Hi, I'm pretty new to slr photography, been having some compact superzooms and standard digitals over the years. Just got a nikon d7000, my first slr. I am going to buy a lens and don't know what to choose. I am most interested in long range shooting, I also shoot birds and small objects far away, I was wondering how I could calculate the zoom ratio on the lenses I am looking at. I am used to having the exact X zoom from the digital cameras.
Just an example: the AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Normal zoom lens with a 10.7x zoom vs the AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR telephoto zoom, which has a 5.5x zoom. Are these the same zoom ratios? I mean, I'm told that the telephoto lenses have a longer range, but 5.5x seems a bit short doesn't it? I am not used to slr lenses and don't know a lot. I have read about the zoom ratio online, but still haven't figured this out, any help would be appreciated :)
Have a good day ^^
-Hugh
That's quite the camera for a beginner. Congratulations. I can't really answer you question, but I can tell you I have the AF-S VR 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED, and it's just a wonderful lens.
Not sure I'm quite following what you are asking, but the amount of zoom that a lens has does not translate into how close you get to the object. It's the focal length determines that and both of the lens you've listed have a maximum focal length of 300mm. So they are equivalent for long range shooting.
The calculation for the amount of zoom each lens has is equal to the maximum focal length / shortest focal length. So the calculations for the lens you listed are 300/28 = 10.7 and 300/55 = 5.5
So for what it's worth, to calculate the current zoom of your lens, take the current focal lenght the lens is set at and divide it by the shortest focal lenght of the lens. So, if you have the 55-300 lens and you have it set at a focal length of 110mm, take 110/55 = 2x zoom. However, if you have the 28 - 300mm lens and it is set to 110mm, then take 110/28 = 3.9x zoom. It does not mean the image will appear larger in the 28-300mm lens. The object will appear the same size in both lenses, when set to a focal length of 110mm, since it's the focal length that determines how close you are from far away.
Thanks for the nice replies. This actually helped me a lot.
So the amount of "x" zoom does not really tell me anything about how close to the object you actually get, it's only the focal length. If so I will probably go with the
AF-S VR 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED as Bob G mentioned.
I'm also thinking about an extender to get the zoom range even further (yes I'm quiet the zoom freak).
Thanks again for your nice answers and any hints you could give an amateur like me would be great :)
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The calculation for the amount of zoom each lens has is equal to the maximum focal length / shortest focal length. So the calculations for the lens you listed are 300/28 = 10.7 and 300/55 = 5.5
So for what it's worth, to calculate the current zoom of your lens, take the current focal lenght the lens is set at and divide it by the shortest focal lenght of the lens. So, if you have the 55-300 lens and you have it set at a focal length of 110mm, take 110/55 = 2x zoom. However, if you have the 28 - 300mm lens and it is set to 110mm, then take 110/28 = 3.9x zoom. It does not mean the image will appear larger in the 28-300mm lens. The object will appear the same size in both lenses, when set to a focal length of 110mm, since it's the focal length that determines how close you are from far away.
So the amount of "x" zoom does not really tell me anything about how close to the object you actually get, it's only the focal length. If so I will probably go with the
AF-S VR 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED as Bob G mentioned.
I'm also thinking about an extender to get the zoom range even further (yes I'm quiet the zoom freak).
Thanks again for your nice answers and any hints you could give an amateur like me would be great :)