When you start widening the area that a lens covers, you reach a point that the picture is distorted.
This is called barrel distortion.
If you continue to widen the field, you get into lenses that can show 180 degrees. This introduces extreme distortion, called fisheye.
You have to use add-on conversion lenses to do this.
None of which will zoom.
I don't know of any digital still camera that can zoom from normal to fisheye.
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Hi,
I have several digital cam-corders and a Olympus S4000(I think I have it right) and Im looking at taking video of my house which has 4 small bedrooms and of course the kitchen and bathroom. What happens now with the cameras that I own is that in order to get the full view of each room, i have to manually pan the camera in each room. I would like to be pointed to a digital camera, which allows me to take video but with a wide angle in a small tight space, in other words, nearly infinite zoom out. I hope this makes sense and I welcome and appreciate all comments. If a digital camcorder is the best way to go for this, Im all ears. Most cameras are made today for infinite zoom out. I would just like to do the reverse.

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