olympus sp-560 vs Canon S5

Hello All,

I am newbie to this forums. I am planning to buy Olympus sp-560 for its 18x optical zoom as I would like to take the pictures of my kids during their programs in auditoriums. When I asked the salesman in the stores he also showed me Canon S5 which is 10x optical zoom. during the experiment he took an object quite far and showed me the image first on canon S5 and the image was crystal clear @ maximum zoom which is 10x. When he focussed the same image on Olympus SP-560 @ 18x optical zoom and the image is not that clear on this. My question is when it is zoomed @ higher zoom length the image should be closer in olympus when compared to canon S5. But it was the other way during the experiementation. Does the ISO matters in the clarity and variation in image. I am able to read the words that were zoomed @ 10x in canon very clearly but when shot with olympus it was grainy.

Please advise for which one to opt for.

Appreciate your help in advance.

Sean

The more you zoom in the more motion blur comes into play, You are zooming almost twice as much with the Olympus as the Canon so yes the image will not be as good a quality. Yes ISO matters, In low light you need a high ISO but this will also create noise in the picture. I am not familiar with the Canon S5 but Canon doesn't make bad cameras. I think either one would do the job. Personally I would go for the 12mpix and 18x zoom. But certainly the Canon would get the job done as well. Play with them in the store and see which one focuses better in low light. That would make a difference to me.

Thank you Greg for the quick response and the suggestion. I had played around with both cameras. The saleman in the store zoomed the words NO PARKING SIGN BOARD and the Canon S5 when zoomed @ the maximum zoom length the words are cleary visible and readable. But when he zoomed the same there is too much difference. couldn't read those words as it was grainy as the words were not readable.

Appreciate once again your quick response. As said I am looking @ the zoom length as everytime i take pictures with 3x optical zoom i missed lot of closeups of the kids program in the auditoriums and hence would like to upgrade. I know DSLR's are good but for the finance part.