Amateur Photography - Zoom

 

It's Time To Zoom Onto Tonight's Dinner Across The Lake!

I See You! (16X Magnification)

Continuing from the last article of pictures that I took during the Salvation Army retreat in North Texas to Camp Hoblitzelle, this article will focus on camera zoom. Zooming is the process of magnifying a particular object of interest.  This can result in some really interesting shots. With that said, there are a few things that have to be taken into consideration.

The closer one zooms onto a object, the more focus the camera will have to be when taking that picture. Because the camera has zoomed onto a object, a slight camera movement could knock that object out of focus at a much closer viewing distance. Therefore, it's important to focus the camera on a very solid surface when using extreme magnification. Since I didn't have my stand for most of these shots, I substituted by placing the camera on a solid surface that wasn't prone to movement.

Also, if you're too close to the object in question, then the object will never get into focus. There has to be some distance between the camera and the object in question. This needs be taken into consideration when taking pictures of flowers or insects.  Zooming is recommended when dealing with scenic photography.

How good a camera zoom is depends on the camera as well. For this particular illustration, I will focus on the Kodak PIXPRO AZ252, since it's my everyday camera. Even though this is a digital camera, it does have a mechanical, analog zoom that can magnify a object up to 25 times it's original time. Using a camera with a analog zoom is important has it can magnify on a object without a reduction in picture quality. To be technical, my camera actually supports a 100X zoom mode. However, past 25X, the AZ252 switches to digital sensor for magnification. Digital zoom haven't reached the level of quality compared to a analog zoom. Zooming with a digital sensor will degrade the picture quality the higher the magnification is. In the case of the AZ252, past 25X, the further zooms will just enlarge the object without actually improving the quality though. This will result in pictures that are much more pixelated. 

This is why one still can't do serious photography with a smartphone (yet). While the smartphones cameras get better all the time, along with the digital sensors, there is still plenty of room for improvement. The picture quality is passable for a family trip or other gathering, it's something that one wouldn't use for professional-grade nature pictures that one would upload to the Wikimedia Commons. 

25X Zoom Of A Moving Plane Pulling a Glider

25X Zoom Of A Moving Glider

As I've mentioned earlier, maximum zoom works best for a still object, as the camera can focus on it. However, it's possible to use maximum zoom on a moving object as well. However, it's much trickier as not only are you zooming on a moving subject, but the camera has to focus on it as well. This is why the camera has to move steadily with that object as it's on motion in order to achieve focus. Also, because the FOV (Field-Of-Vision) is a lot closer, there is also a lot less area to see in the viewport. It's a lot harder to find a object in question if it's at a distance. It's also easier to loose that object once its found, and thus, focus as well. A slight camera bump or movement can loose the subject in question.

During camp, there was a airplane that was pulling a glider over the lake at timed intervals. Knowing this, it made good practice of taking pictures of planes in motion. With a lot of preparation, it was possible take some decent pictures of the aircraft using the maximum zoom offered by the camera.

25X Zoom

Taking pictures of the moon could equally be tricky. First, the moon needs to emit enough light for the camera to absorb. I usually like to use the lowest ISO setting that the camera supports to get the highest quality image. That's why quarter moons could be tricky as sometimes they don't emit enough light for the camera shutter to absorb using a low ISO setting. This problem is partially remedy by using the maximum zoom offered by the camera.

As with airplanes, it can still be tricky to photograph the Moon since it is still a moving object after all. Not only that, the Earth is rotating as well. Granted the moon isn't moving as fast as a plane. However, a faster shutter speed is preferred to prevent blurred shots. As mentioned in the previous articles, one can't use a fast shutter speed at night, unless there's a object emitting a lot of direct light. A full moon can remedy this situation as it emits enough light for the camera to use that fast shutter at a time when one normally couldn't use it. This also compensates for taking a picture of the Moon in motion without blurred shots.

The speed of the Moon is a lot more noticeable when using a telescope, because a telescope typically offers a much higher magnification than most cameras. It's possible to mount a camera to a telescope though. My telescope supports a zoom up to 135X, which can result in a really close zoom on the surface. My eyes got burned due to the quick transition from the dark sky to the really bright surface on the Moon at a close distance. 

Many times though, I have to quickly re-position the telescope because the Moon has already moved out of the viewing area. The Moon can change position quickly when using a really high zoom. Once the focus is there, one can take some really awesome Moon-shots.

Lake Hoblitzelle, TX using no zoom. The picture was scaled down from 16MP.

Across the lake. This is a cropped portion of the same image from above. There is no magnification. This cropped portion is at native resolution (16MP)

Across the lake, this time using 25X magnification. This image had been scaled down from 16MP.

A cropped portion of the same image as above, but at native resolution.

There is a amphitheater on the shore of Lake Hoblitzelle with a elevated platform hovering high above the lake. I've used this platform multiple times to take whole pictures of the lake. As already noted, Lake Hoblitzelle is one of my favorite subjects to photograph. There is so much detail. Detail which is shown once powerful magnification is used. As shown in the first scenic picture of the entire lake, there isn't a lot of detail on any particular part at a close distance when viewing the image in its native resolution. The power lines aren't even visible, and the roofs of the buildings across the lake are represented as only a couple of pixelated squares. Once that particular area is magnified, there is a lot more detail, and one can see objects that weren't even visible without zoom, like the giant power lines, utility poles, cows, and individual trees.

The ability of using magnification to take detailed pictures does depend on the type of camera used. With that said, it's possible to take very detailed images at a distance using the zoom feature of your camera. Now one can take pictures of tonight's dinner mooing across from the lake! Good eats and have a great day!