Optical Zoom

[nivrip]

What do you think is the MINIMUM optical zoom requirement for taking wild life shots, remembering that wild life can be some distance away. My present camera is only x3 optical and is useless for those longer distance shots.

Would x12 be sufficient or would I need more than that? Undecided on the camera type or make at present.

Advice from photography buffs appreciated.

 

[Abarbarian]

Definitly a lot more than x3.

If I had the loot I would swap my Cannon S1 IS Powershot for this S5 IS Powershot or one of the newer models.

Have a look here for some very good camers reviews. Take a look at the SAMPLE SHOTS taken for each camera and you will see how they perform with the zoom and a lot of the othere features.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/canon_s5is_pg6.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_reviews/canon_g10_conclusion.html

 

[Ian]

Mucks takes lots of wildlife shots so if he sees this then he will be able to give some good ideas about zoom levels

My camera is 12x and that seems pretty good for getting in up close

 

[muckshifter]

No matter what zoom you get, you'll want more ... best you can hope for is the Hubble telescope.

I have a 10x at the moment, still saving for a DLSR camera, my sister has one of 'em newer 18x ... I still seem to take the better pic.

If you need to get close, go somewhere where the wildlife is very used to people, otherwise buy a Hubble for yourself.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/muckshifter/20080725MM?authkey=_9ftumKQlc8&feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/muckshifter/20080613MM?authkey=F3i3vgs3zjc&feat=directlink

I'm lucky to have a couple of reserves on me doorstep where the residents are used to people ...

My camera is a Fuji FinePix S5700 10x optical 7.1megapix

I'm after a DSLR, then I'll need a range of lenzes ... 100, 300, 400, 500 1000

 

[nivrip]

Thanks for that Mucks.

I suspected that the answer would be "get as much zoom as possible" so is it PC World or Comet that sell Hubbles? They may have one in the sale.

I had a look at a Fuji S1000df which is 10megapixels and x12 zoom. I've had a few Fujis and always liked them. I don't really want to be messing about changing lenses so this could be a contender.

 

[historian]

On my Pentax film camera I used a Tamron x210 telephoto lens,not that I shot wild life pics I used it for buildings. Now I`m down to a digital camera with a x3 optical zoom,I ask you!

historian