Digital Cameras - what's the difference between digital and optical zoom?

[Roddy]

I'm looking at getting digital camera soon, and atm I've been looking at the Canon A100

It's AU$499, and i'm just trying to get the best camera for the right price.

Any help explaining the difference between optical and digital zoom is greatly appreciated.

Thanks..

-Roddy

 

[Viper GTS]

Optical = uses the full resolution, zooms in with lenses
Digital = blows up a portion of the image digitally - outputs a full resolution picture, but the photo was taken at a much lower size & stretched/interpolated

Total zoom is equal to digital times optical (ie 5x digital + 2x optical = 10x).

Optical is better, digital is cheaper.

Viper GTS

 

[gopunk]

digital is useless, it is just like resizing in photoshop. optical is "true" zoom, it is what matters.

 

[b0mbrman]

Optical zoom is what you'd find in a normal film camera--there's actual physical parts (lenses and crap) moving inside to change the zoom level.

Digital zoom is just the electronics at work...

 

[PsychoAndy]

gregg beat me to it. optical zoom is the standard for GOOD photography. you cant beat a full res pic with properly crafted lenses. digital IMHO seems more grainy, due to the, well like viper said its essentially a rendered image. i shoot most of my stuff up close and dont have a use for zoom, but having digital and optical helps with my dc4800.

 

[Roddy]

Thanks for that Viper,

In that case, I think I might spend the extra $200 to get the better camera - the canon A30.

Cheers

-Roddy

 

[KokomoGST]

Originally posted by: gopunk
digital is useless, it is just like resizing in photoshop. optical is "true" zoom, it is what matters.

Digital Zoom sucks sour frog @$$...

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

If you want a camera that has good zoom, only look at the optical. The digital, like gopunk said is essentially useless and can be accomplished using photoshop.

I don't know the conversion rates, so I don't know your price range, but if you want a camera with fat Optical zoom, check out the Olympus c-2100uz or the C-700uz. They both have 10x Optical, but the 700 does not have Image stabilization like the 2100. The 700 is also much smaller though.

DPReview.com It's a great website that has reviews and forums about cameras. Best place I found for digital camera info.

 

[Roddy]

Thanks dancing peacock for that link...

i'm checking it out now..

I'm starting to get interested in photography, and am about to start reading my brother's book about advanced photography.
Essentially I'm after a camera which would have the ability to perform well in different situations when the need arises...

Cheers

Any more personal experience on digi cam's would be great too!

-Roddy