Camera Question

[mistyisland]

If I use the zoom function on the GS6 is the resulting picture still 16 mp, or do the megapixels reduce the more it is zoomed?
Thanks.

 

[SpookDroid]

This is a tricky question with a tricky answer. Since there is no optical zoom in this device, all zooming is done digitally, meaning that the phone takes your original image (16MP), stretches it to 'zoom' into your desired area, and tries to correct the choppiness and overblown pixels with software magic, and then saves the picture in the same container as your original 16MP picture.

Basically, a zoomed image is 'virtually' still 16MP because the picture size doesn't change, but it's not truly using all pixels from the original image because it's scrapping those that fall out of your zoomed-in area.

 

[surferdon7]

The above answer is about the best way I can think of to give you the answer!

 

[mistyisland]

So, if I tried to enlarge a zoomed image, would I lose clarity or detail? I'm asking this because I take photos of my artwork and then fit it onto canvas or paper for prints, and also use it to take pics of things that I wouldn't be able to see clearly at a distance.

I moved to the Gs6 because my HTC One had only a 4 mp camera. While it took good pics, the rule is you can enlarge it double the megapixels, and so 8 x 10 would be the largest, without losing (whatever it is you lose). I suppose the Gs6 would be somewhere in the middle if I used the zoom. With the zoom, I would be taking pics of zoo animals at a distance. Hopefully I wouldn't lose as much detail as the HTC One.

I found that it is really hard to hold the camera straight while you are chasing that zoomed image!

 

[SpookDroid]

It's a bad rule, really haha but yeah, most of the time SOFTWARE will be able to 'recover' from a 2x digital zoom. Let me be clear: You lose detail with digital zoom. ALWAYS. That rule you mention, that last part isn't true. You DO lose detail. Think about a painting on a piece of elastic paper. Once you're done painting, what happens if you then stretch the original canvas to twice its size? Your original painting is, without question, distorted. You may be able to still make out what it was originally and your brain might even trick by filling in the missing details (which is essentially what software does when zooming in digitally), but the original image is definitely stretched out. Now think of the same painting but imagine you're only looking at the same 4x4 inch spot in the middle. Stretch the painting and what do you see? A portion of the original one, and what's more, stretched. That's digital zooming. You keep the same target frame but are enlarging your original picture as you zoom in.

You can also think of the 16MP as a 2x2 image. Each section would be 4MP. If you were to fit any of those individual sections into the full image, that's the equivalent that you're getting: a 4MP image extracted from a 16MP one, stretched to fit a 16MP frame (with the software filling in the blanks, smoothing out the corners, and 'making up' for the missing, real pixels...sort of like the Jurassic Park sequencer with frog DNA, but I digress).

But if you are going to zoom in or stretch images, you definitely have more detail to stretch on a 16MP image than a 4MP one. Plus, it's not just about the MegaPixels. A good sensor and a good lens also make a difference... Just take a look at what iPhones can do with an 8MP camera!

 

[mistyisland]

Thanks. Your explanation helped me understand this a little better.

 

[SpookDroid]

Glad it helped! I was worried I digressed too much haha