The Power of 10X Optically Zoomed VR Mega-pixels

Posted on by

The latest crop of prosumer EVF (electronic viewfinder) digital cameras feature 8 mega-pixel images, coupled with a 10X optical zoom lens.  Some feature VR (vibration reduction) lenses.  If you have never seen a demonstration of the power of this combination of features, you may be interested in these photos.

If you peer at this first photo closely, you will see a group of purple flowers (irises, I believe) that are growing at a distance of 100 feet from where I stood to take the photo.

Purple irises from 100 feet away

In the next photo, I have remained in the same location, but now I have zoomed in fully on the iris bushes.  In 35mm camera equivalency, I have zoomed from a 35mm (moderately wide-angle) shot to a 350mm (long telephoto) shot.

Here are the irises shot from the same location, but zoomed to 350mm

The photo above demonstrates the power that a 10X-optical zoom lens brings to the photographer.  Now, if you again look closely at the photo just above, you will see towards the bottom, just slightly off-center to the right, deep purple petals and a very dark iris bud.  Here, let me help you to see it-

Cropped photo, pixel-for-pixel screen representation

What you are looking at here is simply a cropped portion of the second photo, but there has been no enlarging or interpolation involved whatsoever.  It is merely a pixel-for-pixel depiction of what the camera captured on it’s sensor, and is a good indication of the power that 8 mega-pixel images bring to the photographer.

I will exhort you to think this through as you look at these photos again.  In the last photo you can see the pistols of the iris. You can see the detail of the veins on the petals of the irises.  And the image you are viewing was captured by a point-and-shoot camera from 100 feet away, on an overcast day, at 1/48th second shutter speed, without the aid of a tripod!  Think of all the possibilities with these kinds of cameras!

Another quick example.  Retta found this turtle on our patio last week, and so she grabbed the camera and snapped a few pictures of this fellow.

Say hello to this guy, please.

Or should I say, these fellows, because when Retta examined the photo on the computer, she discovered that the turtle had a passenger!

Ooops, I mean say hello to these guys!

These photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 8800, but the point of the post is to plug the capabilities of this breed of camera, and not necessarily this specific make or model.

 

4 thoughts on “The Power of 10X Optically Zoomed VR Mega-pixels”

  1. I’m impressed – not only by the quality of the photos but by the fact that someone I know has used the word “exhort” in a sentence!

  3. Pablo – I would exhort all publishers of blogs to also use the word “exhort”. There. Now you have a friend who can use the word “exhort” twice in the same sentence. You aught to be doubly impressed now!

    FloridaCracker – Thanks. These are the type of real-world tests I like to perform once in a while. Analyzing the results of photographing resolution charts might sell photo magazines, but it doesn’t give the average photographer any indication of what the camera will do for their own type of picture taking.

  4. Pingback: Ranch Ramblins » Blog Archive » Can Full-Featured And Portable Co-Exist?

Leave a Reply