How Much Camera Zoom Do You Really Need?

Whether you’re shopping for a new camera or just want a new lens for a body you already own, you should be thinking about how much zoom (or, more accurately, which focal lengths) you need for the subjects you want to capture.

Here’s a quick overview of what focal length is, how it relates to zoom, and what focal lengths are best for shooting a few kinds of subjects including wildlife, sports, travel, and architecture.

What to know about focal length, zoom, crop factor, and more

What is focal length? Expressed in millimeters, focal length is what determines the perspective of your camera lens. The lower the focal length number, the wider of a view you see. The higher the number, the closer the subject appears.

What is zoom? For a zoom lens (that is, one that can change focal length by rotating the barrel), the difference between the minimum and maximum focal length is what determines its zoom ratio. This is usually expressed as 5x, 10x, 30x, and so on. If your lens is 24mm (or equivalent) on the wide end, a 5x zoom would mean it’s 120mm on the long end.

What is crop factor? In general, people talk about focal lengths in relation to full-frame sensors, which are the same size as 35mm film. But digital cameras have sensors of various other sizes, and most are smaller than full-frame. A smaller sensor effectively crops the image produced by a lens, bringing the subject closer.

This difference in size between a given sensor and a full-frame sensor is what’s known as its crop factor.

For example, the Four Thirds sensor used in our favorite mirrorless camera has a crop factor of 2. This means that you can multiply the focal length of lenses used on that camera by 2 to get the full-frame equivalent, so the Olympus camera’s 12–40mm zoom lens produces the same perspective as a 24–80mm zoom on a full-frame camera.

APS-C sensors, like the one used in our upgrade pick mirrorless camera, are in-between Four Thirds and full-frame with a crop factor of 1.5, so Fujifilm’s 16–80mm kit lens would be like a 24–120mm.

Can you ever have too much zoom?

The short answer is yes. Lenses with longer focal lengths—especially zooms—are bigger, heavier, and often produce softer images than lenses with more modest focal lengths and zoom ranges. In order to keep lens size and weight down, apertures become narrower, meaning you have to use slower shutter speeds to get clear images.

And beyond a certain point, even the impressive image stabilization systems in modern lenses and camera bodies can’t prevent blurry photos due to camera shake, which means you need to invest in a tripod to get sharp results.

Here’s what to look for, depending on what you want to shoot

Wildlife

You need more zoom for this type of photography than most others. Whenever you take photos of animals in the wild, you should be respectful of their space and avoid impacting their habitat.

For bird photography, we generally recommend lenses that reach 600mm or more. That’s because birds often perch very high up in trees, but you need the same level of zoom when trying to safely get pictures of other wild animals.

Typically, for an interchangeable lens camera, the most cost-effective way to reach that far is to go with a zoom like a 100–400mm (and pair it with a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter) or a 150–600mm. These lenses are more costly than a lot of others but worth it when the alternative might be getting mauled by a mountain lion.

If you’re sticking with a point-and-shoot, a superzoom that can reach 600mm should do. The wide-angle end of the zoom range doesn’t matter as much, though it could come in handy if you want to capture a murmuration of starlings at sunset or a herd of giraffes as they pass by.

Sports

You usually don’t need as much zoom for sports as you do for wildlife, since you can safely get closer to the action, though there are exceptions.

Auto-racing, surfing, and field-based sports require the most reach, and for those you can likely get away with a lens that reaches out to either 300mm or 400mm.

For most court-based sports, which have a smaller play area, you can get away with a 200mm for shots of the far end of the court. But if the action moves closer, you’ll want something wider.

Serious basketball photographers switch between two camera bodies—one with a 16–35mm for close-up action, and one with a 70–200mm lens. The best strategy for sports is to move along the sidelines with the action, but this isn’t always possible.

Travel

If you’re planning to tour a city, the best thing to do is to pair a general-purpose lens, such as a 24–70mm zoom, with a 70–200mm lens for a little extra reach when needed.

The wider lens will let you get street scenes and portraits, while the longer lens will let you capture architectural details or isolate subjects that you aren’t able to get very close to in a tourist setting.

If you have an APS-C camera and only want to carry one lens, you can use an 18–200mm zoom, which gives you a full-frame-equivalent range of 24–300mm.

If the purpose of your travel is to see wildlife, you should follow the advice above. Likewise, if you’re planning an adventurous vacation, you might want to consider an action camera.

Architecture and real estate

Sometimes wider is better—like when you’re trying to get a whole house into a picture or show off the details of a particularly stunning kitchen.

In this scenario, you should look for something like a 16–35mm lens, or even a 14–24mm. A lot of people also opt for single focal length (aka prime) lenses for very wide-angle photography. So, you might also consider a 14mm lens.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.