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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steven Astley" data-source="post: 1714948" data-attributes="member: 15646">I think its you who doesn't understand and is trying to just confuse people! Actually magnification in cameras is dependent on sensors as well as optics. Actually focal length on its own is meaningless in comparing the magnifying power, reach or whatever you want to call it (lets not get pedantic about definitions).An 85mm lens on DSLR is useless for capturing birds, whereas on my superzoom camera with a smaller sensor it is.Standardizing everything to 35mm equivalent (full frame equivalent) is the best calculation we have for knowing which camera set ups are good at capturing distant wildlife. Of course higher magnification means decreased angle of view! Its impossible to increase magnification without decreasing angle of view unless you could magically increase the size of the sensor when magnifying an object.</blockquote>