Expert: John Oliverio - 12/1/2003

Question
Hello John

I'm wondering if you have any quidance on a new digital camera.  I'm looking for a multi purpose camera - one where I can use it for taking photos to put online on Ebbay(need a macro mode), yet is also good for all around "vacation/personal" use.
 There seems to be a ton of options available and I don't know what I would really "need" for my usage.  One of my quandaries is how important the optical zoom is(I know I don't want to use digital zoom power due to its shortcomongs on clarity), but what I mean is, what power optical zoom should I get?  I had an old 35mm Olympus Quickzoom or some such with a 2x zoom and it was pathetic outdoors!  So now I se the Olympus models with 10x optical and wonder if I neeed 10x, or is 4x optical good enough?
 The other factors like battery consumption, proprietary memory vs nonproprietary, rechargeable batteries etc I can figure out by reading the revies on technical websites I know about.  So what I'm looking ofr is some possible personal experience with how much optical zoom is needed to be worthwhile and how much is just marketing and uneccessary overkill?  Also, do you have any personal suggestions on digi cams that you have used, or know to be great little cameras?  I am alos wondering if I should go to 5 megapixels, or is 4 good enough? (Don't think I want to go with 3 megapixels)  I'm open to any manufacturer that produces a quality camera with a price range up to $800   Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated! Thanks,phil  

Answer
Phil,

Hello. Thanks for the questions.

Let me start by saying that I can't really tell you how much zoom you need. Most folks get buy with a lot less than 10X. But if you shoot things that are simply far away, then the larger zoom would obviously help. Is 4X enough? Only you can answer that. I personally do have a 10x zoom point and shoot camera (Olympus C740), but seldom wander to the long end of the zoom. Actually, I seldom use that camera anymore.

I don't know what you expect to get as far as picture quality is concerned, but you should be aware that generally speaking, a 10X zoom isn't as sharp or bright as a shorter lens. You can't pack that much lens into a little camera without giving something up.

The difference between 4 and 5 mega-pixels isn't worth writing home about. Unless you intend to squeeze every inch of print size out of the files, I wouldn't worry about it. My little Olympus is only 3mp, and I get photo quality 5x7 prints from it. And I can get passable 8x10's. By all means, get a 5 if the camera you like happens to be a 5, but I wouldn't let a 4 stop me.

Last..... you seem to be willing to spend quite a bit of money on a camera. $800 is a lot. Have you considered the Canon Digital Rebel? I've been fooling around with one this week and am very pleased with it. With a lens, it's a bit more than you wanted to spend ($1000), but that extra money gives you 10 times more camera. If that is out of the question, you may want to consider the Nikon CoolPix 5700. It has a decent lens. It has an 8X optical zoom, which I think is a great compromise. It has a great macro facility. And even accepts lens and flash accessories