Do you use your zoom?

[Merandab4]

I have the Kodak Easy share 7590 digital camera. it is 5mp and has a 10x optical zoom. I thought I was making a great choice. I was interested in some camera that were a bit smaller, but did not have the 10x optical zoom. The highest zoom the other cameras had were like 4x.

Although I like my camera, I am finding it difficult to find a camera case for it, (one that doesn't resebmle a small lunch bucket anyway...lol) I really wanted something that I can carry quite conveniently with me to the parks and not be in my way on rides and such, so I am thinking about getting a smaller kodak or fugi fine pix. Nothing fancy.

Now my question is this.... How often do you use your zoom at the parks? Do you wish you had more of a zoom on your camera? what types of things has the zoom been helpful for. All these years I have always used my 35mm Minolta super zoom camera, (LOVE IT, but have now grown into the digital age) I'm not sure what the zoom on that minolta was, but I never once thought that I wish I had more zoom.

When I was purchasing the camera, that was one thing that DH pushed for was the zoom, and the sales lady also said she wishes she had more zoom on her camera as well.
To me, the MP is important because I want to know that i can enlarge my prints to a certain size if I want to. I could see me using the zoom for maybe the fireworks or some castle shots.
I want to get a smaller camera for the convenience of it, but I don't want to be inthe park one day and wish I had my "good" camera for the zoom.

What is your take on this?

 

[hopemax]

I have a Canon with a 10x optical zoom, and I use it all the time. Especially in Epcot. In order to get pictures of the World Showcase pavillions, I would go to a place opposite of the lagoon and zoom in. It was great at Animal Kingdom, because sometimes the animals would be way in the back. It was also great for shows, including things like Cinderellabration, cause you can sit in the back where there aren't so many heads, but still zoom in on the stage. And then not at Disney, thinks like pro-baseball games, where you may be stuck in the cheap seats but you can still get shots where you can recognize your favorite player.

The only thing that you have to keep in mind is when you zoom in, you have to keep the camera extremely steady to get a clear shot. You might want to think about getting a tripod, or just practicing in advance how to hold it, when to breath and click.

 

[pattyT]

aaaah trick question!
I always carry a few cameras - so i am a bad person to ask -
one of them is the easyshareDX4530 - 5.0mp's
and I didn't think I had enough zoom AT the time...
but when I got home and cropped and blew up and printed it was all good - the joy of digital!
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/album_opener.asp?album_id=34679

all the pictures in the album linked above wre taken with that camera expect some of the Wilderness lodge ones where I dug out the old dino SLR!
hope that helps ya

 

[Keebles]

I have a Kodak 6440 and just recently got over my "I want a better one with more zoom" phase. I've got 4x opt and kept thinking about all the places I could have gotten if I'd had a better zoom (I refuse to use it past opt...digital is just awful). The desire was almost overwhelming...I was planning and scheming different ways to come up with the money to get a newer one and then one little tiny print phrase caught my eye...Kodaks don't have image stabilization on zooms, which means the higher up you go, the more shaky it will be. I already have a shaky hand and have to use a tripod for night shots...I definitely don't want to tripod it during the day too! I also have a fierce loyality to Kodak...I refuse to switch...I've tried the others and, IMO, Kodaks are the best (at least for me). Until Kodak can put image stabilization on their higher zoom cameras, I'll just wait.

 

[Momeska]

I have a Panasonic Lumix with a 12x zoom with a stabilizer. I LOVE it!!! I zoom in on everything. I don't like a lot of background clutter so it's perfect. Haven't used it at the parks yet but DS18 just started college at Notre Dame and I zoomed in on that golden dome from across the campus! I feel like that Mazda commercial...zoom, zoom, zoom.
Linda

 

[Pammy jo]

I have the same camera as you (just bought it about 6 weeks ago) and took it to DL. Oh did I love the zoom. I realize it doesn't have a stabilizer, however the pics I used with 10x came out great! The pictures of Mickey climbing the matterhorn are incredible! For SeaWorld I was way up in the stands for the shows and got some great shots of all the whales during the shows too. LOVE IT!!!

 

[Mickey's old friend]

I have a panasonic 10X zoom with a stabilizer. I love the zoom! I couldn't do without it. I don't like the lag time though! I can get awesome pictures, but I also can get some blurred ones, esp at night. But the best part of digital- keep taking hundreds of photos! That being said, I will be looking for a small digital camera in the future. One that takes great action and night shots. Then I will have the best of both worlds. (I will still take my zoom camera with me!)


Linda

 

[Merandab4]

You ladies hit the nail on the head with your responses!
When I first purchased my camera, I had no idea what image stabalizer was.
But I found out quickly that my camera did not have it. I do have a tripod, but like another poster said, who wants to carry that around in the park. So I am thinking what is the point of having all this Zoom when the pictures will come out blurry when I use it anyway.

Pammy Jo, I see that you are having great luck with this camera. Do you have a very steady hand? or do you not zoom very far? Also, have you had any luck with fireworks shots? I practiced on the 4th of July with my fireworks mode, but the shots just came out awful! What kind of bag or case did you get for your camera?

Patty T, what is the zoom on your camera? Your pictures came out great.

Thank you all for your responses.

 

[pattyT]

5.0 megapixels (effective), 3x optical zoom/3.3x digital zoom, autofocus only, program exposure, JPEG file format, ISO range 130-200, 2 AA batteries, movie mode with sound

Perfect example of what I meant by cropping on the computer after - My castle layout - the squares on the right with the 'parts' of the castle is actually the same picture as the big one - I just cropped out the elements I wanted in the picture...

I do that a lot!

 

[patchchild]

Zoom is my best friend. I love it for catching all the details from my consistently far away locations (watching the parade from the spot I grabbed 2 minutes after it started). I've really loved it for animal pictures throughout AK. It's amazing to have a beautifully ddetailed picture of the parot, just the head. The only downside is, it's harder to scrapbook a LOT of close-ups. I need to keep reminding myself to zoom out.