x3 zoom or x5 zoom, much difference?

[jediross]

Guys and Gals,

after your advice I am looking to buy a new camera and really want to get as large an optical zoom as possible, unfortunately my budget is around the 200 quid mark.

I have seen some cameras with a x5 optical zoom, but is there much difference between this and a camera with a x3 optical zoom which seems to be the standard magnification on the majority of cameras.

Is it worth trading optical zoom off against resolution?

Can anyone recommend a camera, must take sd though as i have a bunch of 512mb cards already.

Cheers

Paul

[puddleduck]

I'd definately go for more zoom over megapixels.

3x zoom say for 18mm will take you up to 54mm which doesn't really get you that close to the action. 5x would get you to 90mm which is getting into short telephoto range.

Around 5x zoom / 5 megapixels would be a nice balance I think.

For recommendatiosn, I rate Olympus Camata zoom camera, nice optics in them.

[Matholwch]

I'd swing in the opposite direction, with higher zooms you're much more likely to get camera shake on the compact, and usually start at about 35mm, so 3x zoom takes you up to 105mm. With 5x you're up to about 175mm range, but since the lenses are so small you'll need a very fast shutter speed avoid shake in low light.

Thing is AndySymbian is a wildlife photographer where high zoom is king, whilst I prefer landscapes, and would prefer more detail accross a vista rather than a very good close up shot. So we're always going to differ ;)

[AdminSpod]

Most compact digital cameras don't start with a wide enough zoom lens for my liking. Especially the cheaper ones. You can always zoom in on the image but there's no way of zooming out!
That is one of the disadvantages of having such a small CCD I suppose.
Of course you can take multiple pictures & stitch them together, but that doesn't always give you the effect you want.
A 5x zoom on 5MP would be great but I would like it to start at 28mm equivaklent on a 35mm camera - or wider!

[bubbahotep]

If you are after good optical zoom in a compact you cant go wrong with a Fuji S5500, it has 10X Optical, used to have one before getting my Canon 350d and thought it was excellent, you can pick these up around £180, although you would have to get an XD card but these are cheap as chips!!!

[Tyler Durden]

How about the Kodak EasyShare DX6490 ? Has 10 x Optical zoom and uses SD cards, costs £150 from Amazon UK (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump.php?url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/redirect-home^QS^tag=thedvdforums-21^QA^site=dvd) and comes with a Free Tamrac camera case (normally £14.99)

[DeadKenny]

Problem with zoom multipliers is you need to compare like with like.

Because of different sensor sizes, the results could potentially be the same between a x3 and a x5 camera.

You need to know just what the multiplier is multiplying.

The best thing is to get the 35mm equivalent figures as these are fairly standard and have factored in the sensor size differences.

Of course it also goes without saying that you should only look at optical zooms. Ignore any figures relating to digital zoom.