nnowak
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Veteran Member
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Posts: 9,070
Re: Do EOS M series have digital zoom?
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Photato wrote:
ken_in_nh wrote:
You always have digital zoom. It's called "cropping" in post, like in Lightroom.
This is a common misunderstood and underestimated feature, even among advanced users !
There are many functional differences between Live Crops (Digital Zoom) and Cropping in post.
- With DZ the user gets a better view of the subject for composition, focus, timing, etc .
Most cameras already offer the ability to magnify the view for specifically those reasons.
- Camera gets a better, more accurate Auto Exposure, Auto Focus, White Balance, etc assessment of the scene. The narrow the field of view, the easier it is.
Digital zoom does not improve autofocus. The number of actual AF pixels on a subject do not change if you crop/zoom into the image. If you are having problems with your exposure and white balance, these items can generally be tied to your AF point(s) which would then ignore the rest of the frame.
- With DZ, camera can do faster sensor read-outs (less rolling shutter artifacts) in electronic shutter mode, faster shots per second and more shots can fit in the limited buffer or write more shots to card even with slower cards.
Many cameras already offer a high speed crop mode, including the M6 II.
- Cropped shots take less space.
Not if the camera is upscaling the crops back to full size (like in a smartphone)
- Can shoot any Aspect Ratio or perform Auto Leveling free from the sensor and Image Circle constraints
Many cameras already support multiple aspect ratios. Since 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10 are all different aspect ratios, it is generally better to capture the entire sensor and then crop to fit the specific output in post.
Auto Leveling is often available in cameras with IBIS.
- DZ is *essential* for Video given its limited data bandwidth. You'll never get the same level of IQ cropping video after the fact than with Live Crop in Video.
It depends on the camera. The M6II is already using line skipping and pixel binning to generate 4K video. There are no extra pixels available that can be cropped off of the frame to generate a tighter view. The best solution is to shoot at a higher resolution than your final deliverable. 8K/6k for a 4k deliverable, or 4K for a 1080p deliverable. Not only can you then crop in post, but you can also pan, smoothly zoom in and out, as well as apply image stabilization. Digital zoom in camera does not offer anywhere near the same flexibility.
- Since most Zoom lenses become darker when zooming in, Live Crops gives you more options on trade-offs.
Nope. Cropping uses a smaller sensor area. Shooting at f/5.6 using the full sensor will generally produce less noise than shooting a cropped image at f/3.5.
That being said, Live Crops are not a substitute for a proper telephoto or macro lens, but it is a very convenience feature which allows you to shot distant or close subjects better with the lens you currently have, it is much better than "cropping in post" and is a feature that is technically very simple to implement.
It actually is not that simple. Do you offer fixed zoom steps, or an infinitely variable zoom range? Do you bury the zoom/crop it in the menus under picture quality settings, or is it a dynamic button/dial combination? JPEG or RAW, and if JPEG, is it getting automatically upscaled to full resolution (like in a smartphone)? Do you show the full frame with a crop box (some high speed sports modes do this), or do you show a zoomed in crop (like a smartphone)
Almost every Smartphone has it because is real useful and convenient.
I don't shy away to use it in my iPhone when appropriate.
Smartphones have the feature because the lenses are fixed and there is no other way to zoom in. You can just swap lenses on a smartphone.
The likely reason the majority of Camera manufacturers have deliberately omitted that function in ILC cameras is in order to sell you more lenses, they know most amateurs wouldn't consider the IQ difference so they might be right there.
But, it doesn't help either that even advanced users underestimate and misunderstand this feature.
Fortunately, a few new ILC cameras are starting to incorporate this feature and over time some people will "get it"
You seem to be misunderstanding some of the functions of your camera and your list of reasons for a crop mode are somewhat contradictory. Cropping for a high speed sports mode would be saving smaller files. Cropping to compensate for a too short lens would be saving upscaled JPEGs. The former is already available on a number of cameras. The latter is a workaround for smartphones and compact cameras with fixed lenses.
Some of the problems/workarounds you are listing are already handled by other methods with existing cameras. Most of the other items in your list are fairly contrived and niche use cases, at best.
