Most digital cameras have the options to choose between different types of zoom so which one should you choose and what is the difference between optical and digital zoom? We'll look at how both optical zoom and digital zoom work and see in which circumstances you should choose one or the other.

Optical Zoom

If you are familiar with the zoom facility on a 35mm film camera you will know how optical zoom works. On a digital camera it works in the same way by changing the length of the camera lens so that the subject appears closer. The quality of the picture is maintained and you can easily crop the image for further enlargement with software on your computer without losing any of the quality.

Digital Zoom

A digital zoom works in a different way. The whole of the image seen in the viewfinder is captured then a portion is cropped and expanded in the same way as you would enlarge an image with a program on your computer. This process of magnification uses interpolation to fill in the spaces between the pixels. The image can appear blurry which gets worse as you magnify the image further.

To improve the image quality while using a digital zoom try to take pictures with the highest possible file size. This will result in pictures with more pixels per inch so that you can crop and expand without losing too much of the image quality. Also try to take the picture closer, even moving in twelve inches or so will have a big impact on the quality of the image.

In conclusion then, when choosing between optical and digital zoom, optical zoom is undoubtedly superior for picture quality. Digital zoom does have it's place. If you are taking pictures to post on the net or need quick images without worrying too much about magnifying them afterwards. For higher quality images, especially if you will be printing them, optical zoom is the one to use.