Digital Zoom is Crap!

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About Digital Zoom is Crap!

So many ads tout digital zoom as if it's a wonderful feature. Well, this group will feature shots that show how ugly digital zoom really is! I have always advised admirers of my photostream to purchase cameras with the largest optical zoom they can afford and to totally ignore any digital zoom factor. Recently, Santa gave me a pursecam for Christmas (the Nikon D100 really is too heavy to always lug around) that "features" 4x digital zoom on top of the 18x optical Leica fixed-in-place lens. So, now I can take shots that show just how bad it is! We welcome your crappy shots too.

Since you are posting to flickr, some misguided soles (sic) might consider you an expert on cameras and ask for your advice when purchasing a digicam. So even if your camera DOESN'T have a digital zoom detriment and you therefore can't post to our pool, it might be handy for you to join our group so that you can remember where we are and refer those potential puchasers to our shots when explaining why digital zoom should not factor into their purchase. (Mrs. Edison, my 6th grade grammar teacher, is shuddering in her grave at THAT run-on sentence.)

Seriously, folks, I understand that digital zoom may have ONE use; to get that "Must Have" shot that you can't catch any other way. You know, that once-in-a-lifetime shot. The Hindenburg blimp crashes. A President is assasinated. That kind of thing. I don't want those pictures posted here, as it would ruin the crappy theme.

A certain reluctance to post really bad shots to your photostream is understandable. Digital Zoom makes all of us look like really bad photographers, and who wants THAT? To save face, I suggest you add this disclaimer (or something like it) to your bad shots:
"I'm only posting this shot to show the world how bad digital zoom really is. Please do not consider digital zoom to be anything but a detriment when purchasing your next camera. I am not this bad a photographer. Thank you."
In fact, if someone could come up with a snazzy html thingie here for all of us to copy, you would have my eternal gratitude.

Suggested tag for shots in this group: "best viewed at thumbnail size"

If I decide that a photo is too pretty for the group, I will delete it AND leave the following comment:
Congratulations! This photo was too pretty for Digital Zoom is Crap!, so I deleted it! Nice try, but the photo must show horrible degradation to survive in the pool. Please keep us in mind if you can come up with a much worse shot, though.


If technology progresses to the point that digital zoom becomes worthwhile, I will either scrap the group or rename it "Vintage Crappy Digital Zoom Shots."