zoom lens

noun

1. (in a camera or motion-picture projector) a lens assembly whose focal length can be continuously adjusted to provide various degrees of magnification without any loss of focus, thus combining the features of wide-angle, normal, and telephoto lenses.

zoom lens

noun

1. a lens system that allows the focal length of a camera lens to be varied continuously without altering the sharpness of the image See also telephoto lens

Word History and Origins

Origin of zoom lens¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

When Apple launched its 56-millimeter zoom lens on the iPhone 7 Plus, I was excited to have a longer lens on my phone.

From Outside Online

The S21 camera array includes a wide-angle main camera, a super-wide camera, and a telephoto zoom lens, which is what you’d expect from a three-camera array.

From Popular-Science

If you’ve grown accustomed to something like a zoom lens on your smartphones, you won’t find that here.

From Time

I had a Nikon DCS-620, which was one of their early models—a hybrid Kodak-Nikon camera—and I was using a 70-200mm zoom lens.

From The Daily Beast