Increased zoom capability for A200?

[harmonist02]

I just purchased an A200 and am going to compare it to a Panasonic DMC-FZ10. I'd really like to extend the zoom of the A200 if I'm going to keep it - any suggestions? I have a tight budget, so I'm afraid my options will be very limited.

Thanks,
Andy

[Rob vdKam]

Pretty quiet here, eh?

I haven't decided to keep my A200 yet but I have read that you can get a zoom lens converter (1.5x or something). I haven't seen any other options for that since the lens doesn't detach, and it also probably can't hold too much weight!

[Geoff Chandler]

If you are wanting to use a long zoom regularly - then the A-200 is less ideal - but having said that I have heard that the converter is OK, plus you can use a little digital zoom on the odd occasion....? The attraction, really, for me was the wide angle capability coupled with a reasonable bit of zoom as well.

[Rob vdKam]

As discussed elsewhere (Geoof, you already know this but others may not), you can take advantage of the A200's 8 MP in order to extend the zoom. When you shoot 8 MP, you can then crop it quite a bit to end up with the same photo a 5 MP with 12x zoom would have taken. You can even use the digital zoom to replicate a higher zoom with fewer MP, in order to avoid cropping, but I've found I like being able to see more field of view and choosing to not crop sometimes (or duplicate the image and crop one of them to imitate zoom).