Precision Digital Zoom, is a software zoom (about the same as when zooming images in PC). Is it just a marketing term or is there a genuine difference? Clear Image is an optical zoom (better)...This is a continuously variable function and achieved by changing the focal length of the lens… Zoom with close to the original image quality. I finally got to see a comparison. They produce much better-quality images. A7III - Clear Image Zoom Vs Digital Zoom. Digital zoom is an invention of digital video cameras. August 24th, 2019, 11:45 PM #2: Christopher Young. The results surprised me when you put them both at 1.5X Zoom. The same image shot with the Sony's ClearImage digital zoom of 105mm (left), and cropped from a photo shot with only optical zoom of 70mm … Although optical will beat digital there are some good reasons to use crop mode in the camera instead of the TC: Zoom with close to the original image quality. Clear image zoom vs 1.4x teleconverter vs APS-C It makes no sense to have such an incredible camera and use JPEG and CIZ. With digital zoom, the image quality isn’t as good as it is with optical zoom. In the case of the Clear Image option, there’s some fancy algorithm magic that does a pretty good job of mitigating that sharpness loss. What is the difference between the clear image zoom of the HX300 and HX50 I'm considering buying compared to the Precision Digital zoom of my current HX9v? Digital zoom is nothing more than a crop, and you might as well just do that when you get back home. But Clear Image Zoom is different. Digital zoom: Some cameras offer a digital zoom, which is simply some in-camera image processing. Trustee . The higher the optical zoom, the photographer can take the photo of the subject from a greater distance and still can get a clear quality shot. Digital zoom is essentially a crop. An optical zoom is a true zoom lens, like the zoom lens you’d use on a film camera. In digital zoom, enlarging the "zoomed" area reduces the image resolution and the image quality. What is the difference between the clear image zoom of the HX300 and HX50 I'm considering buying compared to the Precision Digital zoom of my current HX9v? Digital Zooms are JPEG-Only Optical zoom: If taking a lot of photos from far away subjects is important to you, be sure that the camera you buy has an optical zoom. Clear Image Zoom is not available while recording movies . What digital zoom does is take a central portion of the image and enlarging it, thus ‘simulating’ optical zoom. For our purpose, digital zoom is not really zoom, in the strictest definition of the term. So using digital zoom is not a good idea. I have been curious about the difference between these two for a few months now. It is not uncommon to see digital videocams with 300x digital zoom. That is, it’s a software approach rather than an optical one. Precision Digital Zoom, is a software zoom (about the same as when zooming images in PC). Less than the original image quality . It uses a center crop on the sensor and a software algorithm to zoom in. Is it just a marketing term or is there a genuine difference? Clear Image Zoom is not available while recording movies . More info here DSC-HX300 - Zoom .