Best All Long Zoom Digital Camera

Imaging Resource Picks section. They're well known for their exhaustive testing of digital cameras. They investigate various aspects of each digital camera to help you pick the best one for your needs. But they know that sometimes you just want someone with experience to tell you which digital camera to buy. To serve that need, they've revamped their Picks to get straight to the point, listing your top digital camera choices by category.


Best All Long Zoom Digital Camera

Canon PowerShot S5 IS
8.0 megapixels, 12.00x zoom
$323.30




One of the best long zoom digital cameras on the market converts instantly to a digital camcorder The 8-megapixel Canon PowerShot S5 IS digital camera is a moderate update to its very popular predecessor, the Canon S3 IS. The Canon S5 IS maintains many of the S3's strong points, including an image-stabilized 12x optical zoom lens (36mm-432mm/35mm equivalent), a wide range of sophisticated features and a solid, digital-SLR-like design. The Canon S5 IS is slightly larger and heavier than the S3, and has been upgraded to include a high resolution, articulated 2.5-inch LCD, a hot shoe for adding an external flash, Face Detection, and a maximum ISO of 1,600. The Canon S5 IS can also serve as a camcorder with a single press of the Movie button. Technically a hybrid digital camera, the Canon S5 IS is capable of recording a movie of up to 4GB in size. There's still no RAW mode and the camera no longer features High Speed continuous shooting mode or an Intervalometer; but the more important questions revolve around the Canon S5's performance and image quality.


Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18
8.1 megapixels, 18.00x zoom
$320.73





It's the Leica optics that push this long zoom digital camera to the top of the heap With its fine Leica lens, the Panasonic FZ18 digital camera really shines in the long zoom category, delivering amazing corner sharpness across its 28-504mm zoom range. Though the Panasonic FZ18 feels a little too light at first, you quickly come to appreciate its small, lightweight form for all the zoom value it offers in such a small package. We were disappointed in the high ISO performance, especially in tungsten lighting, but for daylight shooting the Panasonic FZ18 is the long zoom you want to have along. The Panasonic FZ18's optical image stabilization helps make up for the loss of high ISO quality, and face detect autofocus will help ensure you're locked onto the right target


Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3
7.2 megapixels, 10.00x zoom
$227.57




A wide angle, stabilized long zoom lens makes the TZ3 shine With beauty from almost all angles, the most beautiful quality of the Panasonic TZ3 is the quality of its lens, and thus its images. We found the TZ3's controls to be a little less impressive, at least in terms of their look and feel; the good news is that they serve quite well, and the camera's menu and interface are easy to read and use in most lighting conditions. The Panasonic TZ3's optical image stabilization is handy to have, especially with its 10x zoom. Our favorite part of the TZ3's zoom, though, is its 28mm wide angle setting, essential for indoor, vacation, or landscape photography. The Panasonic TZ3's low barrel distortion lets you capture buildings and skylines without the significant bending of straight lines that we're used to seeing from most wide angle digital cameras. The Panasonic DMC-TZ3 is an impressive little long zoom digital camera