Up close and digital: Camcorders with ridiculously long zooms
Lori Grunin,
Senior Editor
September 24, 2009
I admit it; I consider these to be stalker cams. Most 10x to 20x zoom lenses are sufficient for the occasional school play or graduation; so, unless you're shooting from the nosebleed seats in an arena, there's usually a reason not to get too close. Long zooms tend to be harder to shoot with as well, since keeping the subject in the frame gets difficult when you're zoomed out a long way. But in the interest of free choice, here are camcorders with some of the longest zoom lenses on the market.
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| Product name | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $249.00 to $324.99 | $309.00 to $519.95 | $299.97 to $447.12 | $259.00 to $429.95 | $242.96 | $278.00 to $299.99 |
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| Review date | August 25, 2009 | May 28, 2009 | June 22, 2009 | June 26, 2009 | June 08, 2009 | September 08, 2009 |
| The Bottom Line | The Samsung SMX-F34 is a serviceable inexpensive standard-definition camcorder, but the money goes more to storage and the megazoom lens than to video quality. | If storage amount, zoom range, and easy operation are on your list of needs before video quality, check out the Sony Handycam DCR-SR47. | The Panasonic SDR-H80 has the zoom power of a telescope and a lot of storage in a compact body, but the video results are not nearly as thrilling. | Though its video isn't perfect, the Canon FS200 is one of the better standard-definition consumer camcorders available. | The JVC Everio GZ-MS120 is a nice little flash-memory-based standard-definition camcorder. | If internal flash memory, zoom range, and a touch-screen LCD are on your list of needs before video quality, check out the Sony Handycam DCR-SX41. |
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| Features | ||||||
| Lens aperture | F/1.6-4.3 | F/1.8-6.0 | F/1.9-5.7 | F/2.0-5.2 | F/1.8-4 | F/1.8-6.0 |
| Media type | Flash card | Hard disk drive | Flash card Hard disk drive | Flash card | Flash card | Flash card |
| Optical zoom | 34 x | 60 x | 70 x | 37 x | 35 x | 60 x |
| Optical sensor type | CCD | Advanced HAD CCD | CCD | CCD | CCD | Advanced HAD CCD |
| Video input type | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder | Camcorder |
| Digital zoom | 1200 x | 2000 x | 3500 x | 2000 x | 800 x | 2000 x |
| Min illumination | 3 lux | 6 lux | 2 lux | 1.3 lux | Info unavailable | 6 lux |
| Weight | 9.5 oz | 10.6 oz | 10.6 oz | 7.9 oz | 8.5 oz | 8.8 oz |
| Optical sensor size | 1/6" | 1/8" | 1/8" | 1/6" | 1/6" | 1/8" |
| Manual focus | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic | Automatic | Manual Automatic | Manual Automatic |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
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