Photography. What is the difference between panning and zooming?

Answer 1

Panning generally relates to following the subject as it moves across/ through your line of sight, and with still photography, you would release the shutter at some point during the "pan". This technique, with a little practice, will render the subject in fairly sharp focus, while blurring (I call it smearing) the background relative to the direction of the pan. It is a creative way to convey a sense of motion in a photograph. You may or may not be on a tripod, with the left/right adjustment lock released, or in the open position, saving you from trying to keep the up/down motion of the camera in check.

Tips for panning...
If the subject is traveling at close to parallel to the camera position, or at a high rate of speed, I find useful shutter speeds to be around 1/30 sec >1/8 sec. If your subject is traveling closer to perpendicular to the camera position, you may find you need to keep the shutter open a bit longer. This is highly subjective due to many factors, including how bright it is, your aperture setting, and film or ISO setting, practice is the key. Keep detailed notes to refer to post shoot while your reviewing the shots, or if your using digital, keep notes on the lighting and refer to the metadata imbedded in the image files.
Try using a bit of flash, be sure to set the flash mode to "rear curtain sync". This effect will render the subject a bit sharper, with slight blur behind it's direction of travel. If you do not set rear curtain sync, the flash will fire as soon as you release the shutter, freezing the subject, then as you pan through the image the blur will stretch out ahead of the subject, looking very unnatural.
On extremely bright days, think skier on a mountian in full sun, you may need a nuetral density filter to allow for slower shutter speeds needed for panning.

Zooming I generally leave to the video guys, but it is possible to release the shutter during a zoom, again utilizing a slower shutter speed for the effect. This differs from panning because you are actually changing the Focal Length of the lens, which will give you a similar, yet different effect. It is more difficult to render the subject sharply during a zoom, regardless of shutter speed or aperture. I only use this technique with fireworks and flowers.

Hope that helps, I'm off to get some coffee...I forgot to get it last night, DOH!!!!

Answer 2

Panning is used to show motion and speed. It is a technique that requires practice since it has to be done in one smooth, continuous motion.

Suppose you're photographing a group of runners or cyclists and want to show their speed and motion. You will use manual focus and pre-focus at a spot perhaps 10 feet directly in front of where you're standing. Use your zoom to compose your image. Now, with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart, turn your upper body in the direction your subjects are coming from. Turning your upper body to keep your subjects in the frame, release the shutter as they pass through the spot you pre-focused on. Continue turning as you release the shutter. Your subjects should be fairly clear and the background will be a blurry streak. You can use f5.6 or f8 and an appropriate shutter speed. It does take practice but the results will be worth the effort.

The opposite of the above would be to mount your camera on a tripod and use a slow shutter speed (1/30, 1/60) to blur the runners or cyclists while having the background perfectly sharp and clear.

Zooming is simply changing the size of your subject in the image by zooming from 50mm to 200mm or whatever your zoom range is.

If you mount your camera on a tripod and use a slow shutter speed you can create some interesting effects by zooming in on your subject while making the exposure. You can see some examples at AIRC-Adorama Imaging Resource Center.

Answer 3

Zooming = changing focal length of lens continuously, e.g. from tele to wide-angle.

Panning = following subject(s) as they move, not necessarily changing focal length, but may do so at the same time, i.e. pan and zoom.

Answer 4

Panning is scanning over a landscape - like left to right. Zooming is getting close up on an area.

Answer 5

Panning is following a moving object with your camera while taking the picture at the same time.
If you want to photograph someone running from left to right, you'll pan your camera in ordor to have the person sharp while the background will be fuzzy.

Answer 6

Panning is left and right or up and down, zooming is in and out.

Answer 7

They both delineate an image that is unclear, however, an out of focus image technically occurs when the rays of light passing through a lens fall upon a plane in front of or beyond the point at which they converge to form a sharp image. Blurry simply means indistinct and/or hazy in outline or appearance.

Answer 8

This site contains photography tutorials and courses for you to study at your own pace. https://tr.im/uWPZ6

To get started, all you need is a camera, whether it be the latest digital camera or a traditional film-based apparatus!

Read about what is ISO, aperture and exposure. Discover different types of lenses and flash techniques. Explore portrait photography, black and white photography, HDR photography, wedding photography and more.

Answer 9

panning is when you move the camera
zooming is when you move elements within a lens

Answer 10

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