Canon USA Announces Five New PowerShot Cameras

May 15, 2014
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neuroanatomist said:
kphoto99 said:
chromophore said:
Zoom ratios are exactly that: a lens like a 70-200mm has a zoom ratio of approximately 200/70 = 2.85714x at infinity focus, and the general formula is zoom ratio = (longest focal length)/(shortest focal length); therefore, a lens with only one focal length, say an 85mm prime, has a zoom ratio of 85/85 = 1x.

Technically that is correct, but what people want to know is how much closer something will appear when using this lens compared to a "standard" lens. For FF a "standard" lens would be 43mm (diagonal of the sensor size), so a 70-200 would be a 1.6-4.6x (IMHO).

Erm...no.

ELPH 180, 8x zoom, FFeq FoV 28-224mm, 224 / 28 = 8

ELPH 190, 10x zoom, FFeq FoV 24-240mm, 240 / 24 = 10

ELPH 360, 12x zoom, FFeq FoV 25-300mm, 300 / 25 = 12

Do you see the pattern?

Sorry, but most P&S buyers today wouldn't know a comparison to what you call a 'standard' lens (43mm on FF) if it bit them on the ass. To most, a 'standard' lens is the ~30mm FFeq FoV they get with their smartphone camera.

I respectively disagree. When people ask "what kind of zoom do you have on that thing?" or they see a camera is a "10x zoom" or a "20x zoom" they are thinking "zoom in", aka, how telephoto a lens or camera is. So while they may not explicitly think about what is considered "normal" I can assure you they are thinking in terms of magnification. Think like a microscope.

They are not thinking that it is a zoom range/ratio as we know it to be. Nor do they understand that how much it "zooms in" or "magnifies" is dependent on that starting wide angle point. They see 10x zoom and think it gets them 10 times closer/bigger.
 
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Jul 21, 2010
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Luds34 said:
They are not thinking that it is a zoom range/ratio as we know it to be. Nor do they understand that how much it "zooms in" or "magnifies" is dependent on that starting wide angle point. They see 10x zoom and think it gets them 10 times closer/bigger.

Probably so, but it's a pretty useless metric regardless. Definitely the 'zoom factor' is primarily a marketing gimmick. The ELPH 190 has a 10x zoom, and it's 24-240mm. My old Olympus P&S also had a 10x zoom, it was 38-380mm. There's a pretty big difference between the FoV at 24mm vs. 38mm.

But the whole idea of a zoom factor is not entrenched in marketing and camera descriptions (and it's usually printed right on the camera itself in big, bold type). Bigger is usually better in the minds of consumers.
 
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May 15, 2014
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neuroanatomist said:
Luds34 said:
They are not thinking that it is a zoom range/ratio as we know it to be. Nor do they understand that how much it "zooms in" or "magnifies" is dependent on that starting wide angle point. They see 10x zoom and think it gets them 10 times closer/bigger.

Probably so, but it's a pretty useless metric regardless. Definitely the 'zoom factor' is primarily a marketing gimmick. The ELPH 190 has a 10x zoom, and it's 24-240mm. My old Olympus P&S also had a 10x zoom, it was 38-380mm. There's a pretty big difference between the FoV at 24mm vs. 38mm.

But the whole idea of a zoom factor is not entrenched in marketing and camera descriptions (and it's usually printed right on the camera itself in big, bold type). Bigger is usually better in the minds of consumers.

Completely agree, especially the marketing gimmick piece. The way the average consumer thinks is why they continue to do so, 10x, 12x is just another number they can use to compare cameras. I'd say (sadly) that zoom range and megapixels are probably the only two numbers this type of consumer look at.
 
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May 15, 2014
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Adelino said:
brianb said:
So Nikon announces a new flagship D5 and a crop sensor camera....and Canon announce Five New PowerShot Cameras......

What is wrong with Canon???? For heavens sake!

Low end PowerShots at that!

I (selfishly) wait for the 6D mark II. In fairness I suppose it cost them nearly nothing to put some fresh paint and new model numbers on the powershot line and hope for more sales because it's "new and improved".
 
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Oct 10, 2015
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Mt Spokane Photography said:
When I saw 20.2 MP, I was wondering, but not believing that a 1 inch sensor was in the cameras. It seemed rather impossible, but someone clarified it for me.

The SX540 would be interesting with a 1" sensor, but extremely surprising, and technically difficult. The lens would be enormous.

That Camera already exists: G3 X. Of course the zoom is only 25 x, not 50 x. It is not that much bigger though heavier, the SX500-series has a very plastic feel. The new feature in SX540 HS is 20 Mpix sensor compared to 16 on SX530 HS as well as processor: 6 vs. 4+. For the others the main new feature is NFC for communicating with the Canon Connect Station (SX540/530 already have that).

As to the sensor sizes, 1/1.7" is 9.5 mm, 1 / 2.3" is 7.7 mm and 1 inch is 16 mm. Cell phones often have 4-5 mm sensors. On a cell phone the thickness is a limiting factor. It mandates small focal length so the sensor has to be small.
 
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Oct 10, 2015
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scyrene said:
Zoom/magnification are dealt with differently in cameras compared to other optical devices, no? I have 18x50 binoculars. It actually equates to approximately the same as my 1000mm lens setup on full frame, but the figures are not interchangeable - a formula could probably be devised but I'm not aware anyone has done this. Similarly, a 1x (or 1:1) macro lens is very different to a 1x magnification on a microscope.

Binoculars are binoculars and cameras are cameras. In each device there is a customary way to mark things. On cameras the zoom factor has been marked that way for decades. It gives some information about the longest focal length but not exact as the shortest can vary (on current Canon Compacts 21-28 mm). The 35 mm equivalences are used for when one wants more detail.

There is no exact formula to compare. Binoculars are devices that one looks through. Camera is a device that is used to create a photo that is looked on a device or printed out. One would have to consider the display size etc.
 
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okaro said:
scyrene said:
Zoom/magnification are dealt with differently in cameras compared to other optical devices, no? I have 18x50 binoculars. It actually equates to approximately the same as my 1000mm lens setup on full frame, but the figures are not interchangeable - a formula could probably be devised but I'm not aware anyone has done this. Similarly, a 1x (or 1:1) macro lens is very different to a 1x magnification on a microscope.

Binoculars are binoculars and cameras are cameras. In each device there is a customary way to mark things. On cameras the zoom factor has been marked that way for decades. It gives some information about the longest focal length but not exact as the shortest can vary (on current Canon Compacts 21-28 mm). The 35 mm equivalences are used for when one wants more detail.

There is no exact formula to compare. Binoculars are devices that one looks through. Camera is a device that is used to create a photo that is looked on a device or printed out. One would have to consider the display size etc.

Well that's my point, they are different. And converting between them is hard, if not impossible.

Although I can compare the impression of magnification in the viewfinder with that in my binoculars (or a telescope, seeing as I can only use one eye with the camera). I'm looking through them both in the same way.
 
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