I have a photography background with 35mm film and digital cameras. I am on the market to buy a camcorder and I would like to understand the "reach" of the zoom when it mentions things like "10X optical"? I can easily figure out the reach of, say, a 75-300mm lens in 35mm film cameras. How does the camcorder zoom labels compare to 35mm film camera zooms?

A: It is as simple as it seems.

10x zoom means that at 0% zoom or no zoom, the image is at the same size you can see with the naked eye from the same spot and vantage point as the camcorder, and at 100% zoom or maximum zoom, the same image is now ten times larger than its original size (and part of the image may now be so big it went our of frame or out of view).

If you are talking about focal distance or in your case "focal length", that is a different issue. Most...

The average priced SLR lenses provide a zoom of only 4X noramlly (high-mm / low-mm ) . Why do ppl buy those cameras when the ultra zoom cameras have a zoom range of almost 20X noadays ? Whats so great in SLR and a separate lens ?

A: OK first of all saying a camera has 20 X or 10 X is really more a marketing thing than telling you any data about what the lens does, A 10mm-50mm a 20mm to 100 mm and a 100mm to 500 mm are all 5X lenses though they are nothing alike. Point and shoot cameras can more easily give you a larger zoom range because they have to only focus the image on a small sensor. Also they are not worried as much about things like chromatic abberation or lens distortion ( e.g. Barrel Distortion ). They do not...

I understand that a high optical zoom (when used) delivers a clear picture while a high digital zoom (when used) delivers an unclear picture. What I want to know is, do these 2 different features work dependantly or independantly from each other? Are there camcorders that come with both high optical zooms and low digital zooms at the same time? Or does having a high optical zoom inevitably impose the camera with a high digital zoom? And, if this is the sad but true case, can the digital zoom...

A: Typically, the optical zoom would be used 1st until it has reached the upper limit, then the digital zoom takes over at that point. Therefore, the digital zoom is more of a supplement to the optical zoom.

Here's a good explanation of digital zoom:
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Digital_Imaging/Digital_zoom_01.htm

The Nintendo DSi has a built in digital camera, but the resolution isn’t that great and there isn’t much of a zoom either.  The digital camera is 0.3 megapixels.  Nyko invented a solution to enhance the zoom camera on the DSi.  Nyko’s Zoom Case is a plastic cover that slips over the DSi.  An 8X-optical-zoom lens is screwed to the camera.  After attaching the external lens, the camera can take 640×460 pixel images.  Although there is no final price announced for the Zoom Case, it is rumored that the cost is between $20 and $40.

[via PCW]