The best zoom camera will offer a tangible shooting advantage over a smartphone, giving you all-around flexibility to tackle a wide range of subjects. Shoot at longer focal lengths for portraits and details, then zoom out to wide for landscapes and scenes – a good zoom compact will do it all.
Zoom cameras can encompass a broad range of types. You might be talking about traditional pocket-friendly point-and-shoot compact cameras, ideal for holidays and day trips. There are also bridge cameras – bigger and chunkier, with lengthier zooms and DSLR-style handling. More recently, we've seen the rise of vlogging compacts, specifically optimized for video, and there are also waterproof compacts to consider.
All the zoom cameras on this list have been tested and reviewed by our team, and I've aimed to include a broad range of types and different price points.
Amy Davies has been writing about photography since 2009, and used to be a colleague on Digital Camera magazine and Techradar.com. She regularly tests the latest cameras and smartphones, and here brings her expertise to picking the best zoom compacts.
Our top picks
Best zoom camera overall
This is a luxury-priced compact camera that combines a quality 1-inch sensor with an impressive 8x zoom in a very portable casing. Sold as the RX100 VIIA in some territories.
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Best zoom camera for beginners
Easy to use, with a powerful 30x zoom, this a novice-friendly compact camera that can handle a host of different subjects while still being able to slip into a pocket – though the small sensor limits image quality.
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Best photo/video hybrid
This is a well-respected zoom camera that offers a 4.2x zoom that's equivalent to a 24-100mm, with a 1in type sensor. It takes great pictures, and has a flip-around screen that's super-handy for vlogging.
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Best for vlogging
The new vlogging camera to beat, the PowerShot V1 uses a 1.4-inch sensor that puts it a cut above the competition, producing oversampled 4K video of superior quality with its 3x zoom.
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Best waterproof
This compact is at home on land and water. Designed to take the knocks it can dive to depths of 15m - but also comes with a very competent 4x zoom and superb close-focusing capabilities.
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Best value superzoom
This big-zoom bridge camera balances price and performance. It packs an impressive 63x zoom range – and has the useful combination of an electronic eye-level viewfinder and a swing-out LCD panel.
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Cheap waterproof camera
This highly affordable waterproof camera is ideal for holidays, especially with young kids, as it'll stand up to being dropped, kicked and submerged. Image quality is decent – in good light, at least.
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Best zoom camera
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Best overall
When it comes to the king of the all-rounders, a camera that is adept at pretty much anything you’d care to throw at it, the Sony RX100 VII is the one. But, the one for which you’ll pay a huge premium for.
With its 8x zoom, it’s fairly flexible (though if zoom is your main concern, there are others that are better here), but it’s the fact that it can shoot at super-fast burst speeds, has a retracting EVF, a well-featured touchscreen and a high-performing one-inch sensor - and does all of that while fitting in your pocket that sees it sit at the top of our list.
If you want something which will fit more neatly into your budget, keep looking down our list. Also note that you may see the RX100 sold as the Sony RX100 VIIA in certain territories – this is a minor reskin of the camera designed to comply with EU regulations around USB charging ports, and is exactly the same on the inside.
See our full Sony RX100 VII review.
Best for beginners
If you're new to photography and video, the Panasonic Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 (the name varies by territory; we'll call it the ZS99 from this point) is a very easy-to-use camera that boasts a monster zoom range. You might not think it, given the camera's pocketable dimensions, but the little ZS99 sports a 30x optical zoom lens, taking it all the way from a wide 24mm equivalent all the way to a super-telephoto 720mm.
Image quality holds up pretty well throughout this zoom range, and Hybrid 5-axis Optical Image Stabilization helps reduce the effects of camera-shake and makes the outer edge of that zoom range more useable when shooting handheld. The 49-area autofocus is reliably accurate, supporting by face/eye-tracking, and a maximum burst rate of 10fps.
The rear LCD screen is a flip-around type, however there's no viewfinder at all. This has helped slim down the dimensions of the camera compared to previous ZS models (and presumably the cost), but those who prefer eye-level composition will be disappointed.
Ultimately, there are trade-offs when you cram more than 20 megapixels onto a small 1/2.3-inch sensor, and our reviewer found that the Lumix ZS99 does struggle in poor light. Dynamic range isn't the best, with some detail lost in shadows and highlights – though this can be worked on if you shoot in raw format.
Read our full Panasonic Lumix ZS99 / TZ99 review
Best photo/video hybrid
This is a neat, rectangular design of a compact - that follows in a long-line of PowerShot G-series compacts. What we like about this model is that it offers a good balance between size, image quality and zoom range. The zoom is not as great as some rivals - but for this you get a 1in-type sensor that offers more quality than many zoom cameras.
One of the reasons that the G7 X Mark III became popular, is that it was one of the earliest cameras to offer a flip-up screen that rotates through 180° to help vloggers and selfie-shooters. Video is captured at 4K, which stills can be fired off at up to 30 frames per second. In our field tests we found that the image quality was very good, with a nice level of detail in our photos – although there was some slight fall-off in sharpness in the corners.
See our full Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III review
Best for vloggers
Sony and its ZV series enjoyed a good few years of near-dominance over the vlogging compact space, but Canon's PowerShot V1 has finally arrived, and our take is that it has absolutely eaten the ZV series' lunch. It's not a full-blown replacement for the PowerShot G7 X Mark III featured above, but where that camera is a pretty elegant photo/video hybrid, this is one is firmly a video-focused machine. It can shoot stills, but that's manifestly not its primary purpose.
The PowerShot V1 is built around a 22.3MP 1.4-inch sensor, which is a marked step up from the 1-inch sensors found in most equivalent compacts. It uses this sensor to produce oversampled 4K that is a marked step up in quality compared to many contemporaries, including the Sony ZV-1 II.
It also uses an active cooling system, with a visible fan on one side – Canon presumably wishing to never again repeat the controversy of the infamously overheating EOS R5. While its capacities aren't infinite, in practice the PowerShot V1 feels like it just shoots and shoot – our reviewer captured reams of 4K video in blazing sunshine and never managed to overheat the camera.
It's more expensive than the G7 X Mark III, and that camera sports a longer zoom range. But if you're a pure video shooter with little to no interest in stills, the PowerShot V1 is the best zoom compact you can buy right now.
Read our full Canon PowerShot V1 review
Best waterproof zoom camera
The TG-7 is the latest in a series of shockproof, and fully waterproof cameras in the Tough range - originally produced by Olympus, and now marketed under the OM System brand. Its appeal is that you can use this on the beach, in extreme weather, on a boat, or even when snorkeling and not worry. But it is not just about the commando credentials, we love built-in microscope setting that allows you to take amazing close-ups - and that it records GPS coordinates and temperature with your photos.
Its 12 megapixel sensor can shoot 4K video, but can usefully capture Full HD video at 120fps for super-slow-motion - with a modest 12MP stills capability. The TG-7 has a modest 25-100mm optical zoom - butt that is actually very good compared to other fully waterproof compacts. In our field tests we found the Tough easy-to-use but sophisticated, is quite simply the best waterproof camera around.
Read our full OM System Tough TG-7 review
Best value superzoom
If you’re looking for a well-rounded bridge camera that offers a good range of functions - and has that all-important ultra-long zoom, then the Canon SX70 is a good option.
At 65x, it’s one of the longest on the market (without verging into the ridiculous territory of the Nikon P1000, see below), giving you good scope to shoot pretty much every subject imaginable.
We found it very least to handle (you will feel familiar with it if you’re used to using other Canon cameras). There's usable enough EVF and fully articulating screen - but which is let down by the fact it’s not touch-sensitive. There’s a good range of shooting modes, plus the ability to shoot in raw format.
The trade-off here for the ultra-long zoom is a small sensor, meaning the SX70 doesn’t perform amazingly well in certain conditions - such as low light. But for a good value travel and holiday camera, we reckon it’s still well worth considering.
See our full Canon PowerShot SX70 HS review.
Cheap waterproof
This simple, straightforward waterproof zoom compact is perfect for family holidays, beach trips and the like – the WG-1000 boasts a similar feature-set to the OM System Tough TG-7, but undercuts it on price. This makes it a good choice if you want a waterproof camera but can live without features like an f/2 aperture or freezeproofing.
As is pretty much always the case with tough compacts, the WG-1000 uses a small 1/2.3-inch sensor. This means image quality is generally good rather than great, and won't be a noticeable upgrade over what you'd get from a smartphone, with the obvious caveat that a smartphone likely won't survive being submerged under 15m of seawater.
The WG-1000 sports a 4x zoom lens, covering an equivalent optical range of 27mm standard to 108mm telephoto. Its maximum aperture is a fairly middling f/3 even at the wide-end, and this combined with the small sensor means it does struggle when the light gets low., as our reviewer discovered. However, when the light was good, he was able to get consistently pleasing images, especially when he set the colors to 'vivid' for a postcard-style pop.
Ultimately, it won't win any awards for image quality, but the competitive pricing and tough credentials of the WG-1000 make it a brilliant choice for kids, holidays and fun days out.
Read our full Pentax WG-1000 review
How to choose a zoom camera
Zoom range
When it comes to choosing a zoom camera, think about exactly how much zoom you actually need. You’ll probably want at least an 8-10x zoom, but some of those in our list here offer 20 or 30x, with one even offering a staggering 125x (enough power to shoot close-ups of the moon!).
Thinking about equivalent focal lengths, if zoom is your main concern you’ll generally be looking for something which goes beyond the standard 24-70mm type range, so pay attention to that in the specs list. Also think about the wide-angle end of the lens, especially if you’re looking for something to fulfill a range of needs or is ideal as an all-rounder for subjects such as travel. That could even mean you look out for something wider than 24mm for extended flexibility.
Sensor size
As a general rule, the bigger the sensor the better the image quality. Zoom compacts typically have a 1-in type sensor, or a 1/2.3in sensor. The 1in sensor measures 13.2 x 8.8mm - around four times the size of 1/2.3in one (which measures 6.17 x 4.56mm). The bigger the sensor, though, the bigger the lens needs to be - so cameras with 1in sensors tend to have smaller zooms than those with the smaller imaging chip.
How we test zoom camera
Our team of in-house and external reviewers have tested hundreds of zoom cameras over the years, and we use their experience to pick the best available in the market today for this guide. We test compact cameras and bridge cameras in real world conditions - seeing how they handle shooting a variety of different lighting conditions and shooting scenarios, and then comparing their results to those we have taken with similar cameras. With zoom cameras, handling is just as important as out-and-out image quality - so we pay particular attention to ease-of-use and ergonomics in our tests.
Read more about how we test products at DCW
Read more:
Best travel camera
The best point-and-shoot cameras
Best cameras for hiking
Best cameras under $200
Best cameras under $500
Best cameras for beginners
Best compact cameras
Best mirrorless cameras
