Focal Length

In a digital camera, the sensor replaces the film and the image is recorded when light comes through the lens and falls on the sensor.  Most compact cameras have smaller-sized sensors and they have a wide-angle focal length of 35 to 38 mm, which is equivalent to a 35 mm camera.

The best zoom digital camera is the 10-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5.  It is sleek and compact and has a 4x optical zoom, and a wide-angle focal length which is 28mm equivalent.  The interesting feature is the handy ‘easy zoom’ button on all the latest Panasonic cameras.  If you press it, the zoom spirals out to its full extension.  And when you press it once again, it zooms back to the wide angle.

There are several other compact digital cameras which have larger zooms, but that does not mean that they have larger lenses.  As the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5 has a non-protruding lens, it is the best zoom digital camera having a large zoom.  The lens of the camera is turned sideways and it does not poke out from the body.

Wide-Angle Lens

The wide angle lens of the camera is the best feature and the more you use it, the more you will be convinced that it is the best zoom digital camera. The wide-angle lens is Leica, and it has a 35 mm- equivalent of 30 mm.  The 2.5 inch LCD screen appears a bit small, but that is because the screen is surrounded by a black bezel.  It has so many flexible options, especially the point-and-shoot one.

The quick menu button makes shooting easy.  There is no aperture or shutter priority, but there are options like white balance, burst mode and ISO speed.  The menus are quite long, but the vertical tabs are an advantage, so that you don’t have to scroll through menus to get to the next tab.

There are some other interesting features in the camera and that is why it is considered the best zoom digital camera. This includes face detection, two burst modes, 22 scene modes and continuous autofocus.  It has one of the best image stabilization systems going and hence the autofocus looks constantly for a subject, instead of waiting for you to focus on one and press the shutter.

The playback mode also makes it the best zoom digital camera, because there are plenty of choices in it.  The camera has the ability to delete single pictures, or all pictures.  It can make its own choice and choose multiple images which can be stored as valuable pictures.

Design

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5 is available in three colors: red, black and silver.  The design is not good, it is a bit difficult to have a finger-grip on it, and the profile is somewhat chunky.  But there are other likeable features too in the best zoom digital camera.  The connections on the camera are covered by a hinged door and not a flap of rubber and there is a locking switch for the memory and battery card slot.  For the zoom there is a round collar rocker switch instead of a snappy flat one, and is hence easier to operate.

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Its siblings which are the DSC-W70, the DSC-W50 and the DSC-W30 have almost the same features as the new DSC-W100 model.  All of them have the same ultra compact 6.7-ounce body and the 38mm-to-114mm 3X zoom lens.  Also all of them have a bright 2.5 inch LCD.

But the DSC-W100 can be considered the best point and shoot digital camera because its resolution has been increased to 8 megapixels, and the finish is much smarter and textured on its metal front panel.  There is a manual exposure mode which has been added to it.  But these upgrades may not be attractive to somebody who wants to pay less, because the difference in price between the older models and the new one is between $50 and $100.

Why It Is The Best

It could be in the category of being the best point and shoot and digital camera simply because it has a sensor which is capable of shooting at ISO 80.  When photos are shot at this sensitivity level, they are quite sharp with little noise and few processing artifacts.  Photos can be printed reasonably well up to the size of 8 x 10, but they do look a bit foggy and soft.

For movies too it is the best point and shoot digital camera.  The fine-quality movies that you can shoot with it really look good when they are played at the actual size. In good light it can shoot really well and performs strongly on movie capture.  But naturally it cannot match the best zoom digital camera, when it comes to close shots.

Easy To Use

Like the other Sony models, the DSC-W100 is quite easy to learn and then use.  You have to go often to the menu system if you want to change the metering scheme or the ISO speed.  The burst mode that it has makes it difficult to change the settings which are frequently used.  These small controls tend to complicate matters a bit.

Cons

One wonders why Sony has included a manual exposure mode.  If you are a snap shooter, you prefer to use semi-manual modes like program shift, shutter priority and aperture priority.  Basically the manual exposure of this camera may not be so easy to use after all, because it provides only two aperture choices for a given focal length.

Most reviews and users of this camera still consider it the best point and shoot digital camera mainly because of its superb picture quality.  It is also compact and has good features, like the macro function and the auto focus option.  That is why it is just a point and shoot camera, as it does everything for you and the pictures that come out of it are excellent.

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