Is 3X Optical on a Digital Still camera the same as 3X Optical on a Camcorder?

Question

I have a Sony Digital Camcorder that has zoom. I realized that I take many photos than I do movies so I started looking at Digital Cameras. Typically cameras advertise 3x optical plus 2X digital zoom this is a far cry from the 10X Optical and 120X digital that my camcorder advertises. My question is, are the numbers measuring the same thing? Is 3X Optical on a Digital Still camera the same as 3X Optical on a Camcorder?

Answer 1

The first answer is correct.

Answer 2

Yes, it is the same, but the image may appear closer on one or the other because of the lens type.

Just for your info, digital zoom can work to your advantage. Think of it this way, digital zoom works exactly the same as when you open a picture on your computer and click the magnifying glass and it will make the image larger. This is, in a sense, exactly what digital zoom is doing. You'll notice that if you click that magnifying glass enough, the image starts getting distorted, this is true for cameras as well. However, the way this can work to your advantage is if you have a digital camera with a very high megapixel rating. A megapixel, is 1 million pixels (dots) on your image. The more megapixels, the more dots there are in the picture, thus creating a higher RESOLUTION (notice, not quality) picture. If you have a very high resolution camera, and use digital zoom, the image will appear less distorted than an image with a lower resolution. This is because the zoom is essentially spreading your pixels out over a wider area. The more pixels you have, the less they have to move when you digital zoom in. The less pixels you have, the more distance the pixels have to be stretched when you digital zoom in, thus creating a distorted image.

Answer 3

The answer is yes and no. Yes what answerer number one said is true, 3x means 3x regardless of whether it is on a camcorder or digital camera. The no is that regardless of the optical zoom listed, the zoom ultimately rests on the focal length of the lens. The smaller the focal length, the wider the view, and the larger the focal length, the closer an object can be "zoomed" in on. All the number does in an optical zoom does is to multiply the focal length by that number. For example, let's say a camera has a focal length of 28mm with a 3X optical zoom this means at max zoom the farthest this can zoom out is 81mm. Now let's looks at a camcorder who's focal length is 40mm and with a 3X zoom the focal length can be up to 120mm. What this means even though they both have a 3X zoom the camcorder can actually zoom closer to an object because of the longer focal length. Hope this wasn't too confusing.

Answer 4

The 3x, 5x, 10x optical zoom gives you an idea of how big the zoom range is, but it doesn´t tell you where that range starts or ends.
If a lens is 20-60mm, that's 3x zoom (60/20=3)
A 40-120mm lens is also 3x zoom (120/40=3)
And a 50-150mm lens is 3x zoom (150/50=3)
You get the idea.
Note that more expensive digital cameras also come with 10x and even 12x optical zoom. Ignore the digital zoom - that´s just a software gimmick.

Answer 5

It should be.

However, note a camcorder usually shoots low-quality/resolution stills. A separate camera is much better if you care about image quality.

Digital zoom is trash, though. It just crops the picture and blows it up, reducing quality.

Answer 6

yes, optical zoom refers to the zoom given by the lens physically moving, it is the same regardless of what device it is on.

Answer 7

3x referes to the range so both would have the same range.
However, it does not define where the range starts so the actual range might be very different.

e.g. 10mm-30mm = 3X
100mm-300mm = 3X also