cameraMy wife is starting to get in to photography more and more. She likes her point and shoot camera because it is small so it can go with her most ever where.
She is interested in some of the nicer cameras (with focus control and high zoom lenses). Is there anyway to have the best of both worlds? Have a camera with the features of a higher end camera but in the size of a point and shoot camera?
Physics makes you basically at odds with your request: Small, slim Size and Big Zoom / Focus
In order to get a worthwhile, high-power zoom, you basically need more (and bigger) glass elements. (I use the word "worthwhile" because manufacturers can produce high-power zooms with tiny lenses, but the quality of the pictures is going to suffer dearly.) Because the lenses are bigger, they take up more space in the camera body. In the camera world, bigger really is better (when it comes to picture quality.)
Also, with manual focus control, you need something to grip onto and that sort of requires that the lens be handled by one's hand. The idea of a P&S is to do just that, not fiddle around with manual focus. So it's hard to find a manufacturer willing to make a P&S camera that allows you to manually turn the lens to focus it.
So in order for your wife to get these 2 features (better zoom and good manual control), she's going to have to start looking at cameras with larger bodies. They don't have to be ridiculously large, but I imagine she probably has a super slim P&S that can slip into a small hand purse.
As an example, I have this old Canon A710 P&S camera. It's not super slim, but it's not fat either. (aka, it might take up most of a hand purse, but it would fit fine in a larger pocketbook.)
It has a medium sized lens for a P&S, has a 6x zoom, and image stabilization. It can also switch into manual focus, although it needs to be controlled via the buttons on the back. You cannot turn the lens by hand.
If she wanted to turn the lens by hand to focus, there are still cameras that are technically P&S style, but are much bigger. They don't have interchangeable lenses like SLR cameras, either. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 is an example of this. And it's affordable at $300, but it's bulky. Not SLR bulky, but it's still on the big side.
My best recommendation is to make a list of all the important things she wants in a camera and then really prioritize that list in a few categories, like Mandatory, Important, and Nice, but Not That Important.
This will make it easier to figure out what she really wants and when/where you can compromise.
Good luck!
YES there's a new alternative emerging, which is in-between poor compact cameras and huge DLSR's: They're called EVIL = Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens. If I hadn't recently bought a new compact, I would buy an EVIL instead. To me, it seems you get the best of both worlds: small size and decent photos. Best of all, the photo sensor is large (as in DLSR's) so you get much better photos even without pro lenses.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/five-reasons-you-should-ditch-your-dslr/
http://www.evilcamera.net/
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.