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Ultra Zoom Digital Camera Buying Guide

Photographers who dream of the convenience of sleek compact digital cameras but still want to get incredibly close to their subjects can now rejoice for Ultra Zoom Digital Cameras

The Ultra Zoom

Ultra Zoom digital cameras  generally have an optical zoom  of 5x to 8x and sometime even 10x, while regular digital cameras only range from 3x to 4x.  But what does this 5x mean?  The 5x refers to how much closer you can get to your subject, in this case, you can get up to five times closer.  It used to be that an increased zoom means a bulky camera since a greater optical zoom would require more space to utilize the multiple lenses that actually makes up the optical zoom.  But with new technology, and a little innovation, a great zoom can now be found in small packages.  If you want a more advanced camera and don't mind a bit of bulkiness, you should consider Bridge Digital Cameras.

Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom

Most cameras also have digital zooms  on top of their optical zooms which can add another 2x to 3x to your camera but photographers beware; instead of physically briging you closer to the subject, like an optical zoom does, a digital zoom does more of a photoshop  effect in your camera by enlarging and cropping.  This enlarging and cropping forces you to give up some image quality so users shouldn't rely too much on digital zooms.  For a great closeup, an increased optical zoom is still the way to go.

Recommended 5x

Olympus C-5500 Sport Zoom 

HP Photosmart R817 

Sony Cybershot DSC-W 170 

Panasonic Lumix DMC- FX50 0

Nikon Coolpix P60 

Recommended 6x to 10x

Nikon Cookpix S10 

10x

Samsung L77 

7x

Canon Powershot G9 

6x

Olympus Stylus 1010 

 7x 

 

Related Guides

External Links

  • Kodak.com: A post by a Kodak researcher on optical zooms.
  • PCWorld.com: The site for straightforward camera reviews.