Macro vs Zoom

[Pepo]

Someone can explain me the difference?

I'm trying to find out, but i've seen in the forum that the "Macro" is what i thought it was zoom?

sorry about the naive question.. :$

thanks for your help!

-P.

[Alex1994]

OK zoom refers to a focal length that can change.

For more on focal length, refer to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length Scroll down to the bit about photography.

You can have a wideangle lens, which makes things look smaller than the eye perceives them, a normal lens (50mm on a full-frame camera) that makes things about the same size as what we see and a telephoto lens which makes them look bigger.

A lens that can change focal lengths (as opposed to one where the focal length is always the same, or a prime lens) is called a zoom lens.

Focussing down to very small distances, taking pictures of very small things is called macro photography.

[yelvertoft]

Focussing down to very small distances, taking pictures of very small things is called macro photography.

The size of the subject is entirely irrelevant, you can take a macro shot of an elephant, though probably not with it all in view at the same time. The definition of macro photography is discussed at some length here:
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com/showthread.php?t=5867