How to get 35mm Equivalent zoom ranges?

[Speedster159]

What's the unit of measurement for zoom on Panasonic and others camcorders? I'd assume it's percent since it goes from Z00 to Z99

I wanted to get a 50mm Look and thats approximately 9% out of 626mm including Z00 as 31mm, so I set it to Z09 and took a photo to get EXIF data but when I got back to Bridge it said it was shot at 41mm?

 

[David W. Jones]

http://www.abelcine.com/fov/

 

[Speedster159]

http://www.abelcine.com/fov/

Don't think you understood what I want to do..

I want the look of 50mm on the X1000. It's like putting a 35mm lens on a Canon APS-C which looks like 50mm with the crop factor.

 

[David W. Jones]

I don't think you know how to use the tool.

 

[Barry_Green]

I don't think you can count on the Z00-Z99 scale to give you exactly what you want. It is approximate. There are many, many more than 100 focal positions possible than just 100, so each Z number is necessarily going to represent a range, rather than a fixed focal length.

 

[Speedster159]

I don't think you can count on the Z00-Z99 scale to give you exactly what you want. It is approximate. There are many, many more than 100 focal positions possible than just 100, so each Z number is necessarily going to represent a range, rather than a fixed focal length.

Alright, but what would give me approximately a 50mm FoV? Don't need to be precise, just don't go over +/- 5mm

 

[Rainer]

Most zoom lenses zoom on a logarithmic scale, and percentages are a convenient way to convert to a linear scale. I think the FZ100 lens works this way. So 0% = 25mm, 100% = 400mm. The maths is complicated, I input the range into the handy calculator at http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=f%2850%29+%3D+%28100*10^%2828+%2F+400%29+-+100%29+%2F+9%2C+x+in+[25%2C+400] and 50mm comes close enough to just under 20%. But that's theory. Why not find out for yourself in real life? Set up your FZ1000 next to a full frame 50mm (or your 35mm C crop) and dial until you get the same view, and let us know.

If you want 50mm to duplicate say Bresson or Hitchcock's look that's only part of the story - you'll have to research if they were shooting 50mm full frame on 3:4 35mm (like around 75mm) or they were shooting 50mm full frame equivalents - around 40mm - I think the jury's out, so it will be your decision.