Many, myself included, have argued that the best camera for the task at hand is the one you have with you & that for most of us, most of the time, that's a camera phone.
Despite the strength of the above argument, a major failing remains the lack of optical zoom, apart from such atypical & bulky examples, as the Galaxy S4 Zoom.
However, a solution may be at hand: under development is a compact zoom lens which uses elements similar to progressive focus lenses used in glasses. It allows changing focal length (i.e. zooming) by moving the elements of the lens, sideways
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/531246/lenses-that-move-sideways-could-improve-smartphone-snaps/
Galaxy S4 Zoom
http://www.google.com.au/url?q=http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_zoom-5447.php&sa=U&ei=yPU0VLfUH8jX8gWnpICoAg&ved=0CDYQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNG5w3qjRwV5gR8tmLAdNJQWSnPfRg / startup DynaOptics lenses move side to side forward and backward high-quality optical zoom smartphones pack a camera-quality optical zoom into a smartphone lenses magnify moving from side to side forward and backward digital zoom software pixelated photos progressive lens bifocals overlapping fashion CEO cofounder Li Han Chan samples testing phones point-and-shoot cameras curved lens concave convex aperture simple electric motor image sensor prototypes magnify image quality fine tune Allen Yi professor Ohio State University studied /
