The digital camera is but a technological advancement of the conventional analog camera. And thus every component of the analog camera must have been upgraded or changed to bring in some improvisations. This discussion is an effort to unravel alteration and make one comparison between what was and what is! This discussion is thereby focused upon a very critical component of a camera (analog as well as digital), the zoom!
Before making a comparison it is important to discuss the significance of the subject matter, in this case the zoom. Well a zoom lens has more than a few portable glass components inside it. By adjusting these components, the focal length of the lens can be altered. Modifying the focal length alters the view distance as well as reduces the field of view, thereby making the projected image to appear larger.
It must me noted that both the optical zoom and the digital zoom are components that are used to magnify an image, but they work in fundamentally different principles and acquiesces drastically different results. In general, optical zooms always produce a far finer and advanced image than digital zoom.
Looking at the functions of these zooms, in digital cameras that offer optical zooms function the same way similar to a zoom lens of a conventional analog camera. A conventional lens works by accumulating light rays that are projected over a portion of a film, and in this case of a digital camera optical sensor. The distance of the lens from the focus point where all of the light rays converge is known as the focal length of the lens. Unlike the optical zoom, the digital zoom works by ranging the pixels in the ultimate image after the image has been captured. The fact remains that the same number of pixels are collected when the photograph is magnified. The only thing that alters is the light rays that are projected over the optical sensors to figure out those pixels.
It is a common intuition that optical lenses are far better than the digital zooms. The reason is that the digital camera zooms are more prone towards computer applications in them rather than mostly human interactions and expertise. Yet, it also remains a fact that beginner photographers find it more useful to handle a digital zoom and also its computer friendly nature. There the computer does the intricate tasks of finding some levelheaded approximation of colors that pixel might take up as it had captured the images or photographs. Many algorithms are existent in this area, but perhaps the most abundantly used algorithm involves looking at the pixels that are quite nearly like neighbors and come up with a kind of an average. Anyways the process remains too complicated and its end result is what the digital zoom users are interested in.
Thus the ultimate truth remains that it is useless to compare digital zooms with optical zooms. Perhaps it is more logical to compare optical zoom with optical zoom and digital zoom with digital zoom. Both these two types of zooms, the optical as well as the digital, have some good and bad qualities. Both of them have some extra features and preferences over the other. And thus it is not wise to compare them, even though a comparison may exist. The efforts would then perhaps look like comparing oranges with apples!
About The Author
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snapjunky.com. Visit his digital camera guide and learn how to take better pictures with your digicam.
shuttle from Midway Glen Ellyn ..While it would be nice to live in a house... Read More
Some compact cameras are small enough to fit in your... Read More
Shopping for a new digital camera can be quite frustrating... Read More
Panasonic is a world-renowned consumer electronics company today. Its digital... Read More
Nude photography is the genre of art photography, whose subject... Read More
Let's start there (but not spend too much time on... Read More
Did you know that in many cases digital photos are... Read More
Remember the good old photography days?Film camera in hand, you... Read More
IntroductionModern cameras are highly automatic in operation. They have auto... Read More
Break out that video camera, there is a game this... Read More
When you're driving through the mountains somewhere, and you... Read More
Demystifying Digital Camera JargonWant to buy a digital camera but... Read More
The Vacation Season is fast approaching and naturally you will... Read More
At a Photo Club meeting I attended recently, the President... Read More
There are two types of underwater camera systems: an ""amphibious""... Read More
Early cameras of the 16th and 17th century were able... Read More
I once heard a lady say to a photographer that... Read More
Composition is defined as the combining of distinct parts or... Read More
The digital camera is not meant only for capturing images... Read More
You are anxious to purchase your new digital camera! You... Read More
Most serious photographers and all professionals use a Single Lens... Read More
That's right, you go through all the trouble of making... Read More
Quite often I will have clients bring in old photographs... Read More
I've been practising wildlife photography on safari for over twenty... Read More
The digital camera is a wonderful device that allows a... Read More
shuttle from O'Hare North Chicago ..Why is a 3 megapixel camera better than a 1... Read More
Tight BudgetsTight budgets are common these days. But the demand... Read More
Photography with the aid of a digital camera is beyond... Read More
Like most folks you have probably have organized and sorted... Read More
Disposable wedding cameras (also called single-use cameras) will never replace... Read More
What have you done with the photos you've taken with... Read More
Some compact cameras are small enough to fit in your... Read More
One of the oldest companies, Olympus has had a long... Read More
So you have rushed out into the malls in a... Read More
While it would be nice to live in a house... Read More
Good wildlife safari photography is not only about composition and... Read More
Strike one! Strike two! Strike three!Baseball! America's Pastime, and a... Read More
Once you have clicked photos through your digital camera, then... Read More
It's hard to find sometimes but it's making a resurgence,... Read More
Digital Photo Diary - memories that last a life timeThe... Read More
So your picture came out less then perfect. Blemishes or... Read More
When should you use hyperfocal focusing? Well, sometimes when shooting... Read More
Basic CompositionNow that you are beginning to understand how your... Read More
If you have hopes of becoming a professional photographer, or... Read More
Did you know that in many cases digital photos are... Read More
There are two sources for obtaining the moulding for making... Read More
Probably one of the most common problems you will be... Read More
Digital Imaging is a process where an electronic photograph, scanned... Read More
Nature is all around us, and its beauties are unlimited.... Read More
There are a few very important tasks associated with using... Read More
Photography |