Changing the focal length of the lens during a shot is called what?

• A. Zoom
• B. Rack focus
• C. Pan
• D. Tilt

Answer: (B)

Zooming is changing the focal length of the lens during a shot to magnify or widen the image. This is done with a zoom lens, letting you tighten (zoom in) or pull back (zoom out) the field of view without moving the camera, which changes how large the subject appears and how much of the scene is visible.

Rack focus, in contrast, is about shifting the plane of sharpest focus from one depth to another—it's a change in focus distance, not in magnification. Pan and tilt are camera moves: pan rotates the camera left or right around a vertical axis, and tilt rotates it up or down around a horizontal axis. They move the camera’s point of view rather than its focal length.

So, changing the focal length during a shot is zooming.