Best Zoom

I mean no disrespect to you Karen, but you have hit on a pet peeve of mine in regards to a disagreement between my wife and I.

I am in the camp that says that a zoom is a nice feature and is handy for taking pictures of very small things and in cases where you are prevented from getting as close as you would like to take a picture.

My wife however will use the zoom to avoid walking over to what ever she is taking a picture of, constantly zooming in, and not getting a very good picture, even trying to zoom in on a building far away when up in a tower for example.

Thanks for the vent. Now that said, keep an eye out for the terms Optical Zoom and Digital Zoom. I would focus on a camera with a decent Optical Zoom, meaning that an actual lens is adjusted to achieve the zoom. A good 8 or 10X optical zoom is nice. Combined with the Optical Zoom will often be a Digital Zoom. This really only resizes the part of the photo you want, basically enlarging the image on the display, not re-focusing the image on the CCD in the camera. Sometimes the "zoom" may be 20, 40, even 60X, but it really is not great for creating a good image. Basically it gets you the picture you wanted, but it would be no different than taking an image without digital zoom and using picture software to enlarge and crop the shot to what you want.

Also, even with Optical zoom, the more you zoom, the more your captured image is subject to shaking, vibration, and other disturbances that will create a blurry or not so sharp picture. A tripod would help, but these cameras that offer 60X zoom just don't take good pictures at 60X.

So basically, look at the Optical Zoom to compare, and when taking a picture, get as close as possible, don't rely on the zoom.

I suggest looking at the Panasonic Lumix cameras. There are several zoom models. Those with a prefix of "TZ" are designed with us in mind, as "TZ" stands for Travel Zoom. My own is a TZ-4 whose range is from 28mm to 280mm, and I would purchase the camera again (assuming no new models with more range).

If you are familiar with Flickr, they have a "Camera Finder" where you can pull up pictures taken with any camera you might be interested in.

I recently used a friend's new Nikon (630 ?) with a 10x or 12x zoom. I liked the camera because it was small and easy to use. However, when I got the photos I wasn't impressed with the quality of the pictures (Costco). They weren't crisp and clear. My Canon with 4x zoom photos were better. Canon does make one with 12x zoom. I saw it at Costco. I would talk to someone at a camera store. I won't be buying the Nikon even though it is cute.

Karen,

Could you provide a bit more information. Are you looking for a pocket-sized P&S Camera, or the slightly larger "super zoom" models?

With a P&S Camera, you'll have to find a balance between wide angle and zoom ranges, neither of which are too good on most models.

If you want a very compact Camera that's easy to carry, you could look at the Canon Elph series. Most of these have 3-4x zoom, limited wide angle and the Lenses are not terribly fast (which could be a problem taking photos in dimly lit Churches, etc.).

In the super zoom models, you could have a look at the Canon SX1-IS or the older SX10-IS. They have very good zoom range, with optical stabilization. However, according to dprreview.com, the ISO range and low light performance (especially with the SX1) leaves something to be desired. Some of the Panasonic models are well rated (check dpreview for details).

For the best combination of zoom range, wide angle and ISO range, a compact dSLR with a medium range zoom would provide the best performance (adding a wide angle Lens would help). However, unless you spend a lot of money, these Lenses will also not be exceptionally fast (although this can be compensated to some extent with ISO settings and IS on the Lens).

You might want to visit one of your local Camera stores. Vistek has at least two locations in Calgary so you might start with them. There's also Black's and Robinsons. I'd wouldn't bother with the "big box" retailers, as I've found their level of expertise is somewhat "limited".

Whichever Camera you decide on, don't forget an extra Battery and sufficient Memory Cards. If you're only shooting JPEG (which will be the case with virtually all P&S models), 2GB cards should be adequate although 4GB is good too. Buying larger cards will allow room for some video as well - the SX1 is capable of full 1080 video.

Good luck and happy shooting!

I have a 6 year old Panasonic camera with a 12x zoom (only 2mega pixels) that takes great pictures. I bought it before a trip to Africa and got fantastic wildlife pictures. It has a Leica lens and the model was DMC-FZ1. There are much more advanced models in this FZ series and they always seem to get good reviews.

Last year, I bought a Canon Powershot A720 with a 6x zoom and 8mp because I wanted a smaller camera. I was terribly disappointed with the quality of the photos compared to my old Panasonic.

I will be going back to a Panasonic.

Take a look at the website dpreview.com. They have good reviews on digital cameras. I'd also suggest going to a good camera shop and looking at the various models.

Canon Powershot 110IS with 8 gig card and lithium batteries is all you need.

I just got a panasonic lumix zs-1 and it has a 12x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom giving you 48x zoom, at 10 megapixels. You can drop the mega pixels and get longer zoom, I think at 5 meg you get like a 72 total zoom, either way its WAAY more then you could asko for a small camera and the quality is amazing. I got it for $240 shipped from amazon. I have a 16 gig card in it and at the 10 meg pictures I can take 2700+ pics, well more then I would probably ever take on any given trip ever. Its fantastic!

I have a Canon SX110 and I absolutely love the digital zoom on it! I highly recommend it.

I have the Canon SX10 IS and it has 20x zoom on it. It's a great Point and shoot for the price..

Definetley, without a doubt, Canon SX10-IS.
We just buy this camera for our past Alaska trip, a month ago, and we're more than please with the zoom, a 20x one. We take GREAT pictures of the wildlife with the zoom at it's highest, and pictures were perfect. I have to tell you that each and everyone of the people that get to see our pictures in the creuise were impressed with them. Just look for reviews and you'll se what I'm telling. If you decide on buying, write me and I can tell you where was the place, online, with the best price, since I'm not sure if I can't write it down here.

I bought both the Panasonic TZ5 and the Canon 110S and I loved the Panny as it was so easy to use, took great pics and had I found it took better videos (you could use the zoom feature). I returned the Canon. Great reviews on dpreview.com (both were rated highly and the end result is a matter of personal choice).
Do you have a Henry's in Calgary? I was able to buy the cameras there and return it if I was not happy with it with no problems.