Creative photography

[bazyan]

I bought the (SONY DSC-W80)  Digital Camera and i was trying to figure out how the digital zoom works?! i have already read about the smart zoom but couldnt understand much really.. i cant zoom much using this camera im frankly surprised.... any help please ??!?!

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi there bazyan and welcome!

The camera has a 3X zoom; which is really not a huge zoom.

The digital zoom comes in to play automatically when you zoom past 3X. However, ONLY if the digital zoom is turned on via the appropriate menu. I recommend you avoid using the digital zoom as image quality will be reduced.

You can access the smart zoom by lowering the resolution for images. For example, if you lower the camera resolution to three megapixels, you'll have a 4 1/2 X zoom. Manufactures say there is no loss of image quality when using this type of zoom.

The smart zoom is one of the names for extended optical zooms, which you can read about here:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/shooting-modes/extended-zoom.php

Here is some information too about optical vs. digital zooms:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-parts/zooms.php

Hope this helps. If you have additional questions, please let us know.