Optical zoom and digital zoom are two different methods of zooming in on a subject when taking photographs or recording videos with a camera.
Optical zoom refers to the physical movement of the camera's lens to magnify the image. This allows the camera to maintain image quality while zooming in, as it is capturing more detail from the actual scene. Optical zoom provides a true zoom effect and results in sharper, more detailed images.
On the other hand, digital zoom involves cropping and enlarging the existing image in the camera's sensor. This results in a loss of image quality, as the camera is essentially just blowing up a portion of the image it has already captured. Digital zoom can lead to pixelation and a decrease in image clarity, especially when zooming in on distant subjects.
In conclusion, optical zoom is a superior method of zooming in on a subject, as it maintains image quality and provides sharp, detailed images. Digital zoom, while convenient, sacrifices image quality for zoom capability and is generally inferior to optical zoom.