Why do digital video cameras have huge zooms but photo cameras do not?

Question

I have often wondered why a digital/Hard drive/flash drive/etc. video camera can sport up to a 50x optical zoom, whereas the largest digital photo camera zoom i have seen (excluding humongous, extremely expensive SLR zoom lenses) is 20x on an Olympus. Is it too hard to get a high-quality 50x zoom onto a camera, or what?

Answer 1

You can call the help lines at both Canon and Sony, since they make both and ask them ... they will know ... all we can do is guess.

800.OK-CANON

800.222.SONY

Most consumer video cameras have sensors that are even smaller than P&S digital cameras ... That could be a factor ...  the smaller the sensor, the easier it is to design compact lenses with large zoom ranges.

Look at the physical size of a 12x lens on a P&S vs. the 18-200 mm Nikon (11.1x) lens used on their DSLR cameras

Answer 2

There is nothing to guess about. There are two reasons for this.

First, the sensor size. Because most video cameras, regardless of what kind, don't capture video in 6, 8 or 10 megapixels they way a still camera will, the sensor can be smaller.

When the sensor gets smaller, it's easier to get that extra zoom because of a crop factor.

Next, would be size. Along with a tiny sensor, video cameras are generally larger than digital point and shoots. With that larger and deeper size, three is room for a larger lens.

There is nothing stopping you from getting 50x from a digital point and shoot. But the sensor size might have to drop, and it might be a lower resolution, like 2 or 4 megapixels for example. Next, you'll have a huge lens to deal with.

As sensor size increases, like say in a digital SLR, there is no way to get around the fact that you need a huge lens just to match the reach of a decent compact digital zoom. So the bottom line, it's a law of physics that stops you from getting a monster zoom on a tiny camera, it's not because camera companies don't want to do it.

Answer 3

I'm pretty sure fhotoace hit the nail on the head. The sensor size on a video camera is MUCH smaller than even the sensor on a point-and-shoot camera. This reduced area of sensor doesn't require as much of a lens to cover so you can fit a much more compact 50x zoom in a video camera than you can in a point-and-shoot.