Camcorder or brige camera for long zoom pics

[Tafia]

Hi Folks,

I have a problem with yobbery and want to take long distance photos of the perps for ID purposes. Long distance? Because I have no wish to confront 4 drunken thugs.

I have CCTV which shows the idiocy involved - last week one gent found a large tree branch and lobbed it over our gate. It was so big I had to cut it up to move it. Perhaps 4" thick at the base and about 12 feet long with branches. He carried out further cretinous behaviour along the road. As the CCTV covers a wide area and is not zoomed in as a PTZ could be, the faces are not clear.

I digress.

Would a camcorder with say a 30 X zoom capture clear facial images from 200 yards or would a bridge camera, say a Panny FZ45 be better? The camcorder would be much less obvious ( and cheaper) but I wonder what quality the images would be at that distance.

Anyone have any experience with such camcorder images?

[ExaltedAsh]

I would compare optical zoom at 20x and above for a digital camera, to the huge optical zoom on a lot of camcorders (some as high as 70x. I have a Canon SX30IS that will show the colour of their nose hair from that focal length! However, it depends on what's cost effective for you and what will be the lasting usefulness of the product.

- anything below 20x might be a stretch for facial detail but most compacts with this range and above have HD recording, so if anything you won't be shelling out more than £200.

[Tafia]

I would compare optical zoom at 20x and above for a digital camera, to the huge optical zoom on a lot of camcorders (some as high as 70x. I have a Canon SX30IS that will show the colour of their nose hair from that focal length! However, it depends on what's cost effective for you and what will be the lasting usefulness of the product.

- anything below 20x might be a stretch for facial detail but most compacts with this range and above have HD recording, so if anything you won't be shelling out more than £200.

Many thanks for your response.

Can you suggest any particular camcorder models at around £200? I am thinking camcorder due to size.

I have read many user reviews on Amazon and whenever a model is praised, someone will come along and say it is junk.

Last week a visiting friend showed me the Canon model you have and I was most surprised to see the detail in a picture of a telephone pole top, probably 100 yards away. The heads of the coach bolts could be clearly seen. Most impressive. Only downside is the physical size.

I have two Canon compacts, the A710 IS and the A1100IS. The A710 has a 6 X zoom and is quite clear at full 6 X zoom but the A1100 is blurred at anything above half of the 4 X zoom available.