Originally posted by: ElFenix
zoom is a funny thing. considering that pretty much all p&s cameras start with a wide angle lens you're not really getting 12x closer. for comparison, the human eye has a 35mm equivalent focal length of ~50mm. the V3 has a wide 34mm focal length, and a telephoto 136mm focal length in 35mm equivalent (35mm is the diagonal length of a piece of normal film). that telephoto means that you're not really 4x clsoer (thought they claim 4x zoom), more like 2.6x closer.
aperature is measured by the focal length (f) divided by some number. the result is the size of the hole (the aperature) in the lens that the light passes through. the smaller a number the focal length is divided by, the larger the hole and the more light that comes through. the more light that comes through, the faster a shutter speed you can use, to stop motion, or to take photos in lower light conditions.