Is zoom needed?

[Venom]

hi, i am very new to photography but was thinking of getting a camera...
i have 2 cameras in mind... the panasonic DMC-FX20 and DMC-FX7
one with 12x zoom and one with 3x... i wanted a 12x zoom but it makes the camera pretty large. so is it really needed to hav a 12x zoom or 3x would be sufficient? btw, pls feel free to commend about the cameras mention and do recommend me some to consider.. (not a very advance user, buget ard 700-1000)

[Witness]

if u wanna take super close up then get the extra zoom....

[Venom]

sorry it FZ20 and FX7.. sorry for the error
=)

[Venom]

erm... a 3x optical zoom/4x digi zoom can take pic from about how far? ( pic: the head of the person fitting the screen

[afbug]

Originally Posted by Venom erm... a 3x optical zoom/4x digi zoom can take pic from about how far? ( pic: the head of the person fitting the screen

You should ignore and not use the digital zoom. Its almost useless cos it degrades the pic quality. The one you should be going for is optical zoom 3x is not much but enough of most uses i guess. Or maybe you can buy a cam that can attach optional zoom lens. Canon A95? Sony DSC V3, W1 etc etc.

[Venom]

hm... thanks alot ... In fact, i didnt noe that those could attach zoom lens.

[Venom]

then is the optical image stabilizer good? it looks good to me dunno whether is it really useful or not.

[pohsoon]

those lenses that are attached to A75 etc are really not "zoom lenses".
they dont provide "zoom" capability, just increase the zoom factor for the lense on the camera.

IS works, at least on the Canon S1 I used before.

[Ivan11]

The optical image stabilizer or commonly known as OIS, helps eliminates blurness of pictures in the event of hand shake. Hmm... not say good or no good but it's good to have it on, but it will drain more on your battery power.

[adum]

Originally Posted by afbug You should ignore and not use the digital zoom. Its almost useless cos it degrades the pic quality. The one you should be going for is optical zoom 3x is not much but enough of most uses i guess. Or maybe you can buy a cam that can attach optional zoom lens. Canon A95? Sony DSC V3, W1 etc etc.

can the fz20 attached optional lens?

[club_de_oldman]

Try FZ3 the litter brother of FZ10 & Fz20 equip with 12x but samller in size


You can visit All about Pansonic it might help you to understand.


Cheers

[afbug]

Originally Posted by adum can the fz20 attached optional lens?

Ooops, i can't help you on this. Absolutely no idea. Maybe you can post a thread at the Panasonic sub forum