“Optical Zoom and Digital Zoom”- Which Camera Is Best?

optical zoom camera

Choosing the best surveillance system includes investing in a security camera that fulfils your every requirement. Finding the best reliable and long-lasting camera can be difficult among the options present in the market. Investing in the cheap security system can backfire easily when you will have to pay a hefty amount for their maintenance and after some time you are highly likely to replace it.

The security camera warehouse is the perfect platform that provides a range of best cameras at the most reasonable costs with the countless positive customer reviews. If you can’t decide between the type of camera to choose, by the end of this article you will have a clear idea.

Optical Zoom Camera

Security camera optical zoom means that the security camera lens maintains focus while the focal lens keeps on changing. Optical zooming allows you to zoom in and zoom out to get a closer, detailed image in the former and a wider viewing angle in the latter without compromising the quality. The view is achieved by the adjustments of the camera optics such as setting the lens inside the camera. It works just like the application of binoculars. The optical lens comes in the various magnifications such as 3X, 5X, 10X and 20X. It refers to the variation of magnification the camera can perform while recording.

The Optical Zoom Camera can be of these 3 different types:

  1. Manual optical zoom security camera: In this camera, you need to adjust the viewing angle and zooming level in person while you install the camera. Once done you cannot change it except by manual efforts. The process is tedious and requires lots of work to do for such a simple task.
  2. Motorized zooming security camera: This camera includes the motorized lens that maintains the focus as the focal length changes frequently as directed. You can just control the zooming by giving direction through the screen or via a remote.
  3. A security camera with PTZ (Pan, tilt, and zoom): This camera can offer the all-round protection of the area. Some camera even offers the 360-degree pan, 90 degrees tilt with the high optical zoom. You can check everything on the perimeter with the full access of the PTZ camera with a wider viewing angle.

Digital Zoom Camera

It functions just like your desktop image editor. It narrows the apparent angle and zoom out the image at the same time cropping the outside margins. This gives out the zoom out but often blurred image as compared to the optical zoom camera. This is why an optical zoom camera is recommended over a digital zoom camera.

The advantage of using an optical zoom camera

  • Wider viewing angle with a clear image after zoom
  • We can give zooming direction via the accessibility of remote

The disadvantage of using an optical zoom camera

  • Optical zoom decreases the viewing angle as you zooming on an image
  • Optical zoom cannot be added after footage recording for surveillance

The advantage of using the digital zoom camera

  • Digital zoom does not decrease the angle of view while zooming and digital zoom can be added after the recording of the video

The disadvantage of using the digital zoom camera

  • The image that is zoomed is often blurry

After checking the differences of working and image between the optical zooming camera and digital zooming camera it is obvious that the former is more adaptable than the latter. To get a clear picture with high accessibility go for the optical zooming camera.

Make sure that the camera includes night vision and check for the surveillance and the video quality of the camera under the different lightening. Do not compromise on the surveillance video as it will prove as the beneficial evidence in case of any robbery.