Is cropping the center portion of a 2+ megapixal image (e.g. Fujifilm MX-2700) the equivalent of using an optical zoom on a lower resolution camera (e.g. Canon A50)?

-- Dave Kee (dave524@aol.com), July 06, 1999

Answers

We have some digital zoom shots on the site from cameras that offer that, but overall, my *personal* feeling is no, you're always better off with an optical zoom, other things being more or less equal.

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), July 08, 1999.

As the mathematicians say, ceteris paribus, if the number of pixels is the same in both images, then so is the resolution since resolution is nothing more than pixel count. However, other things are not equal (notably the lens and the image sensor), so the image quality will undoubtedly not be the same.

-- Albert J. Klee (aklee@fuse.net), July 10, 1999.