A slim camera with good-very good optical zoom?

I'm looking for a slim camera with good optical zoom, I'm thinking more than 3x.
8 megapixels or more preferred.

I'm relatively new to digital cameras compared to some on here so additional information would be good. Although I'd be happier if any inexperience didn't effect your proposals to me.

Thanks.

my suggestion
go to yahoo shopping
digital cameras
digital camera GUIDE
be sure to check titles on the left side
the guide should answer your questions

thats the problem when u got that small the lens can only do so much as far as i know you will have to settle for the digital zoom on this type of camera

lumix tz3 or tz2

The Casio Exilim EX-V series are exactly what you're looking for: small & slim cameras with a mechanically stabilized 7x optical zoom.

The earlier EX-V7 model, with 7 megapixels, is probably cheaper and easier to find, and there are already many references about it:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/casioexv...
http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/casio-e...
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-ca...
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_c...
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/review...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_revi...
http://digitalcamerareview-cnet.com.com/...
http://www.cameras.co.uk/reviews/casio-e...



If you absolutely need to have an 8 megapixel camera, then the newer EX-V8 model will do:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EX...
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/casio/...
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content...
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/review...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_revi...
http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/defau...
http://www.cameras.co.uk/reviews/casio-e...



Then there's Sony with its ultra-compact T series, some of which have a 5x optically stabilized zoom: the T200 and T300, and both have a huge 3.5" touchscreen LCD:

Sony Cybershot T200:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/d...
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/review...
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_revi...
http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/defau...
http://www.cameras.co.uk/reviews/sony-ds...

Sony Cybershot T300:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/080123...
(no reviews yet)




The problem with this kind of ultra-compact cameras with tiny lenses, and especially those with longer optical zooms, is that neither the optical quality nor the ISO performance will be particularly good: it can't be. Most have slow lenses (they can't use properly wide apertures that let them gather more light) with mediocre to bad quality (severe barrel distortion, lack of sharpness in the corners, chromatic aberration) and small sensors that can't possibly offer nice ISO performance in indoor, low-light situations.

All in all, though, the Sony T series are slightly better in terms of image quality: not having as much optical zoom as the Casio EX-V cameras, they don't compromise optical quality as much, their optical stabilizers are more effective than the Casio's CCD-shift stabilizers, and the internal image processing is more sophisticated and effective, making the most out of their tiny sensors' image capturing. They're probably more expensive, though, mainly due to their bigger and touch-sensitive screens, and they use the less convenient MemoryStick flash memory card format, so the SD / SDHC compatible Casio EX-V series are probably a wiser choice if you're on a budget and not too much concerned about overall image quality.

Ricoh caplio r6 for 拢150 with 28-200 zoom lens