Look at the actual focal length and you'll see why. Remember that the optical zoom number is only a ratio of focal length and say nothing about the FOV, which is what's actually important. Smaller, cheaper camera have smaller sensor, which meant that at the wide end it will need a very short focal length to produce the same field of view as say a DVX. For example, at the wide end the DVX has a focal length of 4.2mm, which provides a FOV equivalent to about a 33mm S35 lens. A cheap camera with 30x zoom might only provide a FOV of 40mm or 50mm at the wide end because it's expensive to use shorter focal length with such small chips. As anyone will tell you, it's always better to start with a wider lens than a telephoto one. That's not to mention the quality of the lens itself. More expensive camera lens will be sharper, have less CA etc.
