Learn aboutWide apertures at full zoom

Widest Aperture High Zoom Camera

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 with 24x zoom has the widest aperture at full zoom of all the super-zoom cameras we've seen.

Wide aperture lenses let in more light, but when the lens is at its maximum focal length (aka its maximum zoom) then the maximum aperture will be a lot smaller (say f/5.6) compared to the maximum aperture aperture when the lens is at its minimum focal length (say f/2.8).

When you're zoomed in a lot you really need to have very short exposures to avoid blur caused from camera shake - in todays superzooms offering 20X+ zoom any small movement of your hand creates giant movements in the image. In order to ensure you can have short exposures you want to be able to shoot at as low an f-stop as possible.The learning topic on apertures explains why big apertures (the same as low f-stops) allow you to expose the image to more light.

Rule of thumb: The widest aperture at wideangle focal lengths > widest aperture at telephoto focal lengths

Superzooms with Big Apertures

The following superzooms have the widest apertures at full zoom

	Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 from $498	External mic jack Record higher quality audio with a microphone Flip-out screen Great for movies Great battery life 540 shots Learn more about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200

See more of the top superzooms with wide apertures

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