Photography tips: why you should use zoom

For decades now, family cameras have come fitted with zoom lenses. Today, digital cameras are no different. In fact, because of the technology involved, the zoom lenses in digital cameras are often even stronger. So, when and why should you use the zoom lens on your camera?

It can be said that the first rule of photography is “get close”. Unfortunately, for most family snaps, that rule is rarely applied. Most photographs are taken from the comfort of the photographer’s chair when the action happens and as a result, most family snaps are taken too far away.  

What does this mean for your photograph?

It means that it loses impact. It often means that it requires some explanation when other people look at it. It means that there is usually too much extra stuff in the picture that shouldn’t be there. This is never a good thing. So, how do we fix that? 
 Well, the first solution is being physically closer to the action. Get up, get close and be a part of what is going on. Perhaps the only time you would not do so is when that would mean ruining a candid photograph or perhaps endangering yourself. Other than that, do what you can to be closer. 

Secondly, if your camera has a zoom lens, use it. Do what you can to fill the frame with only the subject and any necessary context – with emphasis on the necessary part. Let’s face it. Most of the stuff we leave inside the frame of our pictures is unnecessary. So, get brutal, zoom in and remove the distractions.

Optical Zoom and Digital Zoom

If you are about to buy a camera – perhaps even step into the world of digital – buy a camera with the strongest optical zoom you can afford. Some of the digital cameras available today have zoom lenses that are 10x or even stronger! The higher the number represented in the optical zoom the closer you can get to the action and the more dynamic your pictures can be.
 As for digital zoom, well…that is another thing altogether. Digital zooms are available in many digital cameras and work on a similar principle to cropping in on a negative. Digital zoom crops in on the digital image and uses only the central pixels in the picture. Then, using inbuilt software, the image is enhanced and built into a file that can be printed. However, the sharpness of your pictures suffers and should only be used in emergencies – if at all. Don’t factor the digital zoom into your purchasing decision.

The Right Lens for the Job

There is another reason for using zoom lenses, especially when you are taking pictures of people. Lenses can alter the appearance of your subject, and wide angle lenses can distort people’s faces – especially if you are taking our advice and getting in close. So, by all means, get close, but if you are doing a portrait, use your zoom as well. Longer lenses are more complimentary and should be used even if you are actually physically close to your subject

The Great All-Rounders

Advancements in lens technologies have made some lenses possible today that just couldn’t have been considered twenty years ago. Today, you can buy one lens that lets you take wide angle landscapes and then zoom in to a person in that landscape. What’s more, these lenses are incredibly sharp! Lenses like the Tamron 18-250mm for digital SLR cameras are fantastic and you could travel the world with only this lens and hardly ever miss a shot. In fact, Tamron are packaging their 11-18mm and their 18-250mm lenses together now so that you are covered from superwide to supertelephoto in only two lenses.

Compact digital cameras are also including lenses that do much the same thing. The Ricoh R7 has a 7x zoom. The Canon PowerShot are fantastic and you could travel the world with only this lens and hardly ever miss a shot. SX100 IS has a 10x zoom. And there are many others like these. Included with these kinds of cameras are vibration reduction and anti shake modes that prevent your telephoto pictures from being blurred from camera shake. So, with all this happening for you, there are no excuses for far away subjects anymore!

How Close is ‘Close’?

If you don’t know just how close to get, try this. Compose your picture as you normally would and take it. Then, zoom in. Then, zoom in some more. Keep zooming, or moving closer until you actually begin to see only what you need to see and no more. Take another picture and compare the two. Almost invariably, your second picture will be the more interesting and dynamic of the two. 

• 

• Using the zoom in your compact digital camera
• Getting creative with consumer digital cameras
• Photography tutorial: Photographing wildlife made easy
• Photography tutorial: Simple posing tips for better people pictures
• Tips for new digital camera owners