S95, but with more zoom?

[InfiniteGrim]

I've spent 8+ hours in the last two days looking into cameras.

I was originally looking into the superzooms, especially the HS10. I love all the features and their videos look really good, but the pictures they take arent that great. Looking at the pictures really dissappoints me because their clarity and detail when looked at in larger sizes dont show an improvement compared to older cameras.

I'm looking in the $3-400 range.

I found the Canon S95 which took much better then the superzooms in the comparison shots I looked at. But I'm afraid of only a 4x zoom. Most pictures I ever takeI use 5-10x zoom. The G12 also looks promising but is a little pricey.

The only dissappointment wih the S95 and G12 is that their videos dont seem sharp even though they are HD. The HS10 videos look really nice, and I would love the highspeed videos, but the image quality is what kills it.

So my question is, is there a camera that takes pictures comparable to the S95, but offer mores zoom?

Thank You for any input.

[eyalg]

Did you try Nikon's P7000?

[Liz]

I've spent 8+ hours in the last two days looking into cameras.

I was originally looking into the superzooms, especially the HS10. I love all the features and their videos look really good, but the pictures they take arent that great. Looking at the pictures really dissappoints me because their clarity and detail when looked at in larger sizes dont show an improvement compared to older cameras.

I'm looking in the $3-400 range.

I found the Canon S95 which took much better then the superzooms in the comparison shots I looked at. But I'm afraid of only a 4x zoom. Most pictures I ever takeI use 5-10x zoom. The G12 also looks promising but is a little pricey.

The only dissappointment wih the S95 and G12 is that their videos dont seem sharp even though they are HD. The HS10 videos look really nice, and I would love the highspeed videos, but the image quality is what kills it.

So my question is, is there a camera that takes pictures comparable to the S95, but offer mores zoom?

Thank You for any input.

You might consider the Canon SD4500. The 35mm equivilent is 36 - 360. However, here you are giving up the wider angle. Photo John has done an extensive review for this camera. It's a bit larger than the S95, but still pocketable. I just checked it out at B&H and the price has gone to $249 which is an excellent price for this camera.

B&H - check specifications, features, etc. Be sure to check the 16 customer reviews on B&H.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search...tialSearch=yes

Photo John's review with sample images.

http://reviews.photographyreview.com...camera-review/

Liz

[Franglais]

You can't have everything. The S95 is optimised for use in low light with excellent image quality. You can't have a lens opening to f2 on a pocket-size camera with a superzoom.

If you want the same thing with a longer zoom then look at the G12 or the Nikon copy. The zoom is longer but the camera is much bigger and the lens only opens to f2.8

[InfiniteGrim]

Thanks for the replies. I'm off to do more reading. As for zoom I was hoping to find something around 10x give or take.

Quick question; is the image quality of the HS10 as bad as some of the review sites say? I'd buy that in a heartbeat if it wasnt for that, as I'd be playing with the highspeed video modes all the time.

The Nikon P7000 looks nice but its a little more then I expected. If it is the answer to what I'm looking for I would gladly pay for it though.

[eyalg]

What you're looking for is the best combination of a wide aperture (at least f/2.8 - f/2.0 better), as much zoom as possible, and preferably a larger imaging sensor than 1/2.33.
The S95 has two of those - f/2.0 and a 1/1.7 sensor, but a small zoom (x3.8).
The SD4000 has too an f/2.0 maximum aperture but small 1/2.33 sensor and not much zoom.
The SD4500 has x10 zoom but a terrible f/3.4 widest aperture, a narrow 36mm lens and a usually tiny 1/2.33 sensor.
The P7000 has an ok maximum aperture of f/2.8, x10 zoom, 28mm lens, 1/1.7 sensor. It's bigger and has extra slow RAW writing times.
The HS10 has an ok maximum aperture of f/2.8, a x30 zoom starting at an extra wide 24mm, the same 1/2.3 sensor.

Easier to choose now? I'm not sure - there's just no such camera.
You're looking for a compact camera with a 1/1.7 sensor, f/2.0, x10 zoom and better wide lens too. No company has created one yet. I hope they're working on it, but some rules of physics and more specifically optics will make it quite hard for them.