On Thu, 14 Feb 2002 03:49:52 GMT, "rick cameron"
wrote:

>With SLR cameras, a 50 mm lens is 'normal', so it's easy to tell whether a
>lens is wide-angle or telephoto; and if it's a zoom lens, where its range
>sits on the wide-angle/telephoto scale.
>
>Is there a similar standard for camcorders? My Canon ZR 25 MC is 10x optical
>zoom, from 4.2 to 42 mm. It seems to me that 4.2 mm is closer to 'normal'
>than 42 mm - i.e. the lens goes further into the telephoto end than the
>wide-angle end.
>
>I'd like to understand this so that I can compare different cameras. For
>example, since I'm more interested in telephoto, I'd like to know whether
>camera A with 20x optical zoom actually goes further into the telephoto
>range than camera B with 10x optical zoom.

This is easier than it might seem...
ALL camcorders I know of place the short end of the
zoom range at the 35mm equivalent range of 43MM-48mm
(non-megapixel one-chippers closer to 43mm, megapixel
one-chippers closer to 48mm, 3-chippers closer to
43mm equivalents). Not very wide, but all are about
the same regardless of CCD size, area taken for
stabilization, etc.... Therefore 20X zooms provide
mainly extended tele range. (Darn! I prefer WA...;-)