Digital Camera HQ's 2008 Holiday Gift Guide: Best Extended Zoom Cameras

These extended zoom cameras make excellent gifts for budding photographers interested in gaining more experience with advanced techniques. They're not as complicated or as expensive as high-end dSLRs and require no interchangeable lenses. They offer long-range zooms, wide-angle lenses, and plenty of manual control so the shooter can have a say in how their photos look. Each of these cameras provides an excellent opportunity for someone to really step up one's game.

18x Optical Zoom, HD Video Panasonic FZ28 from $293.41	The Panasonic Lumix FZ28 is an interesting new model that couples a long-range 18x optical zoom with high-definition video recording. Though it's only a digital camera movie mode, the 720p HD clips are good enough, and will fit your widescreen HDTV quite well. It's not a replacement for a dedicated HD camcorder, but it's a nice option to have at your disposal when you want to grab some high quality video clips on the fly. The FZ28 also features a 27mm wide-angle lens, making this camera incredibly versatile, capable of taking both highly-detailed long range photos and wide, all-inclusive shots. If you'd like to know more, check out our hands-on review of the FZ28.
20x Optical Zoom, Wide-Angle Lens Canon SX10 IS from $326.95	The Canon Powershot SX10 IS is built for comfort, for ease-of-use, and to take exceptional long-range photographs with its image-stabilized 20x optical zoom. Until now, Olympus had been the sole occupant of the 20x club, but now they've got strong competition from this attractive, 10-megapixel shooter from Canon. The SX10 IS also includes a wide-angle lens (28mm) for inclusive group shots, and offers a 2.5-inch swiveling, angled LCD display. It's powerful, yet compact, perfect for family vacations and travel, as well as everyday casual photography.
Compact 20x Optical Zoom Olympus SP-565 UZ from $297.00	The Olympus SP-565 UZ is a more approachable version of the incredible SP-570 UZ (read our hands-on review), stripping out some of the more advanced features like RAW file format support and narrowing the range of light sensitivity to bring its 20x optical zoom and wonderful zoom-ring control to consumers at an affordable price. It's smaller, lighter, and built to operate like a point-and-shoot despite being a rather advanced camera. The SP-565 UZ beats the SX10 and the FZ28 when it comes to wide-angle lenses, besting them with a 26mm lens. The SP-565 UZ is an exciting camera, especially as it follows the model of its successful predecessor so closely.