video camera digital zoom question

[Prebanpaul]

I have seen digital zooms on video cameras at 500x ....... my question is will this work as a video camera for 1000 yard shooting. I am wanting to video shooting at diffrent diffrences out to 1500 meters....... I dont have to see a bullet whole at a 1000 yards...... I just need to know that I hit a plate of steel that then would be moving. I am wanting this for two aspects......... self critique and just the fun of shooting that far.

 

[DanGuy48]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

Go with a camera that has as much optical zoom as possible, before you start using digital zoom. The lens is projecting an image onto the sensor. Digital zoom just takes the projected image and makes it bigger and it doesn't take long to notice that there's little if any more image information. It's just empty magnification, bigger but no increase in detail, similar to what you'd get if you just put the images into photoshop and blew them up there.

 

[Ring]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

i use a 40x optical for my groundhog vids.... digi zoom BLOWS!!.... disable it on the camera... if anything by a 2 or 3x front lens...

 

[PeterPHWS]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

I have a Leica spotting scope and bought a digi camera adaptor for the eye piece ... fit a simple digital camera to the adaptor and with a steady bi-pod you can video your shots ...or just look at the screen for a "live feed" on the hits ... works fine on plates out to 1500 to a mile ... I am experimenting with the square cross line display on the digital camera screen to determine what the cross lines represent as windage hash marks ... these also help if you put the scope on branches for wind changes as they act as a reference point ...

Quite pleased with this so far ... made a sun screen shade for the rear screen to avoid glare washing out the image ... and it has the advantage that you can stay in position on the rifle and just look at the screen for splash or "hit" movement ...

Should have done this ages ago ... had the adaptor but never gave it a work out because in F Class the scope on the firing point is legal but the camera falls into the trap of being an electronic aid and is against the rules ...

However for ELR it is a real boon ...

 

[Dogtown]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

Optical zoom is actual optical zoom, as obvious as that sounds. All digital zoom is just interpolation of pixel values, like increasing the scale of a digital image. Yeah, you can see the area up close, but with significant loss of clarity.

 

[Outlaw45]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

I bought a 2.2 power lens adapter to put on my Sony. If it has a 30x optical zoom and I add the 2.2 power front lens is my zoom now 32.2? Or does it multiply the optical zoom by 2.2, so at full optical zoom (30x) it's now 66x? (30 x 2.2 = 66)

 

[jasonk]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

Outlaw....should be 66 now.

 

[eracer]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

The problem is frame size. Even a high-def video camera only has 1920x1280 = roughly 2.5 megapixels.

Digital zoom makes those pixels really big, and you end up with an image that looks like something from legoland.

Optical power of the lens element is really the only way. You can attach a digital video cam to a spotting scope and get the results you want.

 

[Outlaw45]

Re: video camera digital zoom question

So there should be a big difference when I put it on right? Well there's not. I switched camera settings to tele-conversion lens, still not a big difference. Is there something I'm not doing?