The Superzoom Camera

With the demise of the traditional compact camera at the hands of the smartphone, the emphasis in fixed lens digital cameras has moved to either higher-end models or those with ‘superzoom’ lenses. Being small is no longer the main prerequisite, and both types offer feature sets similar to those available on mirrorless cameras or D-SLRs with the superzoom models very similar in styling to a mid-sized D-SLR (except they now all have electronic viewfinders rather than optical types). Superzoom lenses span wide-angle to supertelephoto in the one complex optical design and the exceptionally long focal lengths are achieved by adopting smallersize sensors (so a magnification factor comes into play).

The current king of the superzoom cameras, Nikon’s Coolpix P1000, has a lens with a focal range equivalent to 24-3000mm because it uses a 1/2.3-inch size sensor. However, this still has a resolution of 16.79 megapixels so the image quality is more than acceptable for many applications and, while still a fairly big camera, the P1000 is a much more manageable package than either a D-SLR or a mirrorless body fitted with a comparable supertelephoto (not to mention also being much cheaper). Obviously very much more capable than any smartphone, the superzoom camera is now the most popular fixed-lens design on the market. The high-end compacts generally have bigger sensors – either ‘APS-C’ or full-35mm – which are matched with high-quality fast prime lenses or short zooms. Consequently, despite having a fixed lens, these cameras can still be quite expensive. Current examples include the Fujifilm X100T, Leica Q and Sony Cybershot RX1R II.

▲ The superzoom camera represents a very capable all-in-one package, but the longer focal lengths are achieved by using smaller sensors. The zoom on Nikon’s Coolpix P1000 has an effective focal range of 24-3000mm!

▲ With the lower-end of the compact camera market having effectively been wiped out by the smartphone, the emphasis with fixed-lens digital cameras is now on higher-end models generally with bigger sensors such as Fujifilm’s ‘APS-C’ X100F and Leica’s full-35mm format Q.