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Camera Help!

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Chocopoohbear

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Hi I have a Sony Digital Camera - Cybershot 7 pixel.

Focal length: 7.9 to 23.7mm (35mm equivalent: 38 to 114mm) - What does the thing in the brackets mean?

I'm doing this photogrpahy course for beginners, and I have to take a shot from my camera using a 50mm lens, how do I know what lens my camera is using? Does this depend on how far I zoom out and in. I've set my zoom to Optical not Digital,as I'm only allowed to use Optical Zoom.

Please help coz I'm so confused
 
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Justin Horne

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Because the sensor on most digital cameras is smaller than 35 MM (that is, normal film) the mm zoom measurements become skewed a bit... For example, on my 20D, the light sensor is 1.6 x smaller than that of film. To that regard, if I use a 100 MM lens, to get the SAME magnification on a film camera, the shooter would need a 160 MM lens. See the correlation?

On your camera, 7.9 MM is equal to 38 MM on film.. Therefore, since 7.9/38=4.8, you have a 4.8x "conversion factor."

So, because you know that, divide whatever film length you need (50) by 4.8, and you'll see how many MM you need to have your camera zoom to. To see the correlation, you'll also notice that 23.7*4.8=113.76 (114mm). Get it?
And since I'm already typing this, you'll need to have your camera to 10.4 MM to reproduce a regular 50 MM lens, on a 35 mm camera.

It's just something I'm used to now when looking for lenses.. It gets a bit annoying sometimes when you need a really wide angle lens...
 
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Justin Horne

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2Bhumble

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Thanks for the explanation Justin! I was a bit confused with those numbers as well.
Justin Horne said:
And, I must say, that's a long zoom you've got there... I presume some may be digital, but maybe not...
Click to expand...
It's a Leica lens with 12x optical zoom plus 4x digital (which I rarely use).
http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/lumix/fz20/
 
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Justin Horne

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2Bhumble said:
Thanks for the explanation Justin! I was a bit confused with those numbers as well.
It's a Leica lens with 12x optical zoom plus 4x digital (which I rarely use).
http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/lumix/fz20/
Click to expand...
Nicer glass than I've got.. For my camera, to get the lens you basically have would be around 1.5-2K... My camera is a 1.6X crop, so I'd need the 17-85 I've got, plus a 100-400... But that lens is F/4, yours is f/2.8... The Canon 70-200 is 2.8, but also 1700, whereas the 100-400F/4.5-5.6 is 1300 or so...




So, really, that's quite a good lens you have!
 
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2Bhumble

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I had no idea what I was doing when I bought the camera. It's a new hobby. My friend did photography and told me there was a 12x camera for under $500 that had a Leica lens and image stabilization. He did all the research and I just took his advice. Now 8 months and 1,500 pictures later, I'm glad I got it.
 
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Deamiter

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Back to the OP, you should check with your instructor to make sure your camera is okay (if you haven't already). The assignment is asking you to use a specific focal length, though you probably won't be able to figure out an exact focal length while using your camera.

You should offer to complete the assignment by using the zoom that makes the view through the camera look exactly the same as without the camera. In other words, if you look through the camera with one eye, and past the camera with the other, you should be at whatever focal length (zoom) makes both eyes see precisely the same thing.

That's actually why 50mm lenses are so common. They take the picture exactly the way the eye sees it with no zoom or wide angle effects. The assignment is trying to teach you to move your whole body to get the shot you want instead of relying on zoom. It's very important to understand what different zooms will do to the picture as you always need to be aware of what the focal length is doing to the shot. Then you can use the right focal length to get the effect you want.
 
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Jer

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2Bhumble said:
What my camera? The Panasonic DMC FZ-20 is sold at many places - local and on-line. I bought mine on-line last February. I've seen them popping up at local stores for around $450. They started out around $699 or more.
Click to expand...

I'm so jealous of you Americans. You get your camera's so much cheaper than over here. Say for the EOS 20D, it's about the same price in £ as in $ for you. But a $ is almost £2 so it's a lot more expensive for us,
 
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