Dennis Koh's Blog

Digital cameras are marketed with specifications of UP TO 10X or 20X zoom. But is that really true? Well, they are not lying. But the truth lies in the Optical Zoom.

Digital zoom make use of in build software to digitally enlarge the image thus obtaining higher zoom range. The end result of a photo taken with Digital zoom is just like a photo that you have taken without any zoom and enlarged on your computer with a crop. You lose image details as there were not as much pixels captured but rather enlarged pixels to fill the aspect ratio. And one thing about Digital zoom is that its more prone to producing blur image.

Optical zoom uses the lens of the camera (the optics) to bring the subject closer. Normal compact cameras usually have only 3-5X optical zoom. So when taking shots, try to use only Optical zoom. Normally, your camera will show a zoom range on the LCD when you take a picture ans when it starts to zoom further into a red range, you will notice that the image is not as sharp as before and looks grainy. In this case, the camera is moving into Digital zoom. You can choose to switch the Digital zoom off in the menu. “Digital Zoom: ON/ OFF”.

Why is Optical zoom better? Optical Zoom enables you to capture an image with more clarity which allows you to have a bigger print size without the image appearing grainy. If you want to keep clarity in your images, use only optical zoom whenever possible, and avoid digital zoom.

So what happens if you don’t have enough zoom to take that image? Use your legs and walk nearer to it. And if it’s not within your reach, then you have no choice but to use Digital zoom. But in my opinion, it isn’t any good if the image is not sharp. Look for something to shoot that is within your Optical zoom range or where you can walk nearer to take a sharper image.