While we're on the subject of photography?

What are the model numbers of the two cameras? It's worth looking at the relative camera specs to see what the minimum focusing distance is stated as.

The minimum macro distance is dependent on the optics of the camera, which obviously varies between makes/models.

You are probably able to get an adaptor for accessory lenses for the camera, enabling you to get better macro shots with close-up lenses.

Are you using full zoom?

Often, this will increase the distance that you have to be away from the subject, but can yield a closer image.

Are your shots from the new camera just resized or cropped too?

For example, how would a 640x480 crop from a full size image look in comparison to the same from your old camera?

Looks like the wide-angle on the new camera is a shorter focal length than on the old camera, shown by the wider field of view in the top picture.

A lot of digital cameras have an option to go into digital zoom, once the extent of optical zoom is reached. A delve around in the options menu may uncover it.

Digital zoom is equivalent to you manually cropping and resizing the centre of the image at full optical zoom, which is basically what the camera does internally.

The quility of the image will degrade with each step of digital zoom you apply, so it is generally best avoided.

Stick to optical zoom and do any resizing/cropping in some photo editing software.