Digital zoom can be useful - sometimes!

Although I agree with other postings that the "tele converter" option on the SX40 is a useless feature, I do find that using digital zoom ("Standard" setting on the shooting menu) can be very useful in certain situations. For example, a small distant subject such as a bird may be situated where it is hard to identify or is somewhere that makes it hard for the camera to achieve focus at 36x optical zoom.

In such cases, by zooming out to the max 140x (combined optical and digital) one can often ID the object in the same way one would use a spotting scope, and this also helps the camera to focus on it.

Of course, the untouched resulting image quality is really poor, but if resized to 25% it gives virtually the same result as cropping an image taken at 36x optical zoom.

To illustrate, here is a comparison:

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Teekay - Yes, must agree - actually, I've said more or less the same in the other thread on digital zoom, where I put a couple of TC'd SX10 examples at TC 1.4x and 2.3x, before seeing your Post here.

Using TC - with the SX10, even at 2.3x - as a telescope can be useful to see if a shot is worth walking a couple of hundred metres / yards to get it into usable proper optical shot range.

Also - can give you an "I wuz there!" sort of 'proof' image to show that you saw something, to share at rather reduced size, without need to post-process and crop each of what might be several shots of the "interesting" whatever, to choose from to share.

Also - you can obviously "do both" - TC'd for quick-shares, and proper optical to work on later if the shot is worth that - and can make selection easier by programming the TC function to the option-choice button. With the SX10, pressing the button cycles optical 20x / TC 1.4x / TC 2.3x.

Unlike the "fun features" put by makers into some cameras - Canon's "TC feature" can actually be used to have a bit of fun....!

Fuji might note that - my HS10 must have a couple of dozen "fun things" I've never used, after "1 look" at them. Also - the "Interpolated 2x Zoom" - while it works pretty well - does the processing in the camera - that is - the Viewfinder / LCD don't show the 'telescoped' image - instead, the TC area is outlined....

Regards, Dave.

I know this thread is a week old, but I just had to make a small point about the teleconverter mode that apparently most find "useless". There is one good use for it... When you want to be zoomed in but want to keep the larger aperture available at lower optical zoom levels. Sometimes the digital crop makes for a better photo than pushing the ISO too high with a smaller aperture. Or maybe you just want the shallower depth of field and don't plan on blowing up the image to very large sizes, so again, the teleconverter will help you achieve that larger aperture to ge the look you want.

The point is that digital zoom doesn't give you anything you can't achieve, with more control, with just optical zoom and post-processing.

I disagree. Visualizing the exact shot you want with the depth of field you imagined and snapping the picture to check to see if you like it or want to tweek your position slightly and reshoot before you go home is something

Also, and this one I'm not positive of, but does the camera only meter the digitally zoomed/cropped shot? If so, there's no denying digital zoom can give you more control if you can crop out a small bright area that may throw off your evaluative metering when the partial or spot meter won't give you what you need either.

I'm really just playing devils advocate now because I never really use digital zoom either but I hate hard and fast photography rules. Seems like they can always be broken.

Well, you have zoom in your review if you really think that the LCD gives you an adequate review image for more than the histogram.
And your camera also gives you several metering modes - averaging, evaluative and spot, if you know how to use them, coupled with choosing the appropriate exposure mode and EC as needed. Your histogram will help you more than digital zoom in isolating oddball lighting.

If there's a white light in the shot, the histogram will only tell me it's there (which I already knew). I would like to know if my highlights are clipping without the white light in the shot. With a white light there, that I plan to crop out later, a peak at the right side means nothing to me... In fact, I expect it

Again, this is a completely hypothetical situation and I realize I have to stretch the boundaries of what one would encounter in 99.9% of your shooting to even come up with a scenario where digital zoom could potentially be helpful but I just hate saying never.

Your histogram tells you how much of the picture is at a given level. That applies for the highlights, too. And you can (should) turn on the "blinkies", which show where you've blown the highlights.

Jon wrote in post #14477911
The point is that digital zoom doesn't give you anything you can't achieve, with more control, with just optical zoom and post-processing.

I totally agree when you're talking about the final image but, as I pointed out in the original post, digital zoom does have a place in the field under certain specific conditions.

Of course I would never use it for portraits, landscapes etc. but I do use it frequently when trying to focus on and/or identify distant birds. If you've never tried it for that then don't knock it!