3X optical zoom, 5X advanced digital zoom. What does this mean?

Question

What is the difference between the optical and advanced digital zoom.......looking for good camera to replace old one. Or should I look at megapixels? Help!

Answer 1

Optical zoom means it has a zoom lens to magnify the image, just like a zoom lens on a film camera (but smaller because the digital sensors are smaller), 3x means it will make things look up to three times larger. Cheaper cameras have only digital zoom, which electronically magnifies the image, but since it uses the same unzoomed digital image you will lose quality (i.e. digitally zoomed pictures look blurry close-up)

Unless you're on a *really* tight budget, get something with optical zoom. Cameras with 3 or 4x lenses aren't that expensive. Pixel count isn't very important, as any camera being made now has enough resolution to make up to full-page prints well, and way more than enough for posting pictures on the web. Unless you want to do really big enlargements you won't need more than 3 or 4 megapixels.

Answer 2

it means that the lens can zoom in to 3x
but if you turned on the digital zoom, it means that you can enhance the zooming ability of your digital camera...

but i'm not suggesting you to use digital zoom, because it has a bad resolution, digital zoom means it zooms into your photograph digitally, so the result is not as good as optical zoom....

if you want to buy a new digital camera than you can search for the features and the ability of that camera...not just megapixel ^^

Answer 3

Optical zoom is the ability of the digicam to zoom in with the lens. digital zoom is the ability of the digicam to zoom in with that is pc chip. Optical zoom is a lot greater advantageous than digital zoom. 1X zoom ability you could zoom the cameras lens a million time. something elevated by ability of a million equals the unique quantity, so 1X ability there is not any zoom function. What you notice is what you get (it incredibly is a telephone, so what do you assume).