Z is for ZOOM

Zoom-Zoom = the exhilaration and liberation from experiencing the emotion of motion.  (from Mazda's website)  As the last part of Round 10 for my theme of photography, I'm using the word ZOOM, which ties in nicely to Mazda's idea of it.  With the zoom feature or the zoom lens, the photographer is free to get up close and personal, be it an insect or your child out on the soccer field.  It also ties in a bit with my post on "telephoto" lenses (here). However, in my research on zoom, I found out that there is a difference between digital zoom and optical zoom. 

Optical zoom is true zoom. This function of a camera uses the lens within the camera to draw the image closer. Using the optics of the camera the image is bought forward much the same way as binoculars and other such instruments. When using optical zoom quality remains the same and the full resolution of the camera can be used on the zoomed image. Different levels of optical zoom can be achieved by changing the distances between the lens'. The motion of the front lens moving outwards on a camera is the lens achieving a greater level of zoom. The rating of optical zoom on a camera is measured like 2x 4x 8x etc. bringing the image 2x 4x and 8x closer respectively. The best cameras have a high level of optical zoom.  Here's an example of one of my photographs using the optical zoom on my camera:

Digital zoom is not a true zoom. The image itself doesn't actually come any closer as the optics in the camera stay the same. The way the digital zoom works is much the same way as it does on your PC at home. The idea behind digital zoom is that it takes a portion of the image and expand that image to the full size of the picture. What happens here is that the section of image that you are looking at becomes bigger, not closer. The image does look closer because it has been expanded however all that has happened is that the image quality has been reduced because it has been expanded with no new data for the image.  (from here) Here is an example of one of my photos where I used digital zoom:

This is a great (less than 2 minutes) little video explaining the difference very well. 

A zillion thanks to our zany hostess, Denise Nesbitt, for zeroing in on a niche for getting people from all around the world together in common interest.  Her zesty and zealous group of assistants zoom around the site to help her welcome everyone by commenting on your contributions.  We look forward to reading about zuchinnis, zebras, a history of the zither, how to sew a zipper, the mining of zinc, and even your zodiac chart.  You could even tell us about Zacharius, Zacchaeus, or Zechariah. Put some zing into your post to keep us from becoming a zombies zonked out from our visits!  To become a part of ABC Wednesday, click here.  Round 11 starts next week so I'm really looking forward to seeing old and new friends!