Digital Zoom Versus Optical Zoom
Digital cameras normally have a zoom capability built into them and better digital cameras have two zoom facilities. These are called optical zoom and digital zoom. The two ways of zooming work in different ways and the novice frequently finds the distinction confusing. In this piece, we will examine the two types and discuss the benefits or otherwise of them.
The first thing to realize is that the optical zoom is a physical product. It is similar to using a telescope. The lens actually moves and makes the photo seem nearer.
It magnifies the image without reducing the quality of that picture. It is the same mechanism that you used to get on expensive 35 mm SLR cameras.
The optical zoom is the zoom that you would like for your camera and the more powerful the zoom the better. The power of the optical zoom is usually expressed as a number such as 'x5'. If you have a costly digital SLR (DSLR) or digital single-lens reflex camera, you will be able to change the normal lens for a telephoto lens and get a lot more optical zoom - at a cost. Additional lenses are costly, but much better.
A digital zoom is a totally different concept. A digital zoom is an electrical enhancement and is equivalent to holding a powerful magnifying glass over a developed, printed photograph.
Test it with a newspaper photo, the results are pretty disappointing. However, the that determine how well digital zoom works are: resolution and strength of zoom.
The higher the resolution of the photograph, which is measured in megapixels, the more digital zoom you can apply to the photo without losing too much photograph quality.
Digital zoom may become applied on board the camera or later in a picture manipulation program, unlike optical zoom which can only be done through the camera's lens.
Some camera makers try to blur the difference between these zoom functions by quoting 'total zoom. Total zoom may be x10, which sounds fantastic until you wade through the handbook to find out that the camera has x8 digital zoom and x2 optical zoom. Do not trust total zoom figures without being able to break them down into the constituent parts.
In fact, it is best to turn digital zoom off, because it is frequently an automatic extension to optical zoom. So, for example, you are applying zoom to a shot, but if you accidentally pass the OZ capabilities of your camera, it will apply DZ and that could ruin your photo.
Turning DZ off does not mean that you can't use it. Digital cameras come with picture manipulation software, so if you would like to use DZ, load your pictures into the computer program and enhance them from there.
The capabilities accessible within the program are much better than those on board the camera anyway and you can retain the original picture too
The first thing to realize is that the optical zoom is a physical product. It is similar to using a telescope. The lens actually moves and makes the photo seem nearer.
It magnifies the image without reducing the quality of that picture. It is the same mechanism that you used to get on expensive 35 mm SLR cameras.
The optical zoom is the zoom that you would like for your camera and the more powerful the zoom the better. The power of the optical zoom is usually expressed as a number such as 'x5'. If you have a costly digital SLR (DSLR) or digital single-lens reflex camera, you will be able to change the normal lens for a telephoto lens and get a lot more optical zoom - at a cost. Additional lenses are costly, but much better.
A digital zoom is a totally different concept. A digital zoom is an electrical enhancement and is equivalent to holding a powerful magnifying glass over a developed, printed photograph.
Test it with a newspaper photo, the results are pretty disappointing. However, the that determine how well digital zoom works are: resolution and strength of zoom.
The higher the resolution of the photograph, which is measured in megapixels, the more digital zoom you can apply to the photo without losing too much photograph quality.
Digital zoom may become applied on board the camera or later in a picture manipulation program, unlike optical zoom which can only be done through the camera's lens.
Some camera makers try to blur the difference between these zoom functions by quoting 'total zoom. Total zoom may be x10, which sounds fantastic until you wade through the handbook to find out that the camera has x8 digital zoom and x2 optical zoom. Do not trust total zoom figures without being able to break them down into the constituent parts.
In fact, it is best to turn digital zoom off, because it is frequently an automatic extension to optical zoom. So, for example, you are applying zoom to a shot, but if you accidentally pass the OZ capabilities of your camera, it will apply DZ and that could ruin your photo.
Turning DZ off does not mean that you can't use it. Digital cameras come with picture manipulation software, so if you would like to use DZ, load your pictures into the computer program and enhance them from there.
The capabilities accessible within the program are much better than those on board the camera anyway and you can retain the original picture too
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