Strengths: Very high optical zoom range; manual controls; normally has excellent image stabilization; better lenses than standard point-and-shoot cameras

Weaknesses: Bulkier than a point-and-shoot camera; expensive for a fixed-lens camera; not much smaller than an interchangeable-lens camera

Megazooms don't give you the same lens-swapping versatility of a DSLR or compact interchangeable-lens camera, but they are the most-versatile fixed-lens cameras available. They're called "megazooms" because their lenses serve up a whopping amount of optical zoom (20x to 36x), offering impressive wide-angle coverage and telephoto reach.

Most megazooms also offer DSLR-like manual controls for aperture and shutter, as well as excellent image stabilization to help steady full-zoom shots. Because of the versatility of their lenses, they're good cameras for landscape photography (they can capture both wide-angle vistas and faraway details), sports photography (you can sit in the crowd and still get tight shots of in-game action), and animal photography (because you really shouldn't get too close to that bear).