Week of February 27, 2005<\/p>\n
Q: I’ve been looking for is a point and shoot digital camera that zooms down to about 24-28 mm (35 mm film camera equivalent) wide angle. Any ideas?<\/p>\n
Don Woodland
\nChatham, MA<\/p>\n
A: For readers who are unfamiliar with the term, digital camera zoom lenses usually have a specification called “equivalent in 35mm”. A very common specification you will see with digital cameras is 35-105mm. This means the lens can zoom from any point between 35mm and 105mm, as seen on a 35mm camera.<\/p>\n
Dividing the large number by the small number gives you the zoom power. 35-105 is a 3x zoom.<\/p>\n
A 35 mm lens is considered a wide-angle perspective, taking in a larger amount of space than you see with your eyes. 50 mm is normal perspective, similar to the amount you see with your eyes. 105mm is a telephoto, which brings the subject closer.<\/p>\n
35mm is only a slight wide angle. 28mm is much more of a wide angle, and 24mm is noticeably wider than 28mm- the lower you go, the more each millimeter counts. As you have found, few digital cameras go below 35mm. That’s because wide-angle lenses are difficult and expensive to manufacture, especially when they have to zoom out to telephoto range.<\/p>\n
When you say “point and shoot” I assume you mean a small, inexpensive digital camera. The Fuji Finepix E510 is the only inexpensive camera I know of that has a lens that goes down to 28mm. It has a 28-91mm lens and sells for under $250. <\/p>\n
If you are willing to spend more, Olympus has the C-7070 Wide Zoom. It has 7.1 MP and a zoom that goes down to 27mm. (This is only 1 mm below 28, but remember, when you are at wide angle ranges every millimeter counts!) <\/p>\n
The recently introduced 7.1 megapixel cameras from Olympus and Canon use the same digital sensor, and I have found it to be outstanding- much better than the 8.0 megapixel sensor used in most high-pixel cameras last year. I am currently testing a Canon G6 and the images it produces are extraordinarily sharp, clean, colorful, and detailed. Unfortunately, the G6 lens only goes down to 35mm so it does not meet your needs. Based on my past experience with Olympus’ high-end models, I expect the C-7070 to be a top performer as well.<\/p>\n
Though digital cameras get better every year, you may think that spending extra to buy a camera like an Olympus C-7070 or Canon G6 would not be a good idea since both will be “obsolete” in a year or two. This isn’t really an accurate way to view things. It is safe to say that there will be newer and better things out every year, but as they are now the C-7070 and G6 will produce outstanding images that can be enlarged satisfactorily to poster sizes. If you take care of the camera, ten years from now it will take pictures that are every bit as good.<\/p>\n
In short, if you ante up for the C-7070, it is likely to satisfy you for a very long time. If you get a sub-$300 camera, you may find the upgrade bug biting you in a year or two.<\/p>\n
If the Fuji models do not appeal to you or do not want to spend the extra on the Olympus, there is one more alternative to get a lens that zooms to 28mm. Many cameras accept accessory lenses that attach to the front of the camera’s built-in lens. These accessory lenses change the magnification of the camera’s lens, making it a wider angle or bringing distant subjects even closer than before the accessory lens was attached.<\/p>\n
The downside to the accessory lenses is they reduce sharpness somewhat, are extra equipment to carry, and are an additional cost on top of the camera purchase.<\/p>\n