Digital Zoom for Free

I notice that new digital camera increasingly have “10X zoom” and “now with digital zoom” hype in the ads. 10X which I think should actually be 9X, usually means that the camera has a conventional 3 times optical zoom and a further 3 times digital zoom. Digital zoom meaning the camera will let you select on part of that image, to keep and discard the rest. Without wanting to become to controversial, you can actually give yourself 3 to 5 times digital zoom to your existing camera for nothing!

Its easy its called cropping. Providing your image is high enough resolution, and that can be anything above approximately 2 megapixels. All you have to do is use your favourite photo editor and “zoom in” to the part of the picture you want enlarged.



This example is cropped with HP’s Image Zone Express. I used the same free version,I discussed in yesterday’s “to edit or not to edit” blog. I quite like it for cropping, because like adobe’s Photoshop elements, it greys out the part of the image you are “cutting off” and gives a stronger sense of what you are going to be left with. Most other editors I’ve tried just get you to mark the area with a thin line open box. You have to click or hit enter to see the results and then the original image is lost from your view. It is “try before you buy” method of cropping and I prefer it.

I think this little fella is a moth not a butterfly.