Optic Zoom
Photography basics – Optical zoom vs. Digital zoom
Many compact and superzoom cameras come with both optical and digital zoom capabilities. For example, you might see a camera marketed with 4x optical zoom and 3x digital zoom. But what are optical and digital zoom, and what’s the difference between them?
Optical zoom is where the optics of the camera’s lens are moved to increase the focal length (zoom) of the lens. Generally this results in little to no loss of image quality. Some lenses are even sharper zoomed in than they are fully zoomed out.
Digital zoom is where the camera digitally crops the center section of the image, and then enlarges it to give the same image size as a normal photo. This method does result in a loss of quality, as when enlarging the cropped section of photo the camera has to make up the missing image data. It does this intelligently, but the result is quite bad compared to an optical zoom.
Most cameras that have both optical and digital zoom will use the optical zoom first, and then use the digital zoom. So for example, zooming in on a camera with a 4x optical zoom and 3x digital zoom would zoom up to 4x using the optical zoom first. Then if you continue to zoom in it would use the digital zoom.
Usually the camera will pause and / or give a notification in the viewfinder or LCD when you reach the end of the optical zoom and start using the digital zoom.
If you don’t mind editing your photos on the computer, it is recommended that you don’t use digital zoom. Most cameras have an option in the menu that will allow you to disable digital zoom. Instead of using digital zoom on the camera you can manually crop the photo on the computer. This gives you more options as to the precise amount of crop (or ‘digital zoom’) you want to use.
Furthermore, cropping the photo on your computer does not enlarge the photo, unlike the digital zoom feature on most cameras. An image cropped on the computer contains the same amount of information as an image taken with digital zoom, but because it has not been enlarged, will take up less memory on your computer’s hard drive.
If you do want your cropped image enlarged, again this is better done on the computer than using the digital zoom function on your camera. Your computer is much more powerful than the small processor of a digital camera, and so can use more complex and time consuming algorithms when resizing an image. This results in the computer being able to produce a better quality enlargement (also known as uprezzing) than your camera’s digital zoom process can.
Cropping images on the computer does take time though, so if you don’t like to spend any time editing your photos, then you may be better off just using your camera’s digital zoom function when it is needed.
If you find that you are often having to use digital zoom or crop your photos, then you would be better off getting a camera with a longer optical zoom. Remember that it is not the zoom factor e.g. 4x that is important, but the 35mm equivalent focal length. For a given subject distance, the longer the 35mm equivalent focal length, the higher the magnification of the subject.
When comparing the zoom of different cameras, always pay attention to optical zoom, while the digital zoom amount can be ignored. Digital zoom can always be replicated on the computer if needed, while optical zoom cannot.
About the Author
Dave Kennard writes on behalf of www.discoverdigitalphotography.com, a photography website offering Photography Tips and tricks to help you improve your photography. The website is updated on a regular basis with articles covering all types of photography, from portrait photography to landscape photography.
Other articles cover important subjects such as photography training courses and running a photography business. For more advice and photography techniques you can use to create stunning photos, please check out the website.
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