Camera question, What is better?

Question

a camera that has

5megapixel and 3x optical zoom or 8megapixel and digital zoom

Answer 1

5MP with a 3x optical zoom is far better.

If you look closely, you will probably see that the 8MP camera with digial zoom only is an interoplated 8mp from a sensor that is more likely a 3mp to 5mp sensor.

Answer 2

5mp and 3x optical zoom. 5mp should be enough for most common print sizes and it's very nice to have that ability to zoom without losing quality.

Answer 3

The camera that has 5 megapixel and 3x optical zoom is better!! With a 5mp digital camera you will be able to print pictures bigger then 8x10 and optical zoom is always better then digital zoom!!

Answer 4

5megapixel and 3x optical zoom

Answer 5

That's a really good question because there are pros and cons to each one. I would go with the 5 megapixel because you will not notice the difference between 5 and 8 megapixels unless you are enlarging your photos large enough to print building-size posters. And 3x optical zoom is "real" zoom, versus digital zoom, which really only takes the digital information coming through the lens and artificially enlarges it to appear as a zoomed image.