Best “superzoom” cameras in South Africa

South Africans looking for a capable and portable camera for casual photography or video shooting with zoom capability can consider a digital bridge camera.
Bridge cameras are so named because they strike a balance between a DSLR and mirrorless camera, which have interchangeable lenses, and a compact digital camera with a fixed lens.
While bulkier than the latter, their larger housing allows for a lens that can move forwards and backwards significantly.
That gives them one major advantage over smartphones and compact digital cameras — better zoom.
It’s no wonder these cameras’ zooming capability is often called “superzoom”.
The largest optical zoom available on a smartphone can enlarge an image up to 10 times optically, while the highest zoom available on a generally available bridge camera is a whopping 125x.
Whereas digital zoom on top-end smartphones can increase the total enlargement to up to 200 times, that comes with greatly reduced image quality.
Bridge cameras also have digital zoom capability, typically measured using the number of times they can enlarge an image while at maximum optical zoom.
For example, the 4x digital zoom on the Nikon P1000 effectively gives it a 500x total enlargement, which some users have described as “telescope-like”.
Multi-frame software and machine learning has helped improve the quality of zoomed-in photos on premium smartphones to some degree. Still, it cannot compensate for a physically-moveable lens.
A bridge camera is often a better option for casual wildlife, landscape, or macro (close-up) photography.
Based on the camera releases of major manufacturers in recent years, bridge cameras seem to be a dying breed, despite their usefulness in the abovementioned scenarios.
Nevertheless, we found ten highly-rated models available in South Africa with optical zoom ranging from 16x to 125x.
Nikon and Panasonic offered the widest range of options with their respective Coolpix and Lumix DMC bridge cameras.
Both manufacturers had four models available across prominent photography stores such as Cameraland, Camera Warehouse, OutdoorPhoto, Orms Direct, and New World.
The world’s biggest camera manufacturer by sales — Canon — had just one bridge camera that has not been discontinued.
The company has largely shifted its focus to mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses in recent years, although it still offers a healthy portfolio of DSLR models.
Leica and Sony also had one bridge camera each available in South Africa.
Below are 10 of the best bridge cameras you can buy new from Canon, Leica, Nikon, Panasonic, and Sony.
Nikon Coolpix B500
- 16MP CMOS sensor
- 1080p@30fps video
- 40x optical zoom (22.5-900mm)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/3 and f/6 aperture (automatic)
- R5,995 (OutdoorPhoto)
Nikon Coolpix B600
- 16MP CMOS sensor
- 1080p@30fps video
- 60x optical zoom (24 to 1,440mm equivalent)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/3.3-f/6.5 (automatic)
- R7,195 (Orms Direct)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300
- 12.1MP CMOS sensor
- 4K@30fps video
- 24x optical zoom (25-600mm equivalent)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/2.8 aperture (constant)
- R16,899 (New World)
Canon PowerShot SX70 HS
- 20.3MP CMOS sensor
- 4K@30fps video
- 65x optical zoom (21-1,365mm equivalent)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/3.4 – f/6.5 aperture (adjustable)
- R11,499 (New World)
Nikon Coolpix P950
- 16.05MP CMOS sensor
- 4K@30fps video
- 83x optical zoom (24-2,000mm equivalent)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/2.8–f6.5 aperture (adjustable)
- R16,899 (New World)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 MK II
- 20.1MP 1-inch sensor
- 4K@30fps video
- 16x optical zoom (25-400mm equivalent)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/2.8-f/4.0 aperture (adjustable)
- R18,999 (Cameraland)
Nikon Coolpix P1000
- 16MP CMOS sensor
- 4K@30fps video
- 125x optical zoom (24-3,000mm equivalent)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/2.8–f/8.0 (adjustable)
- R19,995 (Outdoorphoto)
Leica V-Lux 5
- 20MP 1-inch sensor
- 4K@30fps video
- 16 x optical zoom (25-400mm equivalent)
- 4 x digital zoom
- f/2.8–f/4.0
- R22,995 (The Digital Experience)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2500
- 20.1MP 1-inch sensor
- 4K video
- 20x optical zoom
- R24,299 (Cameraland)
Sony Cyber-Shot RX10 Mark IV
- 20.1MP 1-inch sensor
- 4K@30fps video
- 25x optical zoom (24-600mm equivalent)
- 4x digital zoom
- f/2.4-f/4.0 aperture
- R31,995 (Cameraland)