system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do cameras on 0x zoom produce images that seem further away than what you see?
gpt
A "normal" lens is what yields approximately the same angle of view as the eye. It has a focal length about equal to the diagonal measurement of the sensor or film format. To go back to the old 35mm film standard, a 50mm lens is considered to be a normal lens. A shorter lens will yield a wider angle of view, making images look farther away, and a longer lens will bring things closer.

A point and shoot digital camera might mention a 5X zoom. Typically in 35mm equivalent, it will be something like 30mm-150mm. Meaning that it starts as a slightly wide angle lens, and zooms in through normal and on to a maximum of about three times magnification.