AC160 Digital Zoom

T

tigerten02

Member
I noticed the AC160/130 has a digital zoom set to X2/X5/X10. I know that the final image will degrade, but by how much? If kept at 2X does it turn the lens into a 44X zoom? Would it work as a spy cam?

Probably a dumb question, but i was a little curious.
 
Well, the 2x would turn the lens into a 22x zoom that's 2x longer than it currently is. So instead of being a razor-sharp camera with a 3.9-86mm lens, it becomes a medium-res camera with a 7.8-172mm lens, if that makes sense...
 
This setting basically just does what you could do in post by "zooming" the footage in, right? Or does it retain a higher quality by doing it in camera? Just curious really, I don't think I'd ever use it, either way.
 
I haven't tested it for ultimate quality, but Panasonic claims that it results in higher quality than doing it in post. I don't know whether that would be true or not, as I could make a case either way -- in post, you have a lot more processor time and more powerful hardware to do the manipulation, but doing it in-camera means you're working on the data before 4:2:0 subsampling and before compression artifacts.

Either way, you're in for a noticeable drop in resolution.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top