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Most digital digicams have a sensor that's smaller than a frame of 35mm film. The focal lengths are different so usually you'll see a digicam review state the focal length, as well as the "35mm equivalent".
Since most photographers are used to the 35mm format the "35mm equivalent" gives them an idea of the focal length if the camera was an actual 35mm camera instead of the actual digicam's focal length. You'll see some digicams referred to as "full frame". That means the camera's sensor is the same size as a 35mm frame, so the focal lengths will be the same for both.
My Sony A100 DSLR uses an APS-C sensor. It is smaller than a 35mm frame, and is sometimes referred to as a "cropped frame." Different sized sensors will have different angles of view with the same lense and same focal length. The "crop factor" for an APS-C sensor is about 1.5x. So my 18-200mm lens is the 35mm equivalent of 27-300mm.
So that new lens you got is good for telephoto shots. Your kit lens is good for wide angle shots. A zoom lens is one that has more than one focal length.
The lower the first number, the wider the angle of view. The higher the second number, the farther it can zoom in. Sometimes for marketing purposes you'll see the "x factor", but it's usually for fixed lens cameras. I have a Sony R1 that's "5x optical zoom". Its lens is the 35mm equivalent of 24-120mm. But the average consumer doesn't realize that "5x zoom" on a Sony R1 is different from the "5x zoom" on a Sony F717, which has a 35mm equivalent of 38-190mm. I also have a Sony F828 with 7x zoom but the telephoto isn't that much greater than the F717. The wide angle is where it's significantly better as the F828's 35mm equivalent is 28.5-200mm.
But wait, I already have an 18-200mm and a 75-300mm. Why do I need a 70-200 when I have lenses that cover the same focal lengths? The difference is the aperture as that expensive *** lens has an aperture of f2.8 which lets in a lot more light than the f3.5 18-200 and f4.5 75-300. This results in shots that have more bukkake, ie the out of focus background behind an in focus subject, such as this:
Compared to this pic I took at Long Beach in 2009 that has both subject and background relatively in focus:
So the end of summer was awful... Family is a disaster and so is school now. Thermo, statics, Electronic properties of materials as well as 2 other materials classes is a brutal semester. Today was my first day I've had any time to just relax and not worry like crazy for months, so I read like 75 pages of HTF! thread (still 10 pages behind) lol. Congrats Rita and everyone else who had good things happen. Hopefully I can spent some time on here now that I'm at school and don't have to deal with everything and work 60 hours a week.
rota we looked at the sands prices and just couldn't do it because we didn't expect to stay in our hotel room the whole time, but if your room gets you access to dat pool then i'll allow it
Yo Rita go practice shooting your wife with that 55-210. Go outside in your yard or an open space and take pics of her at the widest setting such that she fills up the frame. Step back 5-10 yards and zoom in so she fills the frame. Repeat until you're far enough and have the lens zoomed all the say to 210mm so that she fills the frame. Find the distance and focal length that produces the most appealing photos of your wife and try to replicate that distance and focal length so she can take a nice picture of you in the infinity pool.