The Best Digital Zoom Camera

(This page was written on 28^th November 2006 so uploading it on the 29^th means this article is already out of date.)

The Digital Zoom Camera is no longer a point and shoot camera with a zoom lens attached, it is the replacement camera for the serious amateur photographer.
Today this type of camera is a photographers dream. It will give you a significant zoom lens range, from a decent wide angle to a powerful zoom, allowing a wide range of picture taking possibilities from a standing start. A fully automated exposure system comprising several biased modes, a comprehensive manual override system, exposure compensation, white balance and a host of other functions to achieve that perfect shot in any conditions. A compact built in flash enhances all the features of this type of camera and turns it into a versatile picture-making tool.

Image Quality
Price of quality CCD arrays is no longer an issue as 6-8megapixels are the normal level of entry digital zoom cameras. This size of image capture will surpass most needs and produce superb image quality in most conditions. But look for a minimum of 6 mega pixels. This will give more than enough image resolution to download and work with in photo software packages without reducing the image to unacceptable quality.

Optical Quality
Most digital zoom cameras have an optical zoom from at least 3x along with a digital zoom of at least 2x. As a brief explanation this means a 2x digital zoom will take middle 50 percent of the picture and expand it to the normal picture size, this will of course halve the quality, each time the camera is zoomed digitally the quality of the image is degraded. Don’t be tempted to go for a large digital zoom, as this will only make the pictures un-useable. We would recommend a maximum digital zoom of 4x. But a maximum optical zoom of as much as you can get look at least 4x.

LCD Monitor
The LCD is the window to your camera and as such the largest monitor possible is the best choice. A big monitor uses more power but most of these cameras come with high power Li-Ion batteries we would recommend carrying a spare with a universal charger, this would allow a re-charge, even in the Car,

Memory
Many of these cameras come with a built in memory of 8mb or above with the option of inserting a memory card to expand the picture storage facility. Storage cards now go up to several gigabytes of storage. Most of these compacts will take up to at least 2 gigabytes of extra storage card and some have dual card systems. The table below give an indication of the number of photographs possible with each card.

Table based on 8mp Camera on Average quality resolution.

We would suggest that due to the download time or if unable to download on site the risk of data corruption we would recommend taking two 1gb cards for a normal week away or a business shoot.

The Best Digital Zoom Camera Is

According the above criteria we need to find cameras that have

·        CCD Sensor of at last 6megapixel

·        Optical Zoom of no less than 4x & Digital Zoom of no more than 4 X

·        LCD Monitor 40 x 30mm (or close)

·        Ability to accept 1gigabyte of Memory Card

The choice is now yours based on colour, style and budget.
We hope this information has been of use to you and would appreciate any comments you would like to make admin@aquaphot.com

This article has been written in good faith and without prejudice. It should be treated as a guide only. All statements are taken from information freely available, and we cannot guarantee the accuracy of description, purpose or content. Please be aware manufacturers are at liberty to change specifications at any time and some claims are known to be sales hype. Please read our condition of web use linked at the bottom of this page.