Hi everyone

[larita]

I am new to digital photography and actually at the moment I am evaluating what cam to buy on the range of 400 euros (to start). I been doing some research and I have no idea what is the difference bet a 28 mm and a 35 mm wide zoom? The exact question is what exaclty would the 28mm be measuring??:rolleyes: sorry for the silly question, as I said I am a bit fresh on this...
thanks 2 u all

[Jon]

28 mm and 35 mm are "focal lengths". That's basically how far behind the lens a focussed (sharp) image of something at infinity will be formed. If yuo take a magnifying glass and hold it up in the sun, it's how far away the "hot spot" will form. Now that's not very helpful by itself, but what it means in practice is that a short focal length lens will be able to see a wider field of view than a longer one. Now, most digital P&S cameras (the cameras that are in your price range) actually report their focal lengths as what's called "35 mm equivalents". They have smaller sensors than a regular 35 mm (film size) camera, so to get the same field of view of a 35 mm (film size) camera and a 28 mm (focal length) lens, they have shorter lenses, maybe 5 or 7 mm. But most people (at least the marketingh department thinks this) are familiar with how 35 mm cameras work, so manufacturers quote 35 mm equivalents. Also, different digital cameras have different size sensors, so a 5 mm on one camera may be the same as a 7 mm on another.

[jimsolt]

I am new to digital photography and actually at the moment I am evaluating what cam to buy on the range of 400 euros (to start). I been doing some research and I have no idea what is the difference bet a 28 mm and a 35 mm wide zoom? The exact question is what exaclty would the 28mm be measuring??:rolleyes: sorry for the silly question, as I said I am a bit fresh on this...
thanks 2 u all
As stated the "mm" numbers describe how wide or narrow a lens angle is. In the purchase of a camera, you would be interested in a lens (or zoom lens or lenses) that would give you a so called "normal", "wide angle", or "telephoto view," or a combination of them.
Depending on the camera, that can be a bit confusing because a 35 mm lens would fit different categories depending on the camera. BTW the same is true of film cameras -- it's not just digital.
When you come up with a camera you are interested in, make another post here and lots of people with lots of expertise can answer your questions with lots of specifics and some recommendations.
Hope this is helpful. You don't have to be a wizard with math and/or sensor sizes to make a good choice. You will find many helpful people in this forum.
Jim

[Bodryn]

Larita, the above advise is very good. In addition, I'd put it simply: a 28mm will give you a wider angle shot than a 35mm. Anyway, if you go to a library and read a beginners book or two on photography you should quickly get a LOT of information that will make this all understandable. I have found many very useful photography books in libraries. Most of what you'll find will be true for both film photography and digital photography even if not the latest and greatest. Please feel free to ask lots more questions. I believe there is no such thing as a stupid question; we all started somewhere, and knew nothing about it when we started. Thanks to curiosity and help from others, we get better as we go. Good luck!