olympus sp-560 vs Canon S5

[sean2don]

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