Digital Photography Secret 2
Use Optical rather than Digital Zoom
Cameras are marketed with both an Optical Zoom and Digital Zoom capability.
If you’ve used a film camera, you’ll be used to optical zoom. Optical zoom
uses the lens of the camera (the optics) to bring the subject closer. Digital
zoom uses clever software to digitally enlarge a portion of the image - thus
simulating optical zoom.
So, which is better? Definitely Optical zoom. Here’s why.
Digital zoom is not really ‘zoom’ in the strictest definition of the term.
Digital zoom just enlarges the image. Eg it takes a portion of the image and
enlarges it back to full size. You lose quality because of the enlargement
process so photos that have been taken with digital zoom won’t look as good as
those without.
You can perform the same result using image editing software on your
computer. In fact, it can be better to crop and enlarge using your image
software in your computer as you can decide exactly what part of the image to
enlarge, and how much to enlarge by.
So when taking shots, use optical zoom only. If you need to zoom in further,
use your editing software to select the best part of the image to keep. Ensure
your camera warns you when it’s switching to digital zoom from optical zoom, or
use your settings to disable digital zoom entirely.
Why is clarity important? The more clarity you have in your image, the larger
the printed size can be without the image appearing fuzzy, or blocky. If you
want to keep clarity in your images, use the optical zoom whenever possible, and
avoid the digital zoom.
How do you use Optical Zoom? When you zoom in using your camera, it will use
Optical zoom first and then use Digital zoom. You can usually set your camera to
notify you when it starts to use the Digital zoom, or tell it to not use digital
zoom at all. Consult your manual for details.
Next time : A little known secret, used all the time by professionals,
that result in a pleasing, nicely balanced photo.by David Peterson
