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hi i thought i would ask here since its majorly related to photographing miniature o_o
some of the question are my mom's since we'll probably share the camera later on.

1) what exactly is digital zoom? and optical zoom? is it how far we can take a clear pic?
which is the essential number to look at to take pics?
my mom needs a camera that can take clear pics up to 25 -30 meters away.

2) how many MP is enough? i think my current camera is 7.1 mp with 3x zoom

these are the cameras we are considering:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10110344&catid=26555&logon=&langid=EN 10.2mp , 5x digi zoom , 3x opti zoom $119
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10105757&catid=26563&logon=&langid=EN 12mp , 5x digi zoom , 3x opti zoom $149
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10101568&logon=&langid=EN 8.1 mp , 2x digi zoom , 5x opti zoom $169
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10100730&catid=20220&logon=&langid=EN 8.1 mp , 2x digi zoom , 10x opti zoom $199


current camera is Canon PowerShot SD1000 i have no idea if its better or worse then the 4 i listed

D: i need to figure this out going shopping tommorow thanks in advance!

Digital zoom is garbage, never use it, it ruins pictures. Optical is what you pay attention to, it's what counts.

If your mom needs a lot of zoom it's going to be a big factor in the overall price. Pay no attention to megapixels, it is not indicative of the overall image quality, it is just the size of the image. Anything with more than 3mp would be enough to make a decent 8x10 print. Point and shoot cameras are far beyond redundancy when it comes to resolution.

I would highly recommend the canon sx100 or sx110. They are excellent little cameras, very good optical zoom and very good macro performance.


If you have any other questions let me know. I do freelance photography and work part time in camera sales.

Crablezworth wrote:Digital zoom is garbage, never use it, it ruins pictures. Optical is what you pay attention to, it's what counts.

If your mom needs a lot of zoom it's going to be a big factor in the overall price. Pay no attention to megapixels, it is not indicative of the overall image quality, it is just the size of the image. Anything with more than 3mp would be enough to make a decent 8x10 print. Point and shoot cameras are far beyond redundancy when it comes to resolution.

I would highly recommend the canon sx100 or sx110. They are excellent little cameras, very good optical zoom and very good macro performance.


If you have any other questions let me know. I do freelance photography and work part time in camera sales.

thanks for the fast reply, i looked up the canon power shot sd 1000 , the price seems to be around $300 despite the zoom , and the mp
been lower. is there a reason for that? if what my mom have is better then i'll forget getting the camera then and save the money for
something else.

as for optical zoom, is the sony 10x zoom any good?

For that price range I would think about the cannon rebel slr. It is a far superior camera but the body is larger and can use other lenses. If you want a small camera you will get decent pictures but not what a slr can get you. The negative is it is not the most portable.

Sha1emade wrote:For that price range I would think about the cannon rebel slr. It is a far superior camera but the body is larger and can use other lenses. If you want a small camera you will get decent pictures but not what a slr can get you. The negative is it is not the most portable.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10116847&catid=20222&logon=&langid=EN ? D: $699

i was hoping for something under $200 ><

What is your mom going to do with the pictures from the camera? If she's doing digital graphics or hi-res printing, then you need the megapixels, otherwise I wouldn't pay extra for it.

You definately want to pay attention to the optical zoom.

If she's going to be taking action pictures, then you'll want to look for features like how fast it can take pictures.

she takes pics of her flower arrangement during
special events.

usually 1 meter up close.

and then 25-30 meter with the surroundings.

For commercial use, I agree with Sha1emade. Basically, any camera with interchangeable lenses is better.Also, lenses are more important then the actual camera body. What I mean is a $300 camera with a $600 lens is always better then a $600 camera with a $300 lens.

just my advice should you decide to spend moar on it then what you have already mentioned.

If you are on a limited budget and NEED one now then the smaller cameras will get you by. If you can wait and save a bit, go SLR. There is pretty much no comparison between the two. SRL really is that much better. They are not cheap but if you shop around you might be able to find a deal for not much more then the little cameras. If you can save up and have some time you will not believe the difference in your photos.

I work as a photographer and filmmaker so I am a little biased.

ah thank you for the replies.

i'll hold off on purchasing for now then :>

LunaHound wrote:
1) what exactly is digital zoom? and optical zoom? is it how far we can take a clear pic?
which is the essential number to look at to take pics?
my mom needs a camera that can take clear pics up to 25 -30 meters away.

2) how many MP is enough? i think my current camera is 7.1 mp with 3x zoom

1) Digital zoom is where the camera's electronics use algorithms to enlarge the picture (this involves extrapolation and 'fill ins') and is not anywhere near as good as an optically zoomed pic. Optical zooms use a series of moving lenses to increase/decrease focal length and image size. Optical zooms have more moving parts and are therefore harder to manufacture.
IMO, "digital zoom" is a myth, and optical zoom is the only true zoom. Zoom ratings are generally shown as 4x, 20x, etc. This is generally related to a factor of the "standard" focal length. I'm an old school photographer, I still prefer my zoom lenses to have the focal range on them (100-300mm, etc). It's not a distance scale in terms of how far out you can take it, but how close you will seem (aperture and focus determine how far out things stay sharp.). 50mm is determined as "what a norma eye can see". 100mm is a 2x zoom factor, and 150mm is a 3x.
This site might help here for those questions. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21278

2) 5-7mp is fine for everyday use up to an A3 print. Any larger and you will need a 10mp. I have a schoolfriend who uses a 10mp for car photos (at car shows) and he makes poster prints from the shots. as a baseline: 3-4mp is fine for 7x5s; 5-7mp is good for up to 10x12s or so.

You mentioned she'll be taking pics of arranged flowers. A good macro setting is your friend here. Most 'macros' only go down to 1m (this is the closest it will focus). Some go further (mine has two macro modes, one is 1m, the other is 30cm.). For best results, tripod and controlled lighting (flash/reflectors/diffusers and some kind of remote release for the shutter. (my camera has an IR remote shutter release, for example, allowing me to take 'hands off' pics once I've set it up.). With many, the timer function will work with the macro, allowing you to set up the shot and press the release fully, activating the timer countdown. Gives you time to take your hands off and the camera to stop shaking.)

I have nothing but success with my small Canon.

It is an Canon 700IS I bought a few years ago, but it takes great shots in nature, and the macro is great.

I can be 1cm from an object (models) and it will clearly focus on the object, a feature I think called 'digital macro'.

I bought the camera on the spot when the salesman demo-ed that feature for me.

I have used that function to do great pictures of flowers and even detail shots of the smallest parts of flowers (can't remember their names, been way too long since High School Biology).

And as a final bonus the "IS" part of the camera model stands for Image Stabilization, which, while very common now on cameras, was something somewhat new when i bought mine and it makes pictures much clearer without a tripod.


EDIT: http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10118025&catid=20220

That looks to be the newer version of my camera and the price is quite attractive, as I paid closer to $700 for mine when I bought it new in '06.

An slr is the eventual answer, but price being the more important factor a point and shoot should suffice. The biggest problem with an slr is a decent macro lens will run you at least 400$. For point and shoots go canon. For slr's canon or nikon should be fine.