Digital Cameras Zoom
There are two types of digital cameras zoom – optical and digital! And guess what? They’re not created equal.
Most people know of optical zoom. Optical zoom uses the lens of the camera to zoom in on the subject. Digital zoom, brought over from digital video cameras, is a ‘software-based’ technology.
What digital zoom does is enlarge a portion of the image by cropping out the area you don’t want, and filling that void with the bigger portion.
Therefore, you lose picture quality! In essence, digital zoom is nothing more than what Photoshop or some other image editing software packages lets you do.
So, if you had a choice between digital zoom and optical zoom, which would you choose? Optical zoom of course! That’s why professionals carry SLR cameras with the gigantic lenses! Optical zoom rocks!
Digital Cameras Zoom vs. Resolution
One of the most confusing things about buying a new camera (or evaluating one you’ve already purchased) is the zoom vs. resolution debate.
Now, if you’ve read the above section, you know that zoom and resolution are two very different things. Resolution is the number of megapixels that are available to capture an image! So a 14 megapixel camera has the ability to cram 14 megapixels worth of detail into an image.
In other words, there will be more details apparent in the picture itself!
So, the real question then goes back to optical or digital zoom? It really doesn’t matter what the megapixel rating is. If you use digital zoom to enlarge a subject on a 10 megapixel camera, you’re just going to get a 10 MP, blurry image!
Do the same with an optical zoom though, and you’re going to get a breathtaking snapshot that will have all your friends amazed…
New Development – Smart Zoom
There’s been some new developments in zoom technology because SLR cameras are still a bit pricey. The new development is Smart Zoom!
Smart Zoom was invented by Sony (who are really focusing on the digital camera and DSLR industries). Smart zone is a type of digital zoom which doesn’t degrade the image quality because of zooming in on a portion. The caveat? You have to save your images as a size smaller than what you’re camera is calibrated for.
For instance, if you have a 10 MP camera, you have to save the images as 8 MP photos. What happens is your image saves at a smaller size, without the camera actually ‘re-enlarging’ the subject!
The Recommendation
If you want awesome digital cameras zoom, optical is the only way to go. Smart zoom is ok for lower priced models, but the only real way to get spectacular shots time and time again is to invest in a higher end SLR camera!
If you have a standard digital camera and are looking to squeeze the best images possible out of it, don’t rely on digital zoom. Wait until you upload your photos to your computer and use Photoshop or a similar software application to crop the images. It’ll save lots of degradation in your photos because your computer is naturally more powerful than your camera!
For more digital photography tips, tricks and training – make sure you check out the Classes in Photography Mini-Course available for free. All you need to do is add your name and email in the upper right of this page and you’ll get your first lesson immediately!
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