Photography questions

[VS Omega]

Just two quick question for those in the know.

My camera's a Kodak ZD710. Not super amazing but not too bad; a bridge camera. I was looking on eBay at the lenses and so fourth and saw 2x and 3x telephoto lenses which can be adapted to the front of the camera with the screw thread. The camera already has 10x optical zoom, if I were to purchase for example a 2x telephoto lens like this one would that mean that the theoretical zooming range of the camera would be 20x, or with the telephoto lens mounted I wouldn't be able to zoom in thereby making the whole thing redundant.

I know a proper zooming lens is adjustable and would cost much more than $20, but for a camera worth less than $250 it's not worth getting a lens worth the same amount as the whole camera which is why I thought "why not". Pros/Cons?

Also I saw a kit here with 6 different types of lenses, can anyone say if they know about such lenses and they actually do what they describe/are a must have thing or not really necessary.

I'm not a professional and I'm not trying to be one, I just want to get a bit more out of this basic Kodak I'm using.

Thanks for all suggestions and replies

[Doctor Sodways]

Expect a drop in image quality if you put something on the front of the lens...

Of the kit your talking about, they are filters, the most useful of the ones they have is the Circular Polarizer, used to reduce glare from water/snow etc and get rid of reflections on glass and anything really glossy and reflective basically. Its not a lens as such, just something to filter the light going to the sensor of the camera...

[Bax]

Having said that of course, 10x optical zoom is pretty awesome as is. Any reason why you'd want more? Do you have a hot neighbour 6 blocks down?

[CANYONERO]

Having said that of course, 10x optical zoom is pretty awesome as is. Any reason why you'd want more? Do you have a hot neighbour 6 blocks down?

yes it is, and yes i do lol.

i got a lens to screw onto an existing one and its useless. the wide angle one works ok but i still never use it.

[delcowizzid]

it looks like the ebay performance chip of lenses to me wouldnt waste my moneys

[mulligan-can]

it looks like the ebay performance chip of lenses to me wouldnt waste my moneys

Pretty much. 10x zoom is heaps plenty for 95% of everything. At the level of zoom you had better have image stabilisation or a tripod handy.

[Stressball]

Pretty much. 10x zoom is heaps plenty for 95% of everything. At the level of zoom you had better have image stabilisation or a tripod handy.

Common misconception that '10x optical zoom' is really that big.

Optical zoom termed in multipliers don't mean a whole lot, because that figure is used by dividing the longest focal length by the shortest. What this means is, you can have a 4-40mm zoom, and that is 10x optical zoom, even though that's still slightly wider than natural eye perspective. By the same token, you can have a 300-600mm zoom, and this is only 2x optical zoom, but still able to spot tiny details from ages away. I think I'd prefer the 2x to the 10x when it comes to long-range shots

EDIT: That all being said, I just checked the specs on the OP's camera. It's a 38-380mm 35mm equivalent, which is quite a good range from a point-and-shoot. It will likely require a tripod, as mentioned.

[mulligan-can]

Common misconception that '10x optical zoom' is really that big.

Optical zoom termed in multipliers don't mean a whole lot, because that figure is used by dividing the longest focal length by the shortest. What this means is, you can have a 4-40mm zoom, and that is 10x optical zoom, even though that's still slightly wider than natural eye perspective. By the same token, you can have a 300-600mm zoom, and this is only 2x optical zoom, but still able to spot tiny details from ages away. I think I'd prefer the 2x to the 10x when it comes to long-range shots

EDIT: That all being said, I just checked the specs on the OP's camera. It's a 38-380mm 35mm equivalent, which is quite a good range from a point-and-shoot. It will likely require a tripod, as mentioned.

Yeah, you are 100% spot on. However in "prosumer" point and shoot's (which 95%+ of 10x+ optical zoom camera's belong to) 10x is always equivalent to something stupidly huge like 300mm+.

My old kodak 10x optical point and shoot is able to "zoom" in a lot further than my dslr with a 75mm-250mm lens attached (its a kit lens, dont judge me! lol)

I'd personally recommend getting closer to the subject over zooming in, unless you really want the long range perspective of the zoomed shot.