoom on a 18 -55mm lens

[Andy Bright]

Thinking of buying a slr camera but what is the optical zoom on a 18 -55mm lens
At 55mm it's about the same view as your naked eye. It's a good lens for general photography, landscapes and suchlike... no real use for wildife/bird photography.

cheers,
Andy

[ste1812]

Thanks Andy what camera would you recommend i have a dimage z3 the camera is ok but i am after something more powerfull if that makes sense

Steve

[bill lord]

Thinking of buying a slr camera but what is the optical zoom on a 18 -55mm lens

It depends upon which digital SLR you are attaching it to, my Eos 300d has a conversion factor of approx 1.6 giving a standard zoom comparison of 29 to 88.

[Keith Reeder]

Steve,

what kind of pictures are you planning to take?

Also - are you thinking about film or digital?

[ste1812]

Thanks Bill/ Keith i would prefer to use digital and its to photograph birds/or any wildlife but i need a decent zoom the dynax has a optical zoom of 12 coupled with the digital zoom its 48 but the digital zoom is practically useless with the loss of quality

Thanks Steve

[Keith Reeder]

Hi Steve,

firstly you need to think in terms of focal length rather than zoom, when discussing (D)SLRs.

Broadly speaking, I think that a lens of at least 400mm is the minimum realistic focal length if you want a versatile lens that'll give you a decent chance of capturing wildlife images.

A search through the Gallery will provide ample proof of the all-round usefulness of 400mm lenses, and Andy himself uses a Nikon 80-400mm lens image stabilised lens when the mood takes him, as a "walk-around" lens (ie not on a tripod).

I use a Sigma 80-400mm image stabilised lens myself, and before that used a cheaper (but still rather nice) 135-400mm Sigma: no stabilisation, but still very usable hand-held.

Assuming that you're interested in shooting hand-held, then 400mm will do nicely for most things.

As to which camera: how long is a piece of string?

I love my Nikon D70, but I'd also be as Happy As Larry with a Canon 20D or 350D, I'm sure - handling and overall usability are just as important as things like the number of megapixels the camera has...

How much are you looking to spend?

[bill lord]

Hi Steve,
As to which camera: how long is a piece of string?

I love my Nikon D70, but I'd also be as Happy As Larry with a Canon 20D or 350D, I'm sure - handling and overall usability are just as important as things like the number of megapixels the camera has...

How much are you looking to spend?

The Canon 300d's have been available all summer on Ebay direct from canon Uk with a 12 month return to base warraty. In recent weeks they have been selling for about £350 ( do a search on ebay for canon outlet 300d ), be careful though as in the last couple of weeks someone has been trying a scam with false names on them. This is a real one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-Outlet-D-SLR-EOS-300D-W-EF18-55-LENS_W0QQitemZ7566949703QQcategoryZ30020QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I bought mine from there in May the auction finished one morning at 10 am and I had the camera less than 24 hours later.