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... Popular Photography Magazine: The McNamara Report: Digital Zoom Drag SITE SEARCH - Web Watch 1 of 1 [printer friendly] The McNamara Report: Digital Zoom Drag By Michael J.

McNamara March 2006 Michael J.

McNamara March 31, 2006 I’m not a fan of the digital zoom feature found on most compact digital cameras, and I wish it never showed up in the first place.

But my opinion won’t stop camera manufacturers from plastering labels on their digital camera boxes, like “3X optical, 4X digital, for a total 12X ZOOM!

” (Or worse - on camcorder boxes I’ve even seen, “20X optical, 10X digital, for a TOTAL 200X ZOOM!

”) Heaven forbid that DSLR manufacturers catch the same hype disease.

The problem is that too often the digital zoom capability of a camera or camcorder is given greater weight than the optical zoom, especially by salespeople trying to close a deal.

What is digital zoom, and why do I recommend turning it off as soon as you start using a new camera or camcorder?

If you have ever sat at a computer and zoomed in on a digital photo that was sent to you via e-mail, then you’ve used digital zoom.

As you zoom in past 100% on the file, the pixels that make up the image grow in size, and you begin to lose definition and detail.

On a camera, something very similar happens when you cross the threshold from optical to digital zoom.

Optical zoom uses the lens elements to narrow or widen your field of view, and the image sensor captures that fi...

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