Want something a little more potent than a point-and-shoot but don’t want to shell out the money for a true blue DSLR. You may want to check out this mid-range digital camera review by CBS.
Why go for these mid-range digital cameras? Well even if you find a nice entry-level digital SLR cheap (And you can with competitive models from Nikon, Canon and Sony), you’re going to have to shell out some cash if you want a decent zoom lens.
Now with these mid-range digital cameras, such as the Kodak Z812 or Canon S5 IS (The ones looked at in this review), there’s usually a fixed lens on the body that can do a decent zoom job. The Z812 and S5 IS both have 12x optical zooms which is like having a 36 to 436 mm lens on your digital SLR. (And if there’s probably a lot of photographers that would love to have a lens with that much versatility on their SLR lens)
You can read the original story here. Here was the general CBS reaction to these cameras.
“I tested both cameras in a variety of situations including close-ups, long zooms and both with and without flash and I found the quality of the picture roughly equivalent, so based on price, size and weight, I would go with the Kodak. Overall I was extremely impressed with both the usability and results from this camera and consider it a big step up from a small point and shoot. While not as fast as a D-SLR, it can nevertheless give you great pictures from a distance thanks to its 12-1 optical zoom lens.”
