To Super-Zoom or not to Super-Zoom? That is the question.
In a previous blog I discussed the newest category of high performance digital cameras—-the Super-Zoom. The Super-Zoom or Ultra-Zoom has been hailed by pros as the “new digital product of the year.” Camera experts claim the Super-Zoom combines the best features of point-and-shoot cameras and digital SLRs and it is sold at a price that won’t break the bank.
So where can you get your hands on one and how much will it set you back? I looked online and found two Super-Zooms that consistently got rave reviews and both retail for less than $500.
Take a look:
The first one is the Canon PowerShot S5-IS. It features a 12x optical zoom and an optical “image stabilizer,” which no avid photographer should be without. The fancy feature helps keep long-distance highly magnified shots from looking blurry and washed out. The PowerShot S5-IS also comes with PictBridge capability, which is all the rage among amateur and professional photographers these days. For those of you who are unfamiliar with PictBridge it just means that you can plug your camera into practically any brand and model of printer, not just one manufactured by Canon, and press a button to print out pictures.
The camera also comes equipped with a one-touch “movie” mode, which means you essentially get double your monies worth in a single body. In addition, the 8-megapixel S5-IS also makes good on its promise to provide users with a “zoom experience” that they will never forget. Canon focuses in on how incredibly quiet the S5-IS’s zoom is. You can forget about getting nasty looks at your son’s school play when you try to zoom in on the action. The S5-IS is whisper-quiet and for $400 it’s considered one of the best values on the market today.
Another Super-Zoom creating quite a buzz is the Olympus SP-570 UZ. This camera gets high marks for cramming in a ton of features in a small package— just 4.7” x 3.3” x 3.4.” Designers at Olympus were able to fit a 20x optical zoom lens, which is the equivalent of a 26mm to 520mm lens, into a compact body. Think about it; that means you can shoot things as close as two centimeters, and as far away as your eye can see. What’s more, you can take 13.5 shots in a single second. Incredible. And did I mention the price–just $500 for a camera that allows you to take outstanding shots in the blink of an eye from exceptionally long distances.
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