18x Optical Zoom in an Itty Bitty Point and Shoot [Cameras]

Point and shoots are generally seen as the wimpy hacks of the camera world, when compared to modern DSLRs and fancy new micro four thirds cameras. But their specs—like the 18x optical zoom on the Pentax Optio RZ18—are getting pretty impressive. It's like when Carrot Top grew mega-muscles and could all-of-a-sudden kick your ass.

The Optio RZ18's lens covers 25mm to 450mm, which pretty spectacular for a point and shoot. It's also got a 16MP sensor, a 3-inch LCD display, image stabilization, and it shoots video at 720p/30fps. It'll be available for $300 in October. [Marketwatch via Slashgear]

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Ask a Pro: How to Shoot an Awesome Music Video on a Rollercoaster Without Permission [Video]

How do you shoot a music video on a legendary Coney Island roller coaster? If you've got the budget, you could rent the ride for $6000 per day—double director Jeremy Johnstone's budget for the entire video shoot.

Here's how he shot Wye Oak's video for "Holy Holy" in two days in July during a record-breaking heatwave with no permits and no permission—without killing anyone.

Currently nominated for an Emmy for his work on the titles for the defunct AMC show Rubicon, Johnstone, 29, has always been a scrappy director, even though he mostly works on commercials for big companies like Toyota. He started shooting digital at the beginning of his career, when the industry was just starting to switch. "I realized I could fake big budget on a small budget," he told me. "My commercial work is low budget. I just make it look like $300,000."

Johnstone's treatment for the video called for shooting not only on the famously rough-and-tumble, Coney Island Cyclone rollercoaster, but also on the Tickler-a modern steel roller coaster with tight turns and abrupt drops-and the Brooklyn Flyer-a huge carousel of swings that spins riders over 100 feet in the air.

The first challenge: Not getting caught. Johnstone's plan sounds ludicrously simple to the point of being impossible. Oh sure, they'd just sneak bags full of gear past park staff onto the rides, wait until they were out of sight, set everything up before the ride got too crazy and shoot the video anyway. On several trips to the amusement park, Johnstone and his producer meticulously timed the setup time and figured out that they had 20 seconds on the Flyer, 30 seconds on the Tickler and 40 seconds on the Cyclone. In other words they'd have to set everything up in less than the time it takes for a smartphone to power on.

Even after meticulous planning, the rides themselves were a free-for-all. Each called for different shots, for which they'd be fighting against the disabling physics of Coney Island's most violent rides. For example on the Flyer, Johnstone held the camera as tightly as possible while his director of photography watched a monitor and screamed instructions over the noise and chaos of the ride. They then hid everything away, got back in line only to live the strenuous, discombobulating experience again. Johnstone's body suffered more than nausea: While shooting point-of-view footage on the Cyclone, Johnstone split open his knuckle. And for a shot on the relatively gentle teacups Johnstone pressed a monopod tightly into his crotch to steady the shot. "I hurt my nuts pretty bad," he says.

The Gear You Have, Not the Gear You Want

Johnstone knew that despite his preparations they'd still be tossed around, and that the raw footage would reflect the frantic scramble and chaos of the shoot. Johnstone's challenge would be to make the video ambling and ethereal, like the song. To achieve this effect, Johnstone had Wye Oak's lead singer Jan Wasner lip-sync the song in double time whenever possible while he shot the footage on a Canon 7D, which can shoot 60 frames per second. At that speed, the footage could then be slowed down without affecting video quality.

Many times, though, it was hard enough just to hang on—Wasner couldn't lip-sync on many shots because rides were just too rocky. On the first day of the shoot, Johnstone had to give up his plan to shoot with an SLR on the Cyclone because it was too dangerous—the weight of a five-pound camera setup jammed together with the force of the ride was too difficult to control. Enter the now-definitive camera for extreme HD shooting on the cheap: the GoPro.

While Johnstone was looking for ways to bring order to the chaos of the rides, he wanted the shots of the band walking around Coney Island to be dreamlike and disorienting. If he'd had the money, he would have rented a professional SnorriCam rig. In these setups, a very steady, shock-absorbing camera-mount is tightly strapped to an actor's body. The camera points back at the actor so that they never move even while the background behind them does. (Think the drug binge scenes in Requiem For a Dream.) Since Johnstone couldn't afford one, he and his crew built theirs from plans they found on the internet for $20 worth of materials. For the bodycam footage—and for a few other shots in the video—the crew used a Canon 5D Mark II because it has a full-frame rather than crop sensor, which is good for the close ups because it shoots at a wider angle.

"For me this video was about using non-traditional routes to get things otherwise impossible. Whether its technology or planning and preparation or just pure effort, using what's available in non-traditional ways to create new and unique outcomes. Whether it's the DIY SnorriCam setup or the DSLR mounted coaster shots, the GoPro Cyclone footage or the two person teamwork to get the swing shots, each shot in the video was a unique hurdle and having that crew I could rely on and having everyone pushing ideas out and just putting in maximum effort made it almost magical in my mind. We achieved something I had no idea was possible."

"Holy Holy" is Jeremy Johnstone's twentieth music video—most of them shot for less than $5000. He also runs his own commercial production company Rockadee. "Holy Holy" is the latest single off Wye Oak's record The Civilian available now on Merge Records.Related Stories

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Best Still – Point & Shoot Digital Cameras

The Point and Shoot digital camera has got a firm acclaim worldwide. The point and shoot cameras offer a maximum resolution of near to 14 mega pixels. These digital camera are easily affordable as they are available from a price range of $ 160 to $ 400 and its possible to get the best of the best at $ 400 too.

Last time we have gone through the best DLSR digital camera and here we go with the best digital camera suited for point and shoot photography.

Canon Powershot PowerShot SD1300 Digital Camera

The Canon Powershot SD1300 digital camera has 28 mm wide angles lens with 4 x optical zoom to get the snaps of closes up. The PowerShot SD1300 is equipped with Canon Opitcal Image Stabilizer which detects and corrects camera shakes.

It has got 12.1 mega pixel resolution camera which lets you create impressive and large enough photos which can be enlarged up to 13 x 19 inches. And the 2.7 inches LCD screen provides excellent control while framing your shots.

With various shooting modes and image stabilization features makes the PowerShot SD1300 from Canon as the best suited for still photos.

Canon Powershot SD1400 Digital Camera

Canon Powershot SD1400 features a 14.1 mega pixel impressive camera quality with 4 x wide-angle optical image feature. It has 2.7 inches LCD black screen for instant preview of the pictures and video recorded.

It features a smart shutter sound technology in which it includes smile self-timer, wind self-timer and face self-timer which detects the faces in scene and releases. The depth and clarity with this Canon camera during the low light conditions it’s exceptionally good enough. It comes with 22 shooting modes for the best possible photos.

The camera is can easily record videos at 720 pixels and makes easy to enjoy HD movies on your HDTV with mini HDMI connector.

The Canon Powershot SD1400 is available at a price of $ 180 to $ 200.

Panasonic Lumix DMS ZS7 Digital Camera

The Panasonic Lumix DMS ZS7 has got 12.1 Mega pixel camera with 12x optical image zoom capabilities and 3 inches LCD screen.

It delivers AVCHD Lite HD movies recording with the 25mm wide-angle through its optical zoom lens. The Intelligent Resolution technology is capable of zoom ratio by approx. 1.3x maintain picture quality at its best.

Panasonic Lumix DMS ZS7 includes a GPS option for movies and photos which when turned on the location data and time are automatically updated.

Panasonic Lumix DMS ZS7 is priced at $ 450 to $ 500 and its available at various sellers online at Amazon.

Sony DSC W350 Digital Camera

Sony is the best in digital imaging and it can be proved with Sony DSC W350 digital camera which as amazing Carl Zeiss 26 mm wide lens. It has got impressive 14.1 mega pixel Super HAD CCD Image sensor which creates amazing and stunning photos. With the professional Carl Zeiss 4x optical zoom lens you get a better image for various photo needs.

It also has 2.7 inches clear Photo LCD display with sharp, natural colors and easy to navigate buttons.

One of the features I should mention about DSC W350 is that it has got Sweep Panorama Mode which allows taking the picture in wide panorama rather than standard image size. Apart from that it also records video in the known MP4 format. With various other features makes the Sony DSC W350 as the best photo camera with still photos.

With a price range of $ 180 to $ 200, it’s also makes it affordable with the features that it has. I would say, you can’t expect more than this and should be straight pick for the users.

Nikon Coolpix S8100 Digital Camera

Nikon Coolpix S8100 is an impressive digital camera with impressive 12.1 megapixel image clarity. It has got CMOS sensor which allows taking picture even in low light conditions. It features a 10x wide angle optical zoom Nikkor ED glass lens.

Nikon Coolpix S8100 features 3 inches Ultra High Resolutions clear color display and its possible to have full HD 1080pixelk video recording with different modes. It also includes a HDMI output port.

It also includes Optical VR Image Stabilization to minimize the effects of camera shake. The Nikon Best Shot Selector will automatically take up to ten shots and only saves the sharpest image. Provided with EXPEED C2 processor for imaging camera it provides fine detail and processing speed.

The Nikon Coolpix is priced at $ 230 to $ 250 and it its availbable with various seller at Amazon with new model, used mode and refurbished model.

Panasonic DMC FX75K Digital Camera

Panasonic DMC FX75K with 14.1 mega pixel resolution and 5 x optical zoom makes the best of your still photograph images. It features a full touch screen operation with its 3 inches LCD screen. It has Venus Engine HD II image processor and you can expand the memory using the SD/SDHC memory cards.

It’s priced at $ 200 to $ 220 and available on Amazon from New, Used and Refurbished options by various sellers.

Sony CyberShot DSC HX5V CMOS Digital Camera

The Sony CyberShot DSC HX5V has got impressive 10.2 megapixel camera with CMOS sensor for amazing low light performance. The iSweep Panorama mode captures the best panoramic images. The 1080i AVCHD provides high quality HD video recording.

It provides 10 x optical zoom through the G lens with 25 mm wide angle. With variety of storage options, the Sony Cybershot DSC HX5V is the best still photos camera. Its available at a price of $ 225 to $ 250.

Canon PowerShot SX210IS Digital Camera

Canon PowerShot SX210IS is a powerful digital camera with 14x optical zoom with image stabilizers and improved dynamic mode for enhanced image stabilization.

It has got 28 mm wide angle lens and 3 inches PureColor System LCD display. It’s possible to have 720 pixel HD video recording capabilities. It has got HDMI out port with the DIGIC 4 Image Processor.

The Canon PowerShot SX210IS digital camera is best suited for still photography.

Panasonic Lumix DMC TS2 Digital Camera

Panasonic Lumix DMC TS2 has 14.1 mega pixel impressive camera quality. It has 2.7 inches LCD display has provides digital zoom level up to 4x. It comes with the tag as waterproof, dustproof and freeze proof.

In addition of recording Motion JPEG images, the Lumix DMC TS2 can now record high-definition motion videos. With Power Optical Image Stabilizer corrects the hand shake correction.

FujiFilm FinePix F80EXR Digital Camera

The FujiFilm FinePix F80EXR is a digital camera with Super CCD EXR sensor and it has 3 inches LCD screen for the pictures and video preview. It provides a 10x digital zoom and has the mini HDMI connectivity port. It’s possible to get full HD 720 pixel video recording and it has the features like tracking auto focus, pet detection, super intelligent flash, face detection and automatic red-eye removal.

The FujiFilm FinePix is good enough to be on the list of best point and shoot for still photos among the digital cameras.

Yogesh Patel is a writer of technology gadgets, digital products like mobile phones, tablets PC, laptops & notebooks & on anything that is related to the gadgets which makes the daily lifestyle easier.

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