[Tanzer]

Well, bridge cameras usually have faster lenses than most superzoom lenses (the usual ones mentioned), in addition to much better zoom range. So in theory, one could take pictures in lower light with a bridge camera. Just sayin' ...

This totally disregards the noise and dynamic range differences in the sensors, of course.

[AVANT]

But I wonder why we consider the "35mm film equivalent" anyway ?

An 18-55mm lens is an 18-55mm lens, period. And our DX sensors are DX sensors, not equivalent to 35mm film.

I think this whole "equivalent" fiasco is just a way for manufacturers to trick us.

The literal fact is, our current kit lenses have less literal range than yesterday's kit lenses. 37mm on 18-55mm lenses versus 52mm on 28-80mm lenses. 18-70mm would be the same range.

I wouldn't consider it to be a trick, it's a way of understanding field of view. Our 1.5 crop camera at 18mm would see the exact same scene a 35mm camera would at 24mm. A 645 format would need a 38.7mm lens to have in view the same scene. Other aspects of the photo may differ between the different formats, but field of view is retained.

Having an accepted standard makes things more comprehensible and comparable. If I had an old film camera that had a zoom from 35mm - 75mm and I enjoy it's focal range, I can look for a digital camera with a listed 35mm - 75mm equivalent to produce similar pictures.

[spystyle]

Good points all around

[carrrlangas]

35mm film (135 format) got very very popular so it was taken as the "standard". Everybody would know what a 50mm on a 35mm camera looks like (I mean, it´s perspective..) So it got the crop factor x1.
Although the conversion is lineal (You are just multiplying a number by a constant), the effects are more dramatic towards the edges of the range.
For example:
15mm lens in APS-C wil give the equivalent Angle of View of a 22mm lens on 135 format. Not much of a change in numbers but it went from 100° to 77° (Hor)...
200mm lens on APS-C will give the equivalent AoV of a 300mm on 135 format. Big number but AoV only changes from 8° to 7° (Diag)...

[lesmore49]

So what ....the 18-55 has 37mm of range. For a standard lens 18-55 makes a lot of sense...moderate wide angle to portrait.

But get the lens you need.

My FE 10-17 has only 7 mm of range...my 12-24...has only 12 mm of range...but my Sigma 150 - 500 has....350mm of range.

My prime lenses...50mm, 40mm, 70mm....have only one focal length.

But they all fulfill a photographic need for me.

But rather than have a couple of lenses and if one wants one lens to fufill a lot of needs than something like the Tamron 18-270mm (think it's the Tamron) goes a long way.

[spystyle]

Well I was specifically comparing the current kit lens to the last kit lens, 28-80mm.

But it's all resolved now, and a Tammy 18-250 is in my future

Cheers,
Craig