Your Photo Tips reader Maria asks:

What’s up with superzoom cameras? Are they worth the purchase or what?

Fujifilm Finepix S8100fd 10MP Digital Camera with 18x Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Optical Zoom

It’s easy enough to find information on SLRs or DSLRs as well as an abundance of information about point and shoot compact cameras but what about that superzoom hybrid?

It’s compact (sort of) and is a great stepping stone for someone considering venturing into the heavier bulkier world of SLRs/DSLRs or perhaps you aren’t interested in getting a DSLR.

The chief advantage of these mid-size cameras are their powerful zooms. You can often find them advertised as 12X, 15X, or even 20X zoom! This solves many issues when your trying to capture events from a distance like at a football game, rock concert, or ballet recital.

These mid-size cameras also happen to house an almost extinct feature in today’s consumer level camera: the eyepiece! Keep in mind that the eyepieces employed by the superzoom cameras are electronic viewfinders however their advantage is still prevalent. When the sun’s glaring down at your camera and you need to actually see what your taking a picture of, you’ll be glad you had the eyepiece. Even if it isn’t as clear as a see through viewfinder found on SLRs.

Many of the superzoom cameras also have flip-out screens which is really great for macro work from funny angles. This will help save your knees and your back as you grasp how to get the most out of that particular feature.

So what’s the downside?

Well, they’re still considered compact and consumer level so your dealing with smaller sensors. This will mean poor low light performance and tons of noise in high ISO settings.

These things are bulky. I used to have one as my “vacation camera” and it always sat in the hotel room. Why? Because it doesn’t fit in your shirt or pants pocket so you might as well take out the big gun, right? We now use a real compact camera as our “vacation camera” and I use it more often than I used the superzoom for sure.

If you’re just not down with the thousands you’ll end up spending on a DSLR with lenses and all of the other expenses that come with upgrading but you need the extra zoom then by all means look into the superzoom class. There are some really great finds. I do like the FujiFilm brands with the superzoom.