Simple Question (hopefully!)

[dogsplus2]

I've been using digicams for a few years now, and for the last couple, I've had the 'super zoom' Dimage Z2 and Z5.

I've had some successes and managed to get some photo's printed in a magazine a while back, which whet my appetite more.

I've managed to talk my wife into letting buy another camera, and I was thinking about stepping up to SLR, but the one question that is stopping me (having never used SLR before) is this:

How does the lense on a standard SLR (say, 18-50mm) equate to what I'm more used to seeing on the compacts, i.e. 10x optical zoom?

I don't want to buy an SLR if it means I'm immediately going to have to buy another zoom lense (my Z5 has a max 35mm equiv to 432mm).

One thing that confused me even more was when I was considering the dimage A200 as an alternative, and it gave a focal length of 7.2 - 50mm and the equiv in 35mm!

Can anyone help??

[Michael Fanelli]

How does the lense on a standard SLR (say, 18-50mm) equate to what I'm more used to seeing on the compacts, i.e. 10x optical zoom?

I don't want to buy an SLR if it means I'm immediately going to have to buy another zoom lense (my Z5 has a max 35mm equiv to 432mm).

One thing that confused me even more was when I was considering the dimage A200 as an alternative, and it gave a focal length of 7.2 - 50mm and the equiv in 35mm!

Can anyone help??

The 10X zoom is available for DSLRs (there are some 28-300 around) but the quality is much better when you break up that range better. That's an advantage of interchangeable lenses.

You will need at least two lenses. If you like the all-in-one concept, stick with the P&S.

The real focal length on P&S cameras is very very small, that's what the 7.2 - 50 mm means. The "equivalent" focal length is for people who only know 35mm and need something to relate to. These are not really equivalents as the optical properties depend on the real focal length. The only thing they give you is a feel for the field of view.

[dogsplus2]

Michael,

Thanks alot for that, you've been really helpful.

[SmartWombat]

I've found the FZ20 with 12x zoom to be great.
Far easier to carry than the EOS20D, 10-22, 24-70, 70-200 (or 80-400)
It's f2.8 at all focal lengths too, so it's quite versatile.
But image quality is (usually) better with the Canon.

The only exception was the Sigma 80-400 and car headlights - appalling flare.
Or very creative flare, depending on what you want