does it have an optical veiwfinder

does the zoom factor and the optical veiwfinder have a relationship

Yes it does.

thanks
it must be only the higher zoom cameras that have the digital finder.i prefer the opticle. fred

Yes, it does. However, the view in the optical viewfinder is smaller than what you see in the LCD. I trust what it displays in LCD than the optical viewfinder though.

I don't know if this is what you mean, but the optical viewfinder will only show the zoom level of the optical, not digital, zoom. I haven't noticed a problem with either the optical viewfinder or the LCD in terms of field of view. I always thought the optical showed you a more accurate version of what the picture would capture, anyway.

Ready to close on this question, Fred?

My impression is that optical viewfinders show a smaller image than will actually be recorded by the sensor. This is to allow for the problem of parallax and can always be cropped down later if it is severe enough. It should only be significant at shorter distances. The LCD should show very close to exactly what the sensor captures. The optical viewfinder can be very useful to follow fast moving objects in a panning fashion--race cars, football players, grandchildren. Also, when taking repetitive photos of the same setup (such as a different child sitting in the same chair X50 children) you can get adjusted as to where to aim with the viewfinder to get the correct composition and then move right along quickly with a prefocus on the child's face and then set on your aiming point and shoot. I'm not an expert on this but just going by my own experience and what works.
Many thanks to the excellent answers posted on this website.

That's generally true, but in fact the LCD oftentimes shows a smaller area than what the picture will be... sometimes as small as 85% viewable. But you're correct at the benefits of the optical viewfinder.