Whats the difference between an normal and Optical Zoom?

Question

i was asked this question by one of my uncles (who is actually a camera engineer....found that out AFTER i made up some c**p about optical zooms in camera)

so i was just wondering what it actually is so that next time i can come clean and actually tell him what i know :D

Answer 1

There are 2 types of zoom. Optical and digital. Optical zoom is far superior to digital zoom were your picture will get pixelated rather fast.

Optical is just that done with the camera lens like a telescope. Digital is like taking a part of the photo and enlarging it.

Answer 2

Optical zoom occurs when the camera manipulates the light by moving the glass within the lens to enlarge the subject. It's "true" zoom, so-to-speak.

Digital zoom is when the camera digitally manipulates a image to enlarge the subject. The camera crops the center of the image and enlarges it back to full resolution by process of interpolation. Digital zoom is just another marketing term to push cameras. It's not "real" zoom and should be completely disregarded when considering a camera.

Answer 3

well the other people who answered the question are very correct.  My answer may be a little redundant.

Basically optical zoom is the real deal.  Its when the lens actually makes what you are pointing at 'larger' so the object you are zooming on will be of better quality.  Optical zoom will produce a better quality of what is in the picture.

Digital zoom on the other hand is rather pointless.

Its not much different from putting the shot on your computer and cropping it. It will just in-large a portion of the picture withOUT producing a better image.

Get it?