Should i go for a camera w/10xoptical zoom & 6.1MP or 5xoptical zoom 7.1 MP?

Question

besides the differences i gave they are pretty much exactly the same

Answer 1

You don't need more than 5 or possibly 6 MP. Most cameras have 3X optical zoom, I have 12X; but that's up to you and anywhere in between. My daughters Fugi is 5MP and 10X optical and takes excellent photos. Don,t get wrapped up in the megapixel hype. Usually the more optical zoom the more money. Brands to shoot for are Sony, Canon, Fugi and Nikon.

Answer 2

the "x" in the optical zoom isn't like how much more magnified than uncorrected vision (i.e. this is 10x bigger than you'd see it) it's the product of the smallest focal length vs. the longest. And this can make a BIG difference depending upon what applications you want to use the camera for.

For example, let's take two cameras:
One has a focal length (35mm camera equivalent) of
18mm-180mm.
The other has an equivalent of
35mm-350mm.
Both are "10x" cameras, but they are VASTLY different lenses.
The human eye "sees" at about an equivalent to 50mm.
Thus, if you're doing lots of landscapes, you want a wide angle lens to take it all in. The top one gets you that, but only a good amount as far as soom.
The second lens barely gets you much at all on the wide angle, but REALLY good zoom. Thus, if you want to shoot nature, sports, or anything where you're far away, that's the choice (it shoudl also have image stabilization, otherwise all of your zoomed in images will be blurry).

And really, in this instance, depending upon what you want, the 10x optical may or may not be the right thing.
The 10x could be 20-200mm (a common "10x" measurement), 18-180, or 30-300mm. On the other hand, the 5x could be 20-100, 30-150 (likely) or maybe even 18-90. If you want to do landscapes, then a 5x taht's 18-90 is going to be vastly superior to a 10x that can only get down to 30 or even 24mm.
So find out the exact 35mm equivalents of the zoom lens, compare it to what you'd expect to be doing later, and then choose.

Like the others have said, DO NOT get sucked into the megapixel war. ESPECIALLY in consumer digicams, more megapixels on small little consumer-sized sensors mean more noise, a "slower" ability for your camera, and crappier pictures. Are you REALLY going to make a 24x36 print from that tiny camera of yours? Then don't worry about MP.

Answer 3

If you do a lot of cropping and/or enlargements, then mega pixels come into play big time!!!

The 10x optical zoom is a Great feature - no doubt. If I'm not mistaken - you must be referring to the Kodak's V610. If so - you should understand that these cameras work their best outdoors. Indoors - zooming in - the flash is not going to zoom along - and you will usually get a blurred picture unless a tripod is used.

Me personally - I would go for the 10x 6.1MP :-)

Answer 4

Go for the 10x optical zoom. When you enlarge a digital picture, you can only get as much fine detail as there is in the image to begin with. After a certain point you start seeing individual pixels.

With a higher power optical zoom, you can basically crop the picture before you shoot. This is important. It takes a good sense of composition or a lot of practice to be able to frame your shot on the fly. A good telephoto lens allows you to eliminate the distracting or uninteresting stuff when you click the shutter, rather than when you print the picture. You're not wasting pixels for stuff around the edges of your picture. Therefore, you lose less detail and have a clearer picture.

Answer 5

Go with the 10x Zoom, 6.1MP camera. the extra 1MP wont make that much of a difference (only raw photo size) and with the 6.1 you'll get a better zoom feature.

Answer 6

Optical zoom is way clearer 7 cleaner then digital zoom & there isn't much differents between 6.1 & 7.1 mega-pixsels, unless ur blowing ur print up as big as posters.

Answer 7

It would help us advise you if you mentioned the specific cameras you are looking at. One company's 10x camera is great and another one sucks.

Answer 8

you can read reviews of cameras by ebay members. here's a direct link

Answer 9

don't do either one
if they do not have an
image stabilizer