ultra compact...4x+ optical?

[p1nh3ad]

Well im in the market for a ultra compact (pocketable) digital camera. I'd like it to be at least 5mp and have at least 4x optical zoom (or more).

I had been looking into the Kodak v570 pretty thoroughly. Until I started reading Steve's forums I was pretty much ready to place the order. Then I realized there was a difference between optical stabilization and digital. (still a little bit of a noob, when it comes to digi cams)

I just ran across the Canon SD700 it looks awesome, small form factor. It doesnt look like it has as good of a wide angle zoom (macro?). Also it doesnt come out till mid-may.

From what I've gathered so far i think the SD700 has 35-140mm and the V570 has 23-117mm

So that means the kodak would get better shots up close and the sd700 would get better shots farther away?

Just looking for suggestions on zoom and stablization. I took a few shots in a local store with the v570 and the screen seemed to be pretty crisp and my shots weren't nearly as blurry as some of the other ones they had laying around there. Maybe I just havn't shot anything with optical stabilization.

Well I'll stop and just let people reply with any ideas. Thanks in advance!

[mtclimber]

Why not take a look at the Panasonic LZ 3 or 5. You would have a small form factor and 6X of optical zoom beginning at 37mm and it has IS. Or take a look at the Panasonic FX01, 3.6 optical zoom, beginning at 28mm with IS.

MT

[p1nh3ad]

I've never really used any of the panasonic cameras, are they pretty good quality digi cams? I sorta like DMC-TZ1K or the DMC-FX01K. Im not sure how small the TZ1 is though. Hmmm...so many choices!

[mtclimber]

Panasonic cameras are among the top rated cameras.

MT

[p1nh3ad]

cool, thanks ill look into them a little more then. Still not sure on the best camera size:features ratio.

[slipe]

Macro and wide angle aren't the same thing. Wide angle lets you get more in a picture and applies to a landscape as well as to closer shots where you can't get far enough away to get the whole image in without a wide angle. Macro refers to how small an area you can fill a frame with by getting the camera very close to things like coins and bugs. Having a good wide angle has nothing to do with macro capability.

You usually forfeit telephoto range to get wide angle. A 4X lens is 4 times the widest angle to get the telephoto. If you start with a 28mm wide in a 4X camera you end up with a 112mm telephoto. If you start with a 38mm wide you end up with a 152mm telephoto in a 4X lens. The numbers are given in 35mm equivalent since it is a common focal length most people are familiar with. 50mm is usually considered 1 power, so the 150mm lens would only be around 3 power in binoculars.

Both wide angle and telephoto are handy in various situations. I think for a general purpose carry everywhere camera the wide angle might be a little more useful, but there are plenty of times I wish I had more telephoto in my pocket camera.

The more power in a zoom the harder it is to quickly acquire and follow moving targets without an eyelevel viewfinder. I am happy to see that Canon is bucking the trend to leave the optical viewfinder off small cameras with the SD700. But if you want something really small you have to give up the eyelevel viewfinder.

[p1nh3ad]

Oh alright.

Lots of good information thanks! (like i said...im sorta a noob)

I'm still pretty tempted to get the Kodak v570 except for the digital image stabilization stuff...from what i've gathered, it looks like the optical is definitely the way to go. Any thoughts?

[mtclimber]

The kodak V-570 is a nice, very small, camera. The stabilization you are discussing only comes into play when taking a video clip. I own the V-570. For still photos there is no IS, but I have not found that to be a problem at all.

MT