Do you ever zoom out?

All,

This questions is mostly regarding compacts: should one ever zoom out? If so, when?

Thanks,

Joss

You want to zoom out to wide angle most of time because the image stabilization works better. Try it on land: if you zoom in to telephoto, a slight shake of your hand will transfer to very shaky footage/photo. Also, most cameras do not have a constant F stop, so the further you zoom in, the slower the lens get. So by zooming out, you let the aperture wide open.

The only time you would want to zoom in is when doing macro.

That's just how I operate camera, I'm sure some other have their own reasons.

You get the best pictures when you are as close as possible to your subject. The more you zoom out, the closer you can get and still fit the entire scene on the sensor. So like KC I'd say you want to zoom out as much as possible. If you are afraid to scare away whatever you are trying to shoot then zoom in initially to take a better-something-than-nothing image, move closer zoom out and take another shot, ... repeat ... If you focus on relaxing as you move in rather than being in the thrill of the hunt you will find many fish allow you to get closer than you might think. Especially try to control your breathing. I still tend to hold my breath if I am too concentrated on taking a shot which throws off buoyancy. Suddenly breathing out to restore buoyancy is sure to scare away anything that doesn't rely on camouflage or simply can't move fast.

Bart

I think answer can be simple - yes, always for WAL and never for macro

I always zoom-in in Macro, and always zoom-out in wide angle. But still depends on my distance.

As mentioned, when you zoom in or out, if your camera is in "auto mode", the camera is most likely changing your ISO. In short, when you zoom in, your camera is increasing the ISO, to make sure the shutter speed is high enought to prevent camera shake (old rule-of-thumb is your speed should be the reciprocal of your focal length; e.g. 500 mm would be shot at a minimum of 1/500 second). The issue with bumping your ISO up automatically is the "noise" in the shot.

If you're a beginner, the noise shows up in different places. Blacks no longer seem black, etc.

So the ideal is to shoot at a lower ISO (200, or below), so you will get better saturation of your picture onto the sensor, and a better picture. As a start, don't shoot in auto mode. Try to shoot in manual (best to play with on land), or aperature priority (you set the lens opening size). The more open the lens is (lower f stop number), the less of the picture will be in focus (called "depth of field"). Conversely, the more stopped down, or closed a lens is, the greater amount of the subject, and distance in front/behind the subject will be in focus. Of course smaller aperature means less light, so you with have to increase ISO, or decrease shutter speed. You can also "add" light by using a flash.

Lots to digest for beginners, but it's crucial to understand relationship between ISO, aperture, and focal length. Best part, is you can practice on land with digital, then look at your results on the computer. Pay close attention to the image information. Try braketing the same shot, and look at how the changes impact the end result.