I been pondering of whether to buy a digital camera that has moving parts (lenses) or not. I heard about digital camera that has moving lenses which don't last long. Is that true? I wanted to buy the Canon PowerShot A460 5.0 MP Digital Camera 4X Optical Zoom 4X Digital Zoom $116. Since the lenses moves back and forth a lot when turning/off or using the optical zoom, im afraid the lenses will malfunction sometime in the future. Or i can buy the HP E427 Digital Camera 6-megapixel 5x digital (no moving lenses) $100. I think buying the HP camera will last longer than the Canon since it has no moving parts. OR are movings parts just as reliable as non moving parts. Anyone think my idea about moving parts in digital camera is wrong? Please share your thoughts.
I would be glad to buy a Canon . It's just the idea of reliable on moving lenses that scares me.
Sorry for long question.
Thanks in advance. Buy an aftermarket extended warranty. It would cost about $20-25 for the A460, I think, from http://www.mackcam.com
I would avoid the all-digital zoom camera, as you will find that you just don't like the zoomed images.
Optical zoom is good and digital zoom sucks. Optical zoom is "real" zoom done with the camera lens. Digital zoom is really just a way to enlarge pixels and degrade the image. Ignore it completely when you are comparing cameras.
Here are three sample pictures taken with my Canon Powershot SD900, which is a 10.0 megapixel camera. All three pictures are taken with the optical zoom maxed out at 3X or 23.1 mm, which is the equivalent of 111.6 mm after calculating for the lens crop factor. There is no image processing at all done with any of these pictures. All were taken using the self-timer to (hopefully) eliminate camera shake as the camera sat on the top of my car. (Okay, I'll use a tripod next time, but I think they are pretty sharp images.) Please click on "View All Sizes" and then view each image at the largest size available, which should be 3648 x 2736 pixels. The first picture (3xOpticalFull) is the full frame image at 3x optical zoom, or 111 mm. The second picture (4xDigitalFull) is the result of zooming out the additional 4x in digital zoom, for an equivalent of 444 mm. The third picture (3xOpticalCrop) is actually a cropped version of the original image, maintaining the full pixel dimension. In other words, I accomplished the "digital zoom" entirely in the computer and not in the camera. If you compare the full-sized images, I think it is immediately obvious that the third picture is far superior in any aspect that you care to examine. I think it is much sharper (Check the tower and the antenna up near the top of the frame.), has better color, and less digital noise and artifact (Check the plain sky and the shadows on the building.). These images are all tagged "digital zoom."
3xOpticalFull: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04...
4xDigitalFull: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04...
3xOpticalCrop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04...
In other words, please ignore any claims of superiority based on "digital zoom" when you choose your camera. It is only "in camera cropping" and it is not anywhere near as good as "in computer cropping." Any attempts at cropping a digitally-zoomed picture will be a waste of time. get moving parts (zoom) you can take better pictures at distances and the camera will probably have a warranty if anything goes wrong. I have an older sony with a zoom lens and haven't had any problems All cameras that have zoom lenses have moving parts. I think what you're looking at is the difference between lenses that protrude the camera when it extends, or lenses that remain within the camera body.
Trust me, you do not want to buy a camera that relies on digital zoom, it's garbage. Unless you're used to prime lenses, which I doubt you are.
I think a camera with an internally zooming lens may be for you. Examples: Nikon S50, Sony T100.
If you're so concerned about reliability, try the Olympus SW 770. It's expensive for an otherwise not-so-outstanding camera, but it is nearly indestructible. Hi, I own a canon A620 for 1 1/2 years and it has optical zoom with moving lenses and it works great. I don't think you will have a problem with the lenses. Having optical zoom is a lot better than digital zoom, in terms of quality.
I recommend you to get the canon A460 and if you are really nervous about breaking the lenses get an extended warranty.
I always recommend to my family and friends (now to the yahoo answers community) to go to newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...
You can get the camera and the extended warranty for 29.99 and also get a combo deal with lots of options a great values. (I do not work for them! hehe)
Best wishes! cameras with moving lenses are just as reliable as those without.I have been using a SONY DSC h2 for the past year and i have no problems, it has a 12x zoom. in fact cameras with movable lenses produce better pictures that ones that use digital zoom. |
