Yes, this post is why digital zoom is bad. Not just bad because it is a trick used by marketers to make the camera look better. No, digital zoom is bad because it takes your $150+ camera and turns it into a cheap $40 Chinese knock-off toy. I know that those are harsh words but here is a graphic illustrating the concept:
The first graphic represents your camera when you don't use digital zoom.
This second graphic represents what happens when you use your digital zoom to zoom in by 2x. The white space represents the number of pixels your camera has available after a 2x digital zoom.
With a 2x digital zoom,75% of your camera's pixels are not used. The ratio applies regardless of the number of pixels you have available. If you have a 10MP camera and you digitally zoom in 2x you effectively have a 2.5MP camera.
So, is zoom bad? No. There is a difference between optical zoom and digital zoom. Digital zoom crops your photo and throws information gathered by the sensor away. That is why the image on your LCD gets all "Pixelated" when you zoom in too far.
Optical zoom, on the other hand, utilizes the whole sensor and mechanically moves lenses around in order to enlarge the image. Optical zoom does degrade your image quality in various ways but the effect in most instances is marginal and there are ways to compensate for it. At the very least, you aren't throwing away pixels you paid for when you bought your camera. Your best bet when you buy your camera is to dive into the menus and turn digital zoom off. It's the first thing I do if I have it on my camera.
The first graphic represents your camera when you don't use digital zoom.
 |
| This represents all pixels on a small sensor. |
This second graphic represents what happens when you use your digital zoom to zoom in by 2x. The white space represents the number of pixels your camera has available after a 2x digital zoom.
With a 2x digital zoom,75% of your camera's pixels are not used. The ratio applies regardless of the number of pixels you have available. If you have a 10MP camera and you digitally zoom in 2x you effectively have a 2.5MP camera.
So, is zoom bad? No. There is a difference between optical zoom and digital zoom. Digital zoom crops your photo and throws information gathered by the sensor away. That is why the image on your LCD gets all "Pixelated" when you zoom in too far.
Optical zoom, on the other hand, utilizes the whole sensor and mechanically moves lenses around in order to enlarge the image. Optical zoom does degrade your image quality in various ways but the effect in most instances is marginal and there are ways to compensate for it. At the very least, you aren't throwing away pixels you paid for when you bought your camera. Your best bet when you buy your camera is to dive into the menus and turn digital zoom off. It's the first thing I do if I have it on my camera.
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