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Are there any digital cameras and/or camcorders offering optical zoom in video mode?

Hi, anybody knows if there are any digital cameras and/or camcorders offering optical zoom in video mode? All I've ever had are camcorders and digital cameras that feature only digital zoom when recording video, and the quality of that zooming is lousy; you see the quality difference immediately, when playing back the videos. If anybody knows, I'd appreciate some suggestions, preferably budget cameras, USB compatible, so I can transfer to my PC. Thanks a lot in advance for your suggestions.

Public Comments

1. Of course there are, just not many. Save for cameras with mechanical zoom rings (which obviously can't prevent the user from using the zoom during the video recording, so they allow it), though, most cameras with small optics use zooms electronically operated (with zoom in/out buttons, tipically), and for those, it's much rarer to find zoom-while-recording-enabled ones. The reason usually given by the manufacturer is that the motor drive that extends the zoom makes a noise that would be catched up by the microphone in the audio recording. The most usual exceptions are cameras using “folded optics” designs (mostly ultra-compact cameras, those with tiny lenses that don't extend outside the body when zooming), because those have somewhat quieter zoom mechanisms. Not all ultra-compact cameras allow video zooming, though: the Casio EX-V and Sony T ones do, while the Fujifilm Z series and Nikon Sxx series don't. Done with theory, and into practical suggestions: - The Casio EX-V line (EX-V7 and EX-V8) - Panasonic TZ1 and TZ5 (but not the TZ2 or TZ3 models); TZ4, I don't know. - Canon PowerShot S3 IS, S5 IS, TX1 - Sony H3, H5, and most (of not all) of the T series. If you're in a budget, I'd suggest either the Casio EX-V7 or Panasonic TZ1, or some of the more modest Sony T series.