camera lenses

[ksteed17]

just got my wife a new camera and im looking at getting a nice telephoto lens, but i dont understand how they classify them. like when it says 100mm-300mm what does that mean. is that like 10x-30x zoom i just need something to compare the zoom power to. thanks

[Vindalbakken]

A standard lens is 50 mm so a 100 - 300 mm zoom would be like having a 2x-6x zoom lens. Or approximately like that depending on which SLR body you have. It could be a 3.2x-9.6x zoom.

[Clgy_Dave2.0]

What body does she have...oops...that doesn't sound very good does it? lol. What CAMERA body does she have? Here's (http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/digital-camera-zoom.cfm) picture examples of different focal lengths (zoom)

From No zoom:

http://www.cameras.co.uk/assets/zoom-optical-0.jpg

To, say, this one, about a 280mm, or 8x zoom:

http://www.cameras.co.uk/assets/zoom-optical-8.jpg

[ksteed17]

she has the canon rebel XSi, are all canon lenses compatible with all their SLR cameras?

[Vindalbakken]

Yes, all lenses are compatable but they do have the EF-S series of lenses which are specifically designed for cameras such as the Rebel which have the smaller sensor and give a magnification of 1.6 times over the standard 35mm film format. (eg, using a 100mm lens on your camera body would give a similar image to a 160mm lens on a standard 35mm film camera.)

[Vindalbakken]

If you really want to spring for a lens and range of zoom is important to you this might be a nice one :)
http://mcbaincamera.com/productdetail.php?mcbain_id=0201727

[Clgy_Dave2.0]

she has the canon rebel XSi, are all canon lenses compatible with all their SLR cameras?

Pretty much. Any EF or EF-S lenses on the following link will fit the Xsi:

Canon Lenses (http://www.canon.ca/english/index-products.asp?lng=en&gid=2&sgid=7)

This (http://www.vistek.ca/results/CameraLenses/camlenses/Canon/Lenses.aspx) will give you an idea on the cost of each one.

[Clgy_Dave2.0]

If you really want to spring for a lens and range of zoom is important to you this might be a nice one :)
http://mcbaincamera.com/productdetail.php?mcbain_id=0201727

*drool*...yes I like that one.

I have the 70-200 F4.0L (http://mcbaincamera.com/productdetail.php?mcbain_id=0201742) which I got for $600 (shipped) off ebay.

[Vindalbakken]

To tell the truth, if I was spending that kind of coin I would get this lens
Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM (http://mcbaincamera.com/productdetail.php?mcbain_id=0201752) with the Extender EF 2x II

Coupled to the 40D body this would give me an equivalent to 640mm F5.6 at max zoom.