Shoot, shoot, shoot! That's the best you can do with a camera. And compare the ExIf from the shots you made with different settings to see what works best.

The thing is, with DSC H30, I loved its super zoom range and with XA10, I am limited to the kit lens.

People always look at how much a camera can zoom in. And although it's very useful in some cases it's always better to use the manual zoom (read: walk closer towards your subject).

I had a cool photography beginners training that covered both technical as composition subjects. I will look it up for you.