Digital Zoom and Optical Zoom

We all would have noticed settings like optical zoom and digital zoom in our cameras.But what is that?


DIGITAL ZOOM:
Digital zoom is not a zoom as such it enlarges a portion of the image.In other words camera crops portion of the image and enlarges it back and so the image quality reduces.

I used digital zoom(maximum) for the first time and shot this Grizzly bear  in Wyoming and it had the worst clarity.

*It is not necessary to have digital zoom in a camera as we can crop and enlarge the pictures using photo editing softwares too


OPTICAL ZOOM:
Optical zoom is that the lens of the camera goes closer to the subject and the image quality is more.

I captured these leaves in my apartment complex in evening sunlight using optical zoom.

*Gonna buy a new camera?Check whether it has optical zoom and not digital zoom.