NOTE: This is a “reprint” of my blog post to Kodak’s previous “A Thousand Words” blog.
Looking for a new digital camera? What features are you looking for? Many users and reviewers are quick to look at features such as resolution, LCD size, camera type (compact, ultra compact, full body, SLR) and price. Other features such as video capabilities and image stabilization are also improving and becoming more popular. The brand of lens is often mentioned, along with a camera’s zoom range, but few consumers actually think about this. Why not? How much zoom do you need? What are the trade-offs? Isn’t digital zoom good enough?
Many digital cameras have an optical zoom range of three to four times (i.e., 3X to 4X), taking you three to four times closer to your subject. Many of these same cameras also have “digital zoom” on top of their optical zoom, allowing you to zoom even closer, often times another three to four times closer than with the optical zoom alone. Unfortunately, digital zoom is a kind of “slight of hand,” since it is primarily the result of enlarging and cropping an image directly on the camera. In digital zoom, no optical resolution is gained, and the final captured image is generally of lower quality than an image captured with optical zoom alone. Although imaging algorithms can be applied to help interpolate or enhance the results of a digitally zoomed image, the bottom line is that optical zoom usually provides crisper, higher quality results.
In the past, one of the biggest tradeoffs to increased zoom range was camera size. That is, if you wanted high optical zoom, you had to carry a bigger camera. This is due to the fact that most zoom lenses are composed of multiple lens elements and that these components require a certain amount of physical space just to operate. (For more details on zoom lenses, see Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_lens) or the brief tutorial provided by Cambridge in Colour (http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm).
Advancements and innovations in technology, however, are changing this. Kodak’s V610 introduced last year, is the “world’s smallest 10X optical zoom digital camera.” Nikon’s Coolpix S10 also sports a 10X optical zoom in a pretty small package. Smaller isn’t always better, however, and some people may prefer to carry a slightly larger camera with a larger lens. How do you decide what camera or what optical zoom range is for you?
Personal experience is the true test. If you have an opportunity to borrow a camera from work, a good friend or a relative, take advantage of it! Carry the camera around with you all day – this will tell you a lot about the weight and bulk of the camera. Take it to an event. Practice taking a range of different types of pictures that you like to capture. Compare the results to your current camera, if you have one.
Most of the time I feel like my digital camera with 3X optical zoom is good enough. Once I borrowed a camera with a 10X optical zoom, though, I really did appreciate the power of optical zoom. I took a picture of a car in the parking lot from my sixth floor office. Six floors up, and I could actually read the license plate on the car below! I also captured the Blue Angels in action. Using a 10X optical zoom, you can actually read the tail number of each plane! In closing, here are a few sample pictures captured with the Kodak V610:
