Identification

• Optical zoom is the ability of a camera lens to move in and out to magnify the subject of your photo. The camera uses a built-in motor to zoom in and out.
  
  

Significance

• Optical zoom lenses allow you to focus in on what you're taking a picture of without ever having to move. If the subject of your photo is too small, or not quite detailed enough, simply hit the zoom button and focus in to create a larger photo of it.
  
  

Use

• Cameras usually have a button in the upper right corner labeled with a "W" and "T" on either side. The W stands for wide angle, which will zoom out, and the T stands for telephoto, which will zoom in and magnify your subject.
  
  

Number

• Optical zoom is depicted as a number such as 3x or 4x. This number is a calculation of the largest focal length of the lens to the smallest focal length (3 to 1 or 4 to 1).
  
  

Optical vs Digital

• Digital zoom expands the photo digitally and adds pixels that don't exist to increase the photo size. Essentially, the camera takes an educated guess as to how the picture would look if zoomed in closer. Optical zoom is superior to digital zoom because it provides accurate pictures without filling in pixels. Digital zoomed photos often appear blurry or pixelated.