Do You Know the Difference Between Optical and Digital Zoom?

Most digital cameras these days offer some digital and optical zoom .This applies to camcorders as well as to photographic cameras, but the zoom definition for both is the same. It can be overwhelming sometimes, especially if you are a beginner, to get comfortable with all the terminology and he se of the different functions of a new camera. When you finish reading this article, you will know the difference between optical and digital zoom, as well as how zooming affect your images.

Right now, most decent priced cameras offer a zoom function. The zoom function basically makes objects that are far away, look closer; it is like having a pair of binoculars. This function is offered both as optical, digital, or both, and although both methods are designed to do practically the same task, the process by which this is done and the results are very different.

Optical zoom generally comes in low numbers in both camcorders a well as digital cameras. In camcorders optical zoom is usually seen in the 20x range while digital cameras usually have it in 3x or 4x. The number before the 'x' is the amplification the image will undergo. 2x for instance, would mean that the photographed subject for instance is going to be 2 times as big, or closer to the camera.

This capability in the optical zoom is accomplished by the lenses of the camera. By arranging differently the lenses, your camera can act like a telescope producing amplified images without losing any quality. This type of zoom is very useful; it is used often when taking pictures or video of wildlife; the photographer doesn't need to be too close to the animal in order to produce high quality pictures; the same is true for photographing anything else that is far.

Now let's see how digital zoom works. Generally the number before the 'x' in the digital zoom is larger. There are camcorders with up to 200x or 250x, and digital cameras with 8x digital zoom. This zoom works differently than optical zoom because it doesn't have any lens work involved. Actually digital zoom 'cheats' because it magnifies the image just by enlarging a portion of it. This creates indeed an image that looks closer, but all the quality is lost.

Next time you buy a camera, don't even bother looking at the digital zoom option, and if your camera has it, you shouldn't use it. It is better to magnify photographs later on in post production using computer software like Photoshop; you will still lose some of the quality, but it will be far better than using digital zoom.