lens question

Discussion in 'Canon Lens Discussion' started by Wildlifepat, Aug 23, 2021.

  1. Wildlifepat

    Wildlifepat New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2021
    Messages:
    1
    Equipment:
    Canon legria HF G30
    Hi all
    Im new to the forum. I have a Canon legria HF G30 camcorder which I am using to film wildlife. I am very pleased with it so far. I am interested in getting an inexpensive Telephoto lens to fit it. maybe to only increase the zoom capability by 2 or 3 times as it already has a substantial 20x zoom. The filter size is 58mm, would i be correct in thinking that the lens I should be 58mm? as you can tell I don't know alot about lenses and I hope someone can point me in the right direction.
    Thanks for your help
    Pat
     

  2. johnsey

    johnsey Site Moderator Staff Member Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2017
    Messages:
    2,120
    Location:
    Fargo, ND
    Equipment:
    5dMk4, 5dsR, 5dMk2, 20D, 70-200 2.8L IS, 100mm 2.8 Macro USM, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 17-40mm 4.0L, TS-E 24mm 3.5L II, Rokinon 14mm 2.8; Pixma Pro-100
    I believe you indicated you are getting a 2x type magnifying lens that screws on the camcorder. 58mm is just the filter diameter size in this case. The focal length of a lens is a measurement from the sensor/film to the convergence in the lens. If you use 35mm film as a gauge a 50mm lens is about that you see with your eyes, a 100mm would give a field of view that twice as close to an object in the distance. This focal length looks different on different camera formats. On a medium format camera which uses a much larger sensor/film the you would be more around 75mm or 90mm for similar field of view. The same applies with a smaller image format as well with a smaller mm resembling a !:1 aspect ratio. I wouldn't worry about what the focal length of your camcorder is.

    Your experience on the magnifying lens will be fun to hear about. Glass or optical zoom of the camcorder you have noticed looks a lot better than any digital magnification that the zoom range may have, typically camcorders and bridge cameras will try to add additional zoom by digitally cropping the image and it is noticeable when you start using digital zoom as the image degrades.

    The magnifying lens will outperform the digital zoom I am sure, but if its cheap (plastic lens) it may slightly soften the image when used. You may find a sweet spot where you'll want to use it, but you probably will not want to use it in the range where the camera zoom performs quite well optically.
     

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