RE: OT - Digital Cameras

["Phil Harris" <phillip.harris1@xxxxxxx>]

> I agree Phil, optical zoom power is the one to look for, digital zoom
is
> only useful where capturing something as large as possible is more
> important than the overall image quality.

Definitely ... however don't just look at zoom numbers ... the quality of
the lenses is just as important. No point in having a 100x optical zoom if
the lens is so poor that you get a closup of a blur!

> I don't know much about digital cameras under gbp4000 so I can't
comment
> on the Kodak ... the main thing to look at is the megapixel rating ...
3
> is good, 2 might be acceptable depending on your needs ... don't go
for
> less than 2 tho.

I have an Olympus E10 which has a great piece of glass bolted to the front
and runs to 4 megapixels and a 4x Optical zoom (no digital zoom or movie
capability as they're not an aid to image quality) ... my previous Olympus
C3030Zoom was 3.3 megapixels and 3x optical zoom + 2.5x digital zoom (the
updated C3040 has a great lens now ... far better than the 3030s which
wasn't bad itself). My original C900 zoom was 2.1 megapixels and 3x optical
zoom (no digital zoom IIRC) ... the lens on that wasn't too hot (has been
subsequently improved).

Where I'm getting to is that you can have "good numbers" but the
results can
be pants ... the C900 had no shadow detail. No depth of field. No
"feeling"
to pictures. The E10 has a great lens and occasionally I hit it right (I'm
not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination but I'm learning) and
come up with a photo that I look at and think "WOW!".

3.3 megapixels is a good resolution to look for for cropping pics and still
being able to print at a good size (A4) - I do A3 from my E10 and some of
the prints are superb!

Buy a copy of What Digital Camera ... their tests are good and you can
download the test images from the web site to look at yourself.

> Is the digital guide in the range of 3x straight or 3x the current
> optical? so a max could be 6x digital? never worked out how they rate
> that bit :/

Its in addition to the optical zoom so a 3 x optical plus a 2 x digital
zoom
would give you a 6 x zoom... but I have *NEVER* used digital zoom. It isn't
even on my E10 but it was switched off on my C3030 the morning I got it and
it was never switched on again!

Phil