Toggle switch to control zooming

[mhahn]

<p>How come only point-and-shoots have toggle switches to control zooming (or am I mistaken about this)? I've found the toggle swtich on my point-and-shoot to be very convenient, and it makes one-handed shooting very possible.</p>

[bobcossar]

<p>But it does not lend itself to <em><strong>precise</strong></em> framing.....some p/s cameras do use a different system, to their benefit.....</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>My take is, motorized zooming of a P/S lens assembly involves just a few ounces of moving mass. A dSLR lens assembly is exponentially larger, heavier, and would therefore entail a weighty motor and gearing thus consuming an impractical amount of space and power to implement. </p>

<p>Another problem is zoom speed (camcorder users will know this). Manual zooming takes a fraction of a second for precise framing; fiddling with motorized zooming would be out of the question for photographers needing to work fast. </p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>The old engineer's saying always holds true: <em>Good, Fast, and Cheap ... pick two</em>. In this case, "fast" would refer not to project deliver time, but to nimbleness of the lens in practice. The only way to make large hunks of glass move quickly and quietly is to have a powerful mechanism and the substantial power supply needed to operate it. I'm perfectly happy letting my body take care of those two things, and have as a result a much lighter, smaller, less battery-hungry lens/camera rig to carry. A motorized zoom would drive me crazy, even it those other factors didn't come into play.</p>

[Michael R Freeman]

<p>It's been done (1991). Not a toggle switch as such, but one hand power zooming via a slight twist of a ring. Only from the Mind of Minolta (remember that advertising tag line?). I just read an amusing quote on another web page about the Maxxum/Dynax xi series and the xi power zooms:</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>The xi series is from the "Solutions to Problems Which Don't Exist Yet" department at Minolta.</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>A pretty valid assessment IMHO. Another engineer's principle is KISS ... <strong>K</strong>eep <strong>I</strong>t <strong>S</strong>imple <strong>S</strong>tupid! Just one more needlessly complex electro-mechanical system to eventually fail. Minolta soon abandoned this silly lens series and by the time Sony acquired the camera division they were ancient history. Sony has at least had the good sense not to ignore the KISS principle just for the sake of another useless gizmo. :-)</p>

[phule]

<p>Canon tried the power zoom idea as well. In this case, using 2 buttons.</p>

<p>http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/ef/data/standard_zoom/ef_35~80_4~56pz.html</p>

 

[r.t. dowling]

<p>Pentax tried it too:</p>

<p>http://www.mosphotos.com/PentaxLensPowerZoom.html</p>

<p> </p>

[acbeddoe]

<p>I have one of those Minolta power zooms (35-200). Definitely a solution in search of a problem. This has to be the worst idea for a zoom; I rarely got the framing I wanted - especially not when I needed it.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>I came back to my digital 8 camera which has this system of a rocker switch and found it an extremely crude way of working and presumably the DSLR video is for serious workers who would want the precise control from using their fingers on a ring or turning a handle.</p>