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Chapter 12: Taking Great Pictures
Microsoft Digital Image Standard User’s Manual
Using Zoom Features
A zoom lets you adjust the focal length of the lens, making your subject appear
closer to or farther from the camera. Some cameras have built-in adjustable
zoom lenses; others accommodate interchangeable zoom lenses of different
focal lengths.
Digital cameras might offer optical zoom or digital zoom. An optical zoom
feature uses the same principle as a zoom lens on a film camera: the lens itself
moves to change the focal length. In any of the zoom positions, the resulting
resolution is the same.
A digital zoom feature does not move the lens. Instead, the software inside the
camera crops the photo to make the subject appear closer. Because the pixels
are removed from the area that’s cropped out, the overall resolution is lower.
Many cameras offer a combination of optical and digital zoom. For best results,
use only optical zoom. Then, if necessary, use Digital Image to crop the photo
to enlarge part of the scene.
Both "digital zoom" and "enhanced resolution" features use interpolation to add
pixels to the original photo, a process that increases the overall size or resolu
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tion. Interpolation assigns colors to the added pixels based on the colors of the
surrounding pixels. While these features technically do increase the pixel count
in a picture, they do not achieve the same visual quality as a picture that has not
been interpolated. If your camera has digital zoom or enhanced resolution, test
it and make sure you like the results before you use it for important pictures.
For true zoom capability and highest image quality, use optical zoom.
Expand your
perspective
Zoom lenses are great
for capturing objects
you can’t get close to,
such as a ship sailing
in water far from the
shore. Use a zoom lens
to get close-up, candid
shots of people without
seeming intrusive or
conspicuous.