Digital Trends

Mega zoom digital cameras are all the rage this season.  Panasonic paved the way with its 12x optical zoom Lumix models, and other manufacturers quickly charged in to feed Americans' desires for potent digicams that offer a wide range of focal lengths (around 38-432mm in 35mm terms).  Besides Panasonic, Canon and Konica Minolta have 12x digicams with image stabilizers.  Sony now has joined the ranks with the 5-megapixel DSC-H1 ($499).  In this case, it has a 12x Sony lens (not the usual Carl Zeiss design) that delivers 36mm-432mm of zooming power in a very compact package.  Zooms this powerful are great for vacationers, who are never quite sure what they'll encounter in their travels; there's no need to lug around extra lenses or deal with a bulkier D-SLR.  This camera, while hardly pocket-sized, easily fits in a carry bag or backpack.  It has a large, 2.5-inch LCD screen for framing and reviewing your shots, has very quick response time, and takes pleasing photos.  And the built-in optical image stabilizer, technology found on its camcorders, is a life saver—or should we say image saver?

Note:  For the record, the new 15x Samsung Camera Digimax Pro815 ($849, due in August) is the most powerful mega zoom camera.  It also has an 8MP imaging device.  We were only able to play with a pre-production model briefly at its June introduction, so we can't make any "official" judgments about its quality or lack thereof.  We're on the list to get one as soon as they're available.