Extreme Range 2
Now one thing that most people ask about the camera is about its zoom. I remembered asking the same question and getting mocked for it. With the hindsight, I understand the reason for it but I will explain it in as much layman terms as possible.
I have just taken a picture of the moon with my Canon Powershot. You can see the outline of the rabbit on the moon. (I am Chinese so the rabbit in the moon is very traditional) If you strain your eyes, you can see some craters on the top.
Now the same subject with the Nikon P900. The zoom used for both pictures is pretty identical. Yet the craters in the picture are clearer even though the size of the moon is smaller. The difference is due to the lens and the sensor.
Now think of the subject as a school of fish. To get a picture, as much fishes needs to be caught. The camera is the fishing boat. The lens is the net. The finer the net, the more things will be caught in the net. This in turns mean that the machine to haul in the net needs to be more powerful to capture the bigger and logically heavier catch. The sensor is the machinery hauling in the catch.
Asking about the zoom is like asking about the surface area of the net. Logically the bigger the surface area, the more fishes one can catch. This is true only to a certain extent if the fishes are equal size. But the fishes in a school may not be equal size which results in the smaller fishes slipping through the holes in the net. Reducing the size of the hole is not useful if the machinery to haul the fishes in cannot handle the mass of the catch. (There is a relation between the lens and the sensor.)
However, that is not to say that the zoom function is not important. It still helps as the user is able to target on the necessary details and leave out the rest of the surrounding.
I have just taken a picture of the moon with my Canon Powershot. You can see the outline of the rabbit on the moon. (I am Chinese so the rabbit in the moon is very traditional) If you strain your eyes, you can see some craters on the top.
Now the same subject with the Nikon P900. The zoom used for both pictures is pretty identical. Yet the craters in the picture are clearer even though the size of the moon is smaller. The difference is due to the lens and the sensor.
Now think of the subject as a school of fish. To get a picture, as much fishes needs to be caught. The camera is the fishing boat. The lens is the net. The finer the net, the more things will be caught in the net. This in turns mean that the machine to haul in the net needs to be more powerful to capture the bigger and logically heavier catch. The sensor is the machinery hauling in the catch.
Asking about the zoom is like asking about the surface area of the net. Logically the bigger the surface area, the more fishes one can catch. This is true only to a certain extent if the fishes are equal size. But the fishes in a school may not be equal size which results in the smaller fishes slipping through the holes in the net. Reducing the size of the hole is not useful if the machinery to haul the fishes in cannot handle the mass of the catch. (There is a relation between the lens and the sensor.)
However, that is not to say that the zoom function is not important. It still helps as the user is able to target on the necessary details and leave out the rest of the surrounding.
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