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Toolbox: Big Zoom Compacts

Get extensive focal range and high-tech features in a camera that’s smaller and lighter than a typical telephoto lens

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Samsung WB100

SAMSUNG WB100
The WB100's 26x zoom starts at a wide 22.3mm and tops out at just shy of 580mm*. With digital zoom, that extends 5x further to 2900mm. Zoomed out all the way to 22.3mm, it has the widest focal length of any of these cameras, just squeaking past the Olympus SP-820UZ iHS's 22.4mm. It deploys dual image stabilization—both optical and digital.

With 16-megapixel resolution, it's one of the higher-resolution cameras in this group for still photos, but for HD video recording, it's limited to 720p with mono sound, while every other camera here offers full HD 1080p. That may not be an issue for you if you don't record a lot of video or don't need the extra resolution for big-screen playback.

Numerous Scene and Auto modes are available, including settings for close-up, night portraits and backlit images. There's also a 180-degree Panorama mode that gives you a live preview of your final image as you sweep across the scene. You can apply a variety of effects to your images in-camera with Smart Filters like Oil Painting, Half-Tone Dot and a Cartoon Filter to simulate an animation still.

Although there's no hot-shoe for accessories, there's a built-in flash. Powering the WB100 is convenient, with four rechargeable AAs. Maybe the best feature of the camera for the budget-minded is that it's the most affordable model here by a fair margin. Estimated Street Price: $199.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V

SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-HX200V
One of our favorite models in this group, the HX200V leads the pack with 18-megapixel resolution. The 30x optical zoom provides a slightly variable focal range depending on the aspect ratio you select: For 16:9, the range is 29-870mm; at 4:3, it's 27-810mm*. Those focal lengths can be doubled using Clear Image (digital) Zoom.

The HX200V is among the faster cameras here, with the ability to shoot those large image files at up to 10 frames per second. You also can record full HD 1080p video with stereo sound, and capture still and video simultaneously. Both stills and videos are stabilized with Optical SteadyShot and Active 3-way stabilization, the latter of which guards against camera rotation during video recording.

Sony was the first to introduce the ability to capture a panoramic image simply by panning across a scene, and the HX200V includes Intelligent Sweep Panorama HR, which is smart enough to detect faces and even moving objects, counteracting the most common obstacles to automatic panorama stitching. The camera also has GPS built in for convenient geotagging.

The HX200V includes several features to help you take better portraits, including Smile Shutter, which automatically captures a shot when your subject smiles; an Anti-blink function that rapidly captures two images, keeping only the one with eyes wide open; and a Soft Skin mode that automatically reduces blemishes and wrinkles. Estimated Street Price: $389.

*Zoom ranges listed are 35mm-equivalent.

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